Celebrating Lukie's Birthday...

 We celebrated Lukie's 12th birthday today...who doesn't start a day off with a birthday donut?

Of course we stuck a candle in it and sang to him...

And then it twas time for what he really wanted...a small lego set, a new PlayStation game and a rod/reel...

We've known we were going to have lunch at Rey Azteca's on Labor Day, so lunch it was...

Magnetic Rock...

Heading up the Gunflint Trail, we made a quick stop at the Laurentian Divide.  We had a nice discussion about divides and how water from here flows towards Hudson Bay or Lake Superior...

Waking up the first morning while on the Gunflint Trail, we took short drive to another scenic overlook.  Past Gunflint Lake in the distance is Canada..

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We then took a hike to Magnetic Rock, a large piece of iron formation that glaciers left standing vertically.  The hike is a 1.5 mile, out and back through the Superior National Forest...

Along the way, Lukie and Lex tested whether the rock was magnetic.  Considering the rock along the entire trail was the Gunflint Iron Formation, most of it was magnetic...

There are numerous overlooks that provide great views...

Magnetic Rock.  Lukie and Lex for scale...

And yes, magnets are attracted to it...

The hike back...we tend to take more rests on the way back...

Here they are looking at what I suspect is a stromatolite...stromatolites are numerous in the area.  Stromatolites are fossilized algae and are the reason the iron formation was deposited in the area.  About two billion years ago, the area was under water, under an ocean.  Small grained sediment was being deposited and the water contained lots of iron.  As the algae went through photosynthesis, the iron rusted out of the water and was deposited in the fine grained sediments.  Layers and layers of this built up and now we have the iron formation (the same process happened on the Mesabi Range at about the same time)...

Had to get our selfie...

Way off in the distance you might see County Road 12, the Gunflint Trail...

The views are endless...

We had the trail to ourselves...100 feet from the trailhead, we saw two people beginning their hike...it was a great morning...

Science Museum...

 Taking a break from the posts of our Cook County trip for a bit...but yesterday we went to the Science Museum for the first time since winter.  The museum opened last weekend and this weekend for members only, before opening for the public in September.  Lots of changes that can be expected...but it was still the museum...

When we walked in, the said "hey, we just saw that!"  Of course, when we were at Itasca, both couldn't remember seeing this sign before...

Lukie has always liked trying to be a riverboat captain...

And putting their masked face on the giant astronaut...

The tornado machine is still working...

Lex did read the sign at the gravity well, but I'm pretty sure she enjoyed watching the balls go around more...

Yep...stay 1 velociraptor apart...

Lukie raced the T-Rex...he lost, but it was closer than it's ever been...

Lex also raced the T-Rex (and cheated by starting early)...

She lost too...

They tested their jumping skills...

Lukie compared his shot to Lindsay Whalen's...

Apparently, Lukie is almost 5 feet tall...

Just playing with colors...

Good to know the triceratops is well...

We saw an awesome omnitheater film...very limited seating, the entire room is disinfected between shows...

And played on the musical stairs...

The T-Rex is doing it's part...

Lukie and I have been taking this picture for years...he's getting harder to lift...

It was a good day...

Superior Hiking Trail...

 After visiting Grand Portage State Park, we detoured off Highway 61 to take a hike on the Superior Hiking Trail (I still have to post a on a 7 mile hike that we did on the SHT in June) to it's northern terminus.  From the trailhead, it was a 1.2 mile hike (so a 2.4 mile hike out and back)...

This portion of the trail is shared with the Border Route Trail that runs east/west through the BWCA along the Canadian border...

Most of the trail was in pretty decent shape, it apparently gets a lot of hikers (even though we only saw 2)...

After 1.2 miles, you get to a 270 degree overlook...it was a great view...

And a good spot for lunch...

Just below the overlook is where the SHT officially ends...

It was another great day.