Our second honeymoon | Part 1

Trevor and I have decided, anniversaries are for suckers.

Instead of a first anniversary, we're going to instead celebrate our year of marriage with a second honeymoon. Our first was to Madeline Islands in Wisconsin, and this time around we decided to go to Lutsen.

Our plan was to take the motorcycle up to the North Shore, stay the night, and then come back the next day. It would be our longest trip ever on the bike, but we figured with enough stops we would be able to handle it. As the weekend approached however, the weather forecast did not look promising. Scattered thunderstorms with a 60% chance of rain.

We decided to chance it, and when Saturday morning came we hopped on the bike and went.

Beautiful cloudy scenery

This was my view most of the time.

Riding on the motorcycle is a lot more tiring than a normal road trip, so we took lots of little breaks to stretch, walk around, and get some coffee.

Them's the rain clouds off to the east... rain, rain go away!

When we reached the Duluth area Trevor wanted to take me to the Jay Cooke State Park, and on the way we ran into Carlton Days, a small town festival with lots of small town traffic. After another small stop, we were back on our way.

Near the entrance to the state park there is a dam by a parking area and some trails to explore. So we took the opportunity to have another break, and did a tiny bit of hiking. 

Trevor is the king of the self-portrait photo

Enjoying a moment of peace...

...and enjoying the view.

Trevor enjoyed some rock-climbing

Trevor gets up close and personal with the local flora

Once we reached Duluth it was lunchtime, so we headed down to Canal Park for something to eat. I had heard of the Northern Waters Smokehaus while watching the Food Network, so I wanted to give it a try.

Proof!

Trevor had a smoked salmon sandwich, while I tried pastrami for the first time. It definitely had a kick, but was pretty good nonetheless. After lunch, I wanted ice cream, so we went searching. We were successful, yet  with temperatures in the 80's and the sun beating down we were hard-pressed to finish the ice cream before it melted into a huge mess. It was like a race.

I think Trevor is losing.

Perhaps I should have thought this through.

After cleaning up, we were off on scenic highway 61, up to the north shore!