maia belongs in minnesota

So Maia is a pretty popular dog here in Iowa. We cannot go on a walk without kids begging to pet her, people letting us know that she is so beautiful and wondering what breed she is (after guessing wrong). But in northern Minnesota, we had people chasing us down the street to pet Maia, and then proceed to tell us about their elk hound puppy that they just got, or stories of having elk hounds as a child.

It was a lot of fun hearing all the stories, in once case a lady found an elk hound on her front porch and watched over it for a few days until the owner showed up. He told her that was his dog and asked if she wanted to keep it. You see, he was moving to the city and was taking the dog out to the woods to shoot it when it got away. So glad the dog showed up on that lady's porch! After it died, (of natural causes) that family went out and got another elk hound.

So you see, Maia belongs in Minnesota.

Here are some photos from our north shore vacation. I am ready to go back!

Of course, on of our first stops once we got into Grand Marais was Sven and Ole's - YUM!


There was lots of reading by the fire...


Lot of beach wondering...


And Lake Superior tasting...


You can't go to Grand Marais without a trip out to Artist Point...


...which was a feat in and of itself and we had to keep maia from jumping off the levy!


Ahh the joys of trying to take a family photo...




Getting ready to hike up Eagle Mountain...





A 7.5 mile hike, wore Maia out!




We witnessed a few beautiful sunsets


And enjoyed a few delicious donuts...


















We didn't spend enough time at the North Shore...our next vacation that we decide to spend in Minnesota will have more camping and less city dwelling!