Photos by:

Gary Gray

About 20 people showed up for an action packed day at Taylor’s Falls.   We started with a tour through Insterstate State Park which is composed of lava from the biggest volcano ever on Earth - 1,200 miles long!   Fortunately for us, it quit erupting over a billion years ago.   Then came the melting glaciers 10,000 years ago that created a huge Glacial Lake Duluth and the subsequent monstrous St. Croix River.   The rushing river not only carved out the wide valley, it created the world famous potholes as well. ( No, no one fell in.)

Then came lunch of hamburgers, pizza and malts (and skyrocketing cholesterol levels) followed by a paddle boat excursion down the beautiful river.   We learned about some of the history of the area and saw various rock forms which, with enough imagination, looked like people and religious icons.

We wound up at the wonderful and quirky Franconia Outdoor Art Sculpture Park.   Coincidently, one of our favorite sculptures was the subject of a Pioneer Press story two days later.   It had been created to honor the famous Tuskegee African-Americans who flew red tailed fighters in WWII.   The huge park also provided several sculptures in which we could “hang out,” literally!

Gary Gray