Voyageurs
Betty’s Pies
We were cruising down the road when I spotted a line of people out of nowhere and a sign that read Betty’s Pies. My brain only needed about 100 feet to decide—you’ve gotta stop and see whatever the hell this is—so I locked up the brakes, swung the car around, and pulled into the lot. Inside, it was the kind of place where you walk in smelling diner coffee and walk out cradling a slice of heaven. The specialty was bumbleberry pie—and yes, I had the same question, what the hell is bumbleberry? Turns out it’s a sweet-tart jumble of berries all baked together into one glorious slice. After a cold plunge in Superior, sinking a fork into that pie felt like eating summer itself.
Finally Voyageurs National Park
We rolled into the park in August of 2020, right in the middle of the COVID pandemic’s fever pitch, and I don’t know if it was the time of year or just the lack of people around, but I swear I saw more snakes here than in all the other parks I’ve visited combined. To be fair, none of them were venomous, and every single one seemed just as eager to avoid me as I was to avoid them, we basically had a mutual agreement to keep our distance. Still, when you’re hiking through quiet trails with nobody else around and a snake darts across your path, it definitely keeps you on your toes.
