Blake and Zoe picked up Jack and I at 12:30 the next day (Thursday) and we were on the road by 1. Jim and Brett took to the road a couple hours prior. iCarly was the pick for videos, so Blake and I suffered through pre-teen humor and Disney pop songs. We hit DQ in Moose Lake and got all the way to Duluth before the "how much longer" questions started to roll. The Werger van hit Gooseberry for an hour or so to let us gain some ground. Both vehicles pulled into Grand Marais around 6. Very quick ride!

After some much needed rock skipping into the harbor, the kids jumping on rocks and our first skidded knee, we hit Sven and Ole's for some za, soda and Twins game. The Twins spotted Frankie Liriano a 5 run lead and we would have to wait until we came out to see if the Twinkie could hold on against the Ranger (they did). Grabbed some bait and beer and headed up the Gunflint Trail. The kids were so interested they waited 5 minutes to ask for a video. A couple deer and a fox were spotted off the Gunflint on the way up, which was cool.

Pulled into the Clearwater Lodge after dark around 9 pm. Very nice lodge with a huge stone fireplace. We would have zoned out and stared at a fire in the lodge, but we had kids full of sugar. Garlock has added that to his "things to do before he dies" list. "Sit by fire at Clearwater with a pale ale of some sort". I added the "pale ale", but I'm sure to join him for the fireside stare and would need a good beer.

Made our way back in the pitch dark to the bunkhouse, which was surprisingly nice (had no expectations, but stayed in some rustic ones in the past). It was decked out with a couple rooms, enough beds for 14 and running water with a toilet. We crushed a couple 13, 14 beers between the 4 of us talking about trips of old and the coming adventure. Lights out around 11.