Kim n Karen....On the Road: September 2021

Wednesday, September 8…Blowin’ In The Wind and A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan)

Disclaimer: Couldn’t decide which song title to use since they are both so spot on for today…so I’m using both of them. I gave myself persmission to change my rules. 😏

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We decided to bust for home today. Getting home a day early will give us time to get ready to head back to the U.P. on Friday for a family camp work weekend. There were a couple of route options…chose to go through Marquette instead of Escanaba. Either way it would be over a 300 mile day and we’d already been through Escanaba on this trip.

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It was just after 9 when I woke up this morning...funny but last night I’d imaged that we’d be on the road by that time. It doesn’t take long to get packed when we’re in a hotel room since just the T-bags and technology come in the room with us. But last night there were a couple of items we needed out of the trailer and unexpectedly the lid had a malfunction when it was opened…the hinge let loose and caused some damage which then wouldn’t allow it to close properly. Kim was able to do a temporary fix but the camp chairs that were strapped to the top of the trailer came in the room until it was time to pack this morning. So we had a little extra to take care of before checking out but we were on the road by 11 a.m.

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Today was all about making miles…Rapunzel said it was 336 miles to home and would take 5 hours and 58 minutes. No Roadside America stops allowed. Stopped for gas, used the bathroom and got back on the road. On one of our gas stops we had lunch at their café. We made it home in just over 7 hours, which is amazing considering how the day played out.

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Weather woes: At the time we left the hotel it looked like we were going to avoid the minor green clouds showing on the weather radar. No such luck. We rode through bands of rain for the entire ride. Thankfully the rain spurts didn’t last long but they came on very quickly and oh, how painful that rain was when it hit. It was the sharp stinging kind again. So it wasn’t necessarily the amount of rain that made it hard to see, it was the type of rain.

Had to stop twice after going through a rain spurt…I couldn’t get my visor down quick enough and the rain came in over top of my goggles. The inside of the lenses was getting rain spattered right along with the outside and needed to be wiped off. The second time it happened my eyes were being hit by the rain also. Very hard to keep your eyes open when it feels like they’re being stabbed by water.

Kim uses his visor a lot and kept it down all the time today; my goggles don’t fit so well under my visor so I typically don’t use it at all. Not using it was a mistake I made early on but I’m a fast learner so eventually I kept it down.

When the rain was coming down especially hard I would slow down and the gap between Kim and I would widen. More than once he came on the radio to let me know that I was almost out of the rain or that it was slacking off…giving me encouragement.

And the wind was an issue in places also. Like when crossing the Mackinac Bridge. Both of us have crossed the bridge many times and it’s always some degree of windy. But neither of us have ridden in the type of wind we encountered today. It was lean into it or be blown over. And I mean lean into it hard. As if that wasn’t stressful enough the needle rain started when we were about a third of the way across. Very thankful that there was no construction in the southbound lanes so we weren’t forced to ride the grate.

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I didn’t realize it until Kim mentioned it but we rode from the Holiday Station in Wetmore (near Munising) to home without stopping, which Rapunzel says would be 178 miles and about 3 hours. Add that to the stress of riding across the bridge and it’s no wonder the muscles in my right shoulder and neck were unbelievably tensed up and painful when I stopped in the driveway. I was in the shower about 15 minutes after arriving home.

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Despite today’s weather this time away on the bikes was a good break from real life. Now we’re home, refreshed and ready to wade back into it.

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Wednesday’s miles: 341

Total miles: 1621

And we're home!!

Tuesday, September 7…Pretty Good At Drinking Beer (Billy Currington)

We’d been watching the weather last night on our phones and knew that a storm was heading in our general direction. Made it to the cabin before any rain fell. In fact, it wasn’t until we were crawling into bed that the first raindrops began, the thunder rumbled and then I heard nothing else because then I was out like a light. Surfaced once or twice in the night to hear rain on the roof but nothing that kept me awake.

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The whistle blast of a nearby train nearly brought both of us out of our chairs. It sounded like it was rumbling right beside the campground; Kim wondered aloud how many trains run at night. As close as it sounded I was hoping that was the last for the evening. But I did hear one more train in what I assume was the wee hours of the morning. Went right back to sleep though.

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The Cloquet/Duluth KOA is about 500 miles from home; we don’t need to be home until Thursday so we have the ability to take our time. There are no KOA campgrounds until Munising which is farther than we wanted to ride in a day. Weather the past couple of nights has been questionable for camping in a tent for just one night. Nothing worse than packing up a wet or damp tent. Decided to do a hotel tonight which meant I had a bit of planning to do before leaving this morning. Pick a doable distance and see if there was lodging nearby. But also to consider was the sights along the way that would affect our time. When Rapunzel tells me that 300 miles should take 5 hours I know that it’ll take us longer. It just happens.

Eventually found a room in Bergland, MI, which just happens to be within walking distance of Lake Gogebic. Get there early enough Kim could fish.

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On a straight shot across US 2, Bergland is about 150 miles from Cloquet, MN. But there was an interesting ‘stick out’ of land between Superior and Ashland, WI, that seemed worth investigating. Highway 13 would take us out on the Bayfield Peninsula along the shore of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands Nat’l Lakeshore. Weather looked to be cooperative so let’s go for it.

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On the western side of the peninsula there was a band of muddy water along the shore of Lake Superior; Kim said that was from all the little muddy rivers and streams feeding into it. And we sure saw enough of those. Brule River was the only clear river we saw.

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The map showed maybe 10 towns along Hwy 13 so I figured there’d be plenty of restaurants, gift shops, gas stations, etc. Wrong! ‘Town’ proved to be a generous term for those located on the west side. They are unincorporated communities with populations between 100 and 200 with little to no visible commerce along Hwy 13. Bayfield, on the east side of the peninsula, boasts a population of over 500. It’s bigger because it’s the jumping off place for the Apostle Islands and has the Nat’l Lakeshore visitor center, gas stations, restaurants, stores and many affluent looking homes. Red Cliff, the northernmost community on the peninsula, is the home of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa with a population of over 2,500.

The west side reminded me of riding through some areas of the U.P…lots of trees, marshland, an occasional farm and not much else…the east side was more like a bustling port city. I like the west side better for riding but then the gas tank was over half full also so the lack of gas stations wasn't an issue.

In Port Wing we ate lunch at The Port. It billed itself as a bar and restaurant but mostly it was a bar with good food. It also appeared to be a hangout for the locals to get the scoop on medical procedures, how much beer was sold and consumed at a festival over the weekend, upcoming vacations, etc. Along with the gossip they were playing a dice game with a 6 pack mentioned as the prize. It was hard not to listen because the guys were talking kind of loud. Kind of like the old guys meeting for coffee except it was beer.

Curiosity was piqued when we saw a banner that simply said "Testicle Festival" hanging over by some trees near the bar. I googled it and found that it’s an annual cancer fundraising event sponsored by The Port. There is a 5K walk/run, music, various games, a raffle, lots of beer and food which includes Rocky Mountain Oysters (bull testicles). All proceeds stay local to help those dealing with cancer. Sounds like a good time and a worthy cause but I think I'd pass on the namesake delicacy.

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After a week of being in the Central Time Zone we’re back on normal time. It may take a day or two to adjust.

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We arrived in Bergland early enough for Kim to do some fishing out on the break wall…but he was definitely in a race against the weather. Dark clouds were approaching from the west and northwest making for a very dramatic sky. It was quite windy and the clouds were moving fast so we only got sprinkled on at first. I was expecting to get rained on but what really caught me off guard was the pea-sized hail. It only lasted a couple of seconds but enough to make me squawk at the surprise of it. A rainbow made an appearance also.

Kim caught 4 fish suitable for a meal…2 good-sized rock bass and 2 perch. But by that time the rain had really started coming down, his hands were cold and he wasn’t in the mood to clean and cook fish at 8 p.m. So he released them and we ordered pizza.

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Tuesday’s miles: 199

Total miles: 1280

Monday, September 6…We May Never Pass This Way Again (Seals and Crofts)

Took a proactive stance against waking up chilled last night: wore socks, shorts and fleece to bed along with the shirt I wear for PJs. Worked like a charm!!

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Several years ago when we were still using our bike trailer for camping in Arizona Kim bought me a bucket with a seat on it so I didn’t have to walk to the camp bathroom in the middle of the night if the need arose. It came along with us on this trip and took its place of honor in the corner of the tent. And I hafta say that it’s still a struggle to walk 3 steps to the bucket when the air is chilly and the bed is warm.

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We left ourselves 4 days to get home so Kim could stop to fish if he found a spot. Last night Kim changed out his fish line from 4 lb. to 15 lb. braided. Now he’s ready to catch some big ones as well as the pan fish.

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Breaking camp was easy peasy this morning. I basically took care of packing up the inside of the tent and Kim took care of all the other outside items that go in the trailer and then because he has a specific way of doing it he packed the trailer. We were out of there just after 11 a.m.

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Bemidji turned out to be the endpoint of this ride. We have 4 days to get home and just under 650 miles if we drive the same route as we came in on. Not my choice if I can help it. So last night I started looking at possible routes back to Michigan and where we might stay along the way. And in the process of looking I saw that Brainerd, MN is south of Bemidji, still in line with going across Wisconsin to the Upper Peninsula AND has a Paul Bunyan statue. And from Brainerd we could angle back north to a KOA outside of Duluth. Kim was game so I reserved a cabin at the KOA (no electric tent sites available) and started planning. We now had a destination, a route and things to see along the way….we’d be ready to rock n roll as soon as we broke camp this morning.

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I feel the need to say here that I really don’t have any great affinity for Paul Bunyan but we’re here in the land of all things Paul so I’m trying to take advantage of all the Roadside America fun to be had. Because who knows if or when we’ll be back. Seize the moment!!

Anyway, a couple of other Roadside America oddities popped up and wouldn’t you know they’re right near Brainerd. I wrote down the addresses and planned to plug them into Rapunzel as we went.

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Today’s first stop was a somewhat recent and smaller version of Paul and Babe…not going to break any records with this one but it was nicely done. We got our pictures and then moved onto the next stop which was in Baxter, a town that butted right up against Brainerd.

Our second stop was to see a statue of Babe that was painted Elvis style. Kind of cheesy but worth a picture. Then it was onto a nearby Dunham’s to buy a fishing license which as it turns out Dunham’s doesn’t sell. Seems a Holiday Gas Station is the only place to buy a fishing license in Brainerd so while we were waiting for our pizza I did a search. Three Holiday stations in the area…two would require backtracking and one was not far away in the direction we were going. It seemed to be on a side street so I suggested Kim plug it into Rapunzel and away we went.

When it seemed to me that we had gone too far with no Holiday station in sight, I radioed Kim to ask if he’d plugged it in. “No, because I find it rather strange that a Holiday gas station wouldn’t be on the main drag.” So we drove on looking for the Holiday and soon we were heading out of Brainerd…no Holiday, no fishing license and about 15 miles farther down the road I realized that there was NO PAUL BUNYAN! Well, I’m sure Paul is there, it’s just that in our focus to fill our bellies with good food and find a fishing license we forgot to look for the very thing that brought us to Brainerd in the first place. Agh!!!

Kim offered to turn around but not far down the road I knew I’d been through Brainerd before and probably have a picture of Paul somewhere at home. How do I know that I’ve been in Brainerd? My memory was jolted when I saw a statue of an ox outside a diving store that had a scuba mask on and was painted like it was wearing scuba gear. See that once, make a point of turning around to take a picture and you’ll remember it when you see it again. So it’s obvious to me that I have been this way before.

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We continued on down the road...beautiful drive with lots of lakes on both sides of the road. Finally found a gas station (not a Holiday) that sold fishing licenses so now it was just a matter of finding Mille Lacs Lake, a big lake on the route we were taking to the Cloquet/Duluth KOA. It looked like it’d have fishing opportunities.

About 30 miles out of Brainerd Kim radios that he hadn’t told Rapunzel to take us to the KOA so he hoped we were on the right road still. Well, we haven’t turned off the road so why wouldn’t it still be the right road? But his statement made me a bit nervous especially because we hadn’t encountered Mille Lacs Lake yet. After a few minutes mulling it over I suggested that we pull over to check with Rapunzel.

Came to the little town of Emily where Kim went into a store for bait and I checked the map. What the hell?! We were 40 miles north of Mille Lacs Lake! How did we do that? Decided to keep going toward the KOA from where we were. Minnesota brags about having 10,000 lakes…surely we’d find one that was fishable.

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Just as we leave the little town of Palisade (pop. 228) Kim saw bridge up ahead and a sign for a city park off to the right. He wanted to see if there was a river with access for fishing. Indeed there was a river so he got his gear and headed on down. And it was there on the banks of the Mississippi River that he caught the first decent sized keep-able fish of the trip…a crappie. A couple more of those and we were going to have a fish dinner. Eventually though he threw it back because it was his only catch. Oh, well, there’s always Wisconsin.

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I checked the map just to find out how we got off track in the Brainerd area. The road forked and we went left; should’ve gone right. Next time….😎

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Monday’s miles: 236

Total miles: 1,081

Sunday, September 5…Gone Fishin’ (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

10 a.m.: Woke up in the middle of the night not exactly cold but not exactly snuggly warm either. Whatever the issue, I wasn’t getting back to sleep very quickly. Grabbed my fleece for an extra layer and that did the trick. Sandman worked his magic again.

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Because noodling around on the computer is something I can do while sitting around the campfire I decided to dig a little deeper into Paul’s legend after I posted last night’s journal entry. Found two sites that I thought were credible that gave similar stories about the beginning of the legend:

The first Paul Bunyan story, “Round River,” made it into print in 1906, penned by journalist James MacGillivray for a local newspaper in Oscoda, Michigan. In 1912, MacGillivray collaborated with a poet on a Bunyan-themed poem for American Lumberman magazine, earning Paul Bunyan his first national exposure. Two years later, an ad campaign for Minnesota’s Red River Lumber Company featured the first illustrations of the larger-than-life lumberjack. Combined with pamphlets spinning the tales of his exploits, his prominent appearance as Red River’s mascot would help turn Paul Bunyan into a household name—and an enduring American icon. History.com

and

A few anecdotes of Paul Bunyan recorded from oral folklore suggest that he was known to lumbermen in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the Northwest before the first Bunyan stories were published by James MacGillivray in “The Round River Drive” (Detroit News-Tribune, July 24, 1910). Within 15 years, through popularization by professional writers, Bunyan was transformed from an occupational folk figure into a national legend.

Paul was first introduced to a general audience by W.B. Laughead, a Minnesota advertising man, in a series of pamphlets (1914–44) used to publicize the products of the Red River Lumber Company. These influenced Esther Shephard, who wrote of the mythic hero in Paul Bunyan (1924). James Stevens, also a lumber publicist, mixed tradition and invention in his version of the story, Paul Bunyan (1925). These books restyled Paul’s image for a wide popular audience; their humor centered on Paul’s gigantic-ness rather than on knowledge of lumbering techniques. The Bunyan legend was further popularized by numerous children’s books and by civic festivals held to attract tourists to “Bunyan-land.” Britannica.com

But I couldn’t find anything that explained why Babe was blue. 😏

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When we switched sites Friday morning the campground was about a quarter full. By Friday evening it looked to be about three-quarters full. Last night when we came back from our ride to Akeley the campground was full. Not an open site to be found.

This morning a number of campers are packing up and heading out even though even though there’s one more day left in this 3 day holiday weekend.

Yesterday we had decided to stay until Monday. Thankfully our site was still available for Sunday night…Kim still has some fishing to do and there’s still the Bemidji Paul Bunyan to visit.

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11 a.m. Update: In a town like Akeley with a population of about 400 a gigantic statue of Paul Bunyan tends to be noticeable. Bemidji has a population of just over 15,000 so it’s a bit easier to ‘hide’ a big statue of a flannel shirted dude and his blue ox. Did a map check before leaving camp to see the proximity of Lake Bemidji to Paul and Babe. It turns out they are located in a park along the shore of Lake Bemidji which Kim has been wanting to fish. So it’s a two for one with this stop.

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Noon Update: Took our picture with Paul and Babe and now Kim is fishing out on the dock and I’m sitting in a nearby pavilion doing some typing and watching him. The young man in the Information Center told me about another fishing spot at the point just up the shoreline. So when Kim gets tired of catching nothing here we’ll move to this other spot.

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Most of the sunburn on my cheeks has faded but my chin and nose are either peeling or else I’ve developed some weird scaly rash. Again, it’s a good thing I don’t have to look at myself.

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1:30 Update: Kim caught a couple of undersized fish at the first spot but considered it to be too weed choked to be worth anymore time so we got on the bikes to head to the second recommended spot. Went as far as we could go on the bikes then parked at an empty lot at the Bemidji State University. From there we walked to Diamond Point…Kim carrying his fishing gear and me carrying my computer bag and camera. If I’d know how far we’d be walking I would have changed out of my riding boots.

We’re at a park about ½ mile from where we parked…Kim is standing out in the water throwing his line and I’m sitting at a picnic table under oak trees that keep dropping acorns. Haven’t been hit so far

but I suppose if we’re here long enough that’ll increase the chance.

I’m not sure that Kim’s shoes really dried out from his foray into the Mississippi River headwaters on Friday…I see that he took his shoes and socks off today before wandering into Lake Bemidji. His feet will be warm and dry on the ride back to camp but those wet pants could make his legs a bit chilly.

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Bird Watching: We saw a couple of unfamiliar water birds while walking along Diamond Point. My job was to identify them.

We guessed that the first bird was a loon based on its long bill. What made it tough to identify was that it didn’t have a dark head like the images I was finding online. It had a white ‘chin’ and chest which eventually identified it as a common loon dressed in non-breeding plumage. Didn’t know that birds had seasonal looks.

I identified the second bird as a female common merganser. Drat! I was thinking it was an exotic breed because the crest on its head was standing straight up and I had never seen a bird with a hairdo like that. Seems it was just the wind playing games.

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Kim gave up on fishing about 3 o’clock and then we had a good walk back to the bikes. Found a geocache along the way. Ate a very late lunch at Applebee’s and then headed to camp. Chips and cheese dip are available if either of us gets hungry later.

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Sky has been alternating between sunny and cloudy. Wonderful warmth when the sun is out but the clouds can bring on a chilliness.

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Didn’t travel far today but we were able to get a Paul Bunyan picture and Kim spent a good deal of time in the water throwing his line out. I’ve heard it said that a bad day fishin’ beats a good day of anything else. Don’t know that I go along with that philosophy but then I’m not the one who brought a fishing rod along on this trip.

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Sunday’s miles: 13

Total miles: 845

Saturday, September 4...The Ballad of Paul Bunyan (Hick'ry Hawkins)

No cold feet last night, no street lights in my face and the traffic noise was audible but not an issue because it was constant. I woke up this morning thinking that tent site #75 was a good spot to land for a few days.

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Woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain falling on the tent. Feeling grateful for the rain fly I simply turned over and went back to sleep because I was snug as a bug in a rug and I didn’t care about the rain.

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After a breakfast of bacon and eggs we hung around camp until about 12:30. All clouds had cleared by that time and the sun was full out and heating things up. Good time to ride.

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I’m not geared to hang out in camp all day long. I want to see the area I’m in…see what the local community takes pride in. I believe every town/small city has a point of pride in itself...its claim to fame so to speak.

We’ve been through Bemidji before and know that it lays claim to having the oldest statues in the country of Paul Bunyan and Babe, his Blue Ox. Saw the statues on our last trip through here but I'm not opposed to checking them out again.

Anyway, in doing a search regarding the Bemidji Paul Bunyan I came across another town proud of its Paul Bunyan statue…Akeley, MN. Did a map search and found that Akeley is only 45 miles from Bemidji. Perfect distance for getting a ride in and still allowing for fishing time.

This is the information that caught my eye about this particular Paul Bunyan from the site savingplaces.org: Bunyan statues tend to stand out in any community they’re placed in, but the one constructed in the town of Akeley (population: 430) in 1984 is truly the star of the show.

Billed as the “World’s Largest Paul Bunyan” (though it is not the tallest), the statue would be even more imposing if it hadn’t been built in a kneeling position; standing straight up, the figure would reach an estimated 60 feet high!

But Dean Krotzer, who constructed the statue with his sons, wanted an accessible Bunyan that conveyed cordiality and warmth. He built Bunyan reaching out with his hand, allowing passersby to clamber on for a fun photo opportunity. It sits in front of the Akeley Paul Bunyan Historical Museum, and is made of rebar, fiberglass, and 4.5 tons of steel. Krotzer also needed more than one mile of twine to create the statue's hair and beard.

Getting a picture of us sitting in Paul’s hand? Oh, heck, yeah!!

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What I learned from the volunteer at the museum: 1. Akeley is pronounced with a long ‘a’ sound and 2. The city of Akeley was named after Healy C. Akeley, a partner in the Red River Lumber Company who was reportedly renowned for telling some fairly tall tales.

The literature she gave me added this information: From 1899 to 1918, the town of Akeley was the site of one of the largest sawmills in the world. Owned and operated by the Red River Lumber Company, this mill employed some 700 men, a crew that no only cut and processed over 400,000 feet of lumber per day but also shipped it out on 20 to 30 freight cars.

Telling tall tales led eventually to the creation of the strongest worker of them all. According to the Minnesota State Historical Society, the first Paul Bunyan story to appear in print was published in Akeley.

Later the character himself and the stories about him were used by the lumber company for advertising.

It must be noted that Akeley is only one of several towns which claim to be the birthplace of the Paul Bunyan legend. I don’t know who’s right and frankly don’t care…this is just Akeley’s story.

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We bought some Paul Bunyan swag at the museum…I bought a coloring book that has big pictures detailing much of Paul’s life and Kim bought a mug and a fishing lure with Paul’s picture on it. I hope that one catches a big fish. 😎

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Rapunzel took us on a very convoluted yet scenic route to Akeley today. Took our pictures with Paul and visited the nearby museum. Then one thing led to another and another and another and before I knew it we were heading to Crow Wing Lake in Akeley to do some fishing.

Kim was catching fish like crazy except that none of them were keepers. Sunfish, blue gill and perch…all too small. Regardless of how the fishing turned out today, it had already been determined that Spam was not on the menu for tonight. We had salads on hand just in case.

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I had brought my computer again to pass the time if we stopped to fish. Made myself comfy on the dock leaning up against a post and Kim alternated fishing on either side of me. I was totally focused on trying to see the computer screen in the bright sunshine when a tiny fish dropped down onto my hand. It had slipped out of Kim’s hand. The sound I made may have been a scream or it may have been a squawk but whatever it was, it was loud. From Kim’s viewpoint it was funny…I thought there was a smidge of scary mixed with the funny…and I’m sure the fish didn’t think it was funny at all.

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On our return trip to Bemidji Kim had forgotten to ask Rapunzel for directions. So we decided to do it on our own…from memory, following the signs, following landmarks, and such. We knew it could be dicey because Rapunzel’s route to Akeley had been anything but straightforward. But we had the time to get lost and besides Rapunzel was only a command away. One turn and bingo! We were on the highway back to Bemidji. It wasn’t the road she brought us in on but it was familiar ground…we’d be on it yesterday on our way back from Itasca State Park and it’s the route I saw on the map when researching where Akeley was located. Don’t know what was on Rapunzel’s mind this afternoon but it certainly wasn’t the most direct route.

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Just out of curiosity I polled my mom and my three brothers about eating Spam in our childhood…Mom, Dan and I don’t have clear memories of it but Steve and Tob both say that we definitely did. It wasn’t a frequent occurrence, however. So now I know.

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Saturday’s miles: 98

Total miles: 842

Friday, September 3…Mississippi River Blues (Big Bill Broonzy)

Woke at about 7:30 a.m. feeling warm and well rested. Yahoo! Last night by the time we made our last walk to the bathroom the rain/drizzle had stopped but when I went out this morning it was back. Not intense but it was enough to make me think we might be setting up our tent in the rain after all. Update: Turns out we set up in a drizzle not in a full on rain.

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I find that my arms, shoulders and neck get all knotted up when I ride in the rain. Comes from tensing up. I become aware of a dull ache in my shoulders and have to remind myself to relax…doesn’t take long before I’m right back to feeling the ache. The last 3 hours of Thursday night's ride into Bemidji was no exception; I was still trying to loosen up my neck and shoulders for a couple of hours after being off the bike. But sleeping in a warm cabin and taking a hot shower this morning seems to have done the trick to unknotting my shoulders. Very grateful for that. Makes riding a lot more enjoyable.

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11:45 a.m.: Kim had gone over to check out our tent site about 10 a.m. then went to the office to change it. Seems the one they were going to put us in wasn’t up to his level standards.😎 Then he took his bike and trailer over to the new site BEFORE we had repacked the items brought into the cabin last night. That meant that we schlepped everything over by hand. True, it wasn’t very far and Kim carried the heavy stuff but it still seemed silly to me not to use the trailer for transport. But regardless of the manner in which it was transferred, all our stuff was out of the cabin and over in the tent by 11 a.m. and that’s what matters.

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Noon: We’re currently up at the laundry room assessing our activity options. Still a light drizzle coming down but the sky seems to brightening up. I think we’re going to go adventuring, fully expecting to get a little damp.

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Left camp about 12:45 to find the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park. Rain had stopped so we stayed dry which is always more comfortable when sightseeing. Coming into the park we crossed the Mississippi which looked more like the Jordan River back home than the Mighty Mississippi.

At the Mary Gibbs Headwaters Center we looked at the displays, checked out the gift shop, squished a penny and ate lunch. Then we wandered down to see the marker. It was a very busy place so the selfie at the marker had to be quick. Before we left Kim wandered out into the middle of the stream so he could say that he stood in the middle of the Mississippi. Most of the kids doing that took their shoes off; Kim left his on. 😏

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Next up was trying to catch our supper. Headed over to Douglas Lodge area in the state park where there is a public fishing pier. I was going to be the rule book checker to see if whatever he caught was legal to keep but that’s a fairly boring job if nothing gets on the line. I had tucked my computer into my saddlebag so I’d have something to do while he fished…I played Solitaire and organized some pictures. But the thought of stretching out on the bench and taking a nap was fairly appealing also. Thankfully there were no bugs bothering us.

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We packed it in at about 6 p.m. The fish simply weren’t biting and we had about a 40 minute ride back to our can of Spam.

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I honestly cannot remember the last time I ate Spam. I’m sure I ate it somewhere along my life's journey but it certainly didn’t leave an impression like Jif peanut butter, mac n cheese or Cheerios. So I felt kind of like a rookie and had to take advice from Kim on how to prepare my Spamwich: put the grilled Spam on lightly buttered bread smeared with mustard. I have to say that I’m kind of ambivalent about the Spam experience. Apart from the mustard I don’t think it had much taste. I tried a piece plain…definitely needed the mustard.

Because I was curious Kim did a Google search about the content of Spam. First of all it consists of pork shoulder which in and of itself wasn’t a popular cut of meat. Secondly, it’s been around since before WWII and thirdly it’s a world-wide phenomenon. There’s so much more information out there about how beloved it is in various countries, favorite ways to prepare it and where the Spam festivals are held. Here’s a fascinating fact: over 8 billion cans of Spam have been sold worldwide with Hawaii being the biggest consumer per capita. Who keeps track of this stuff?

There you have it…more information that you ever needed to know about Spam.

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We saw the sun peek out a couple of times today…not for long but enough to give a person hope that the rain clouds would be moving on. The camp owner said that this area has been in a drought so they’re very grateful for the precipitation. Grateful is not the word that came to my mind.

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We basically made about an 80 mile loop today…headed west and then south to get to the Headwaters and continued south to get to fishing hole. To get back to camp Rapunzel had us go east and north. Rapunzel is usually a thorn in my side but today she did good…I like taking different routes because I get to see more of the area.

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Friday’s miles: 88

Total miles: 744

Thursday, September 2...Who Needs Sleep? (Barenaked Ladies)

Curry Park where we camped last night is right along US 2, the main road into Ironwood. It has a good deal of sites with electric nestled in among the trees along with a section of full hook-ups. Find a site, fill out the registration form, drop it in the envelope with money and settle in for your stay. A pretty sweet set-up. I wasn’t aware that some towns offered these kind of camping parks…thought the only options were state park, national park/forest, BLM Land or private campground.

We got to the park with plenty of daylight left and took our time picking out just the right campsite…the primary consideration was that it be level. The site we picked was near the road but we figured traffic would die down after 11 or so and besides it was the best of the bunch in the level department. So we set up camp, met up with the kids for supper and returned after dark. Sat outside a bit until it got

too chilly then decided it was time for bed. That’s when I realized that being level shouldn’t have been our only requirement. It may also have been smart to consider the location of streetlights, which in all fairness really wasn’t on our minds in the afternoon because they weren’t on. In addition our site was across the road from a 24 hour gym whose nighttime lights also were not on during the daylight hours.
   After climbing into bed I turned my back to the lights and despite the slight chill in the air I fell asleep fairly quickly. Kim’s internal thermostat usually runs about 10^o hotter than mine and snuggling up to him to steal his warmth certainly helped cut the chill. However sometime during the night I woke up because my feet were cold. My solution for warmth was to tuck the extra length of blankets underneath my feet so they were in between layers of blanket. This worked best if I was on my left side which put me facing the lights. So then I had to figure out how to position the blankets so I could block out the lights but not suffocate myself…because of the amount of light coming at me this took longer than I would have liked.
   So….cold feet plus lights plus the noise of the occasional semi-truck gearing down as it came into town equals a very long restless night. But the campsite only cost $10 so there is that. 😏
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   First words out of Kim’s mouth this morning upon waking were “I was thinking we should have bought an electric blanket.” Apparently he felt the chill during the night also.
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   Stopped in Ashland, WI, for some minor supplies including another blanket, fleece not electric.
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As if bright red cheeks, chin and nose yet white where the goggles and helmet chin strap were wasn't a bizarre enough look, my face is redder on the left side than the right. Same with my arms. Good thing I don't have to look at myself.

The day started out sunny so I sunscreened my face a couple of times before heading out. Not gonna let those UV rays compound my failure of yesterday. Sunscreened my arms even though I wore a long sleeve shirt because you never know what the day's weather may be.
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   Called Lake Itasca State Park to see about campsites…only ones available for our time frame were without electric and we need a site with electric because Kim uses a sleep machine. So in my search for campgrounds I saw that Bemidji has a KOA and is fairly close to the headwaters of the Mississippi. Went online and reserved a campsite with arriving today and leaving Sunday. Staying in the Bemidji area for 3 nights. Heading out Sunday...maybe.
   After we’d ridden in the rain for an hour or so, Kim came on the radio to ask about the possibility of getting a cabin for tonight at the KOA…he wasn’t in the mood to set up camp in the rain and possibly the dark at the rate we were going. I was in agreement. Stopped to make a phone call about a possible upgrade to a cabin for tonight. One cabin available so we took it.   Not only do we not have to set up in the rain (or so we hope) but it’ll also give our gear a chance to dry out.
   I know we’d decided to camp on this trip but I’m not going to complain about sleeping on a bed in a warm cabin with solid walls and curtains that block out the light…no bathroom, TV or microwave though. And bonus! It’s away from the road so minimal traffic noise. We’ll be back at the mercy of our natural surroundings tomorrow night.
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   Kim bought a 3-day fishing license so he’s legal in that regard. Weather looks to be slightly overcast tomorrow but hopefully no rain. We’ll probably seek out the Mississippi Headwaters first then look for a fishing hole. I’ll bring my camera while Kim brings his LDB Custom Rod and a well-stocked tackle box. However, he did buy a can of Spam so we have something to eat just in case he doesn’t catch our food. There’s also a container of trail mix left and I’m not opposed to eating that as a meal.
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   We crossed over the Mississippi River 3 or 4 times as we traveled along US 2 in Minnesota. I have to say it didn’t look like so mighty up here...it was narrow and looked to be lazily meandering through the countryside. Like a river with a small ‘r’.
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   To spare my arms further damage I started today with a long-sleeved shirt. Added a sweatshirt and gloves after lunch because my sunburned arms were feeling rather cool when riding. Last 3 hours of today’s ride I upgraded again.
   At a gas/bathroom stop we noticed some sprinkling and upon checking the weather radar found that there was a large green and yellow cloud coming our way. Ding Dang!! Rain gear time. So for the last 3 hours of the trip I was all snuggly warm and dry from layers despite the rain….just couldn’t do anything about the needle sharp raindrops hitting my face. Hate it when the rain is sharp like that. Goggles got rain spattered also but thankfully didn’t steam up. I can usually find a way to see around the raindrops but not the fogginess…that usually requires us to stop. So we were able to keep going, not quite up to the speed limit but forward progress is what mattered.
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Thursday’s miles: 272
Total miles: 656

Wednesday, September 1…Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (Chicago)

   Crows woke me up this morning. Not sure what time it was but it looked like daylight was peeking around the curtains. Didn’t want to get up so I rolled over and fell back asleep. Don’t know how long it was before I was re-awakened by Kim’s sleepy voice asking Alexa what time it was…I mumbled “Wrong bedroom” which caused him to sit up, look around in confusion and then laugh at himself. I may or may not let him forget that one. 😎
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   Today was about riding and eating. No extra stops to look at points of interest…just enjoying being on the bikes and looking forward to seeing family in Ironwood.
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   As I sit here in the dark thinking back over the day, a couple of things occur to me:

1. I should have worn sunscreen today as my arms and face are starting to feel the burn and

2. Packing another blanket might have been a good idea.

Not cold but a bit chillier than I was expecting…at this point sunburned arms are only adding to the chill.

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At the rest area where we ate our Lehto’s pasties, there was a point of interest sign…seems we were at or near the northernmost point on Lake Michigan. Walked over to read the sign. It mentioned that about a mile west of there was the northernmost point which had historical boundary significance, blah, blah, blah. All I could think was “Okay, so that would still be in the water and not on land because the lake is west.” It all became clear when I keyed into the little map picture: since we were at the top of the lake west was actually land and south was water. All my life of living on the west side of the Mitten I’ve been secure in the knowledge that west was always toward the lake. Now I learn that in parts of the U.P. Lake Michigan is south. This only adds to my directional confusion.😕

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It was a beautiful day for riding; temperature in the low 70’s. Sun most of the day; in the late afternoon we started seeing the occasional big fluffy cloud. The sun and wind felt oh, so silky warm on my arms…not hot at all which is probably why I felt safe without sunscreen. I won’t make that mistake again.

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Rapunzel took us around Escanaba…like through farmland and along winding roads. Can’t believe it was quicker than the usual route along 41 but it was more picturesque. This ‘shortcut’ brought us out to 69 which has a significant amount of small non-towns. There are the regular green signs indicating the town name but there was no town…not even crossroads that might lead to a hidden downtown. I counted seven houses in Helps, MI, between the two town signs…no gas station, no post office, no grocery store, no feed store. Wikipedia doesn’t even list it as a town…it’s an unincorporated community with signs just because it wants to be noticed.

The town of Hardwood does have a gas station which also doubles as its downtown according to the sign out front. It wasn’t a large gas station but it did have a well-maintained bathroom. Most of the little towns we encountered had a community center along the highway. Some had playgrounds. I imagine the community center could be a hopping place on a Saturday night. No community center in Helps, though.

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Left the campground at 11 a.m. knowing that we had a 300 mile day ahead of us. Pulled into Ironwood at about 5:15 p.m. Central Time. Found a city camping park where we set up our tent…Tia, Mavis and Marley met us there. The kids were thrilled with the motorcycles and helmets. Brittney and Lucca met us at the restaurant. Only got to spend a couple of hours with them but every moment makes a memory.

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All combined I walked maybe three quarters of a mile today and yet I logged 32,299 steps and about 15 miles on my Fitbit. That’s a whole lot of wrong information, for sure. If I take my Fitbit off while on a trip like this I run the risk of forgetting what safe place I put it in so I'm choosing to wear it knowing that the vibration of the bike will inflate my step count. The downside to that is that the Fitbit doesn’t know I'm not actually walking that much so my goals for the next Bingo challenge are going to be horrendously high.

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Wednesday’s miles: 316
Total miles: 384