Camping at Gooseberry

We got home late last night from a FABULOUS camping trip to Gooseberry Falls State Park with my brother and his family. The weather was perfect (70's during the day and 50's at night), our site was great, and the time spent with Micah and his crew was priceless.
We headed out Monday in the late afternoon. We met up with Micah & Missy in Duluth for dinner at Grandma's (a mandatory stop in Duluth, in my opinion). The kids had fun watching the boats go under the bridge, playing with flowers, and riding the motorcycle & horse while we waited to be seated.




We didn't get to our campsites until after dark, so it was a late night for both kiddos and parents alike. Thankfully, our family woke up to a nice, quiet morning. But poor Micah and Missy woke up to the sound of backhoes and earth movers at 7:00 am! Apparently there was construction happening on a bike trail right next to their site. The noise continued ALL DAY LONG and into supper time every day. Unfortunately, the whole campground was pretty packed and there was no good opportunity for them to switch to another site. Micah and Missy made the best of it and enjoyed their trip nonetheless.
Later that day we took the kids to the falls, and they absolutely LOVED it! We spent most of the afternoon splashing in the water. After their naps we took them to Lake Superior for more splashing and rock throwing.
Tuesday night was really cool -- JP and I were sitting around our camp fire enjoying the coolness of the evening when I noticed a shooting star. Then, maybe 20 seconds later, I saw another one! Turns out the Perseids Meteor Shower is just getting started, and it will peak on the morning of August 12th. I ended up seeing 13 meteors in a span of maybe 45 minutes, and JP saw some others that I didn't catch. It was amazing.
Wednesday we took the kids back to the falls for more splashing, but midway through our picnic lunch it started sprinkling. It was no big deal, and we continued to eat and play in the water until Micah and Missy realized they didn't have a rain fly on their tent! We raced back to the camp site to find their sleeping bags were soaked. We had to make a trip to the Two Harbors laundromat to dry them out.
Our family had to come home Wednesday night. We would have loved to stay another couple days. The time we spent with Micah, Missy, Malachi and Zach was absolutely precious, as well as the time we spent together as a family. It was one of the most relaxing camping trips we've ever taken.