Day: September 11, 2018

Monday was a travel day as I drove approximately 480 miles from where I had been staying in Bismarck, North Dakota, due east through Fargo and across to the northeastern part of Minnesota.  I will be spending three nights in Duluth.

Tuesday I finished something I started when I was in Duluth three years ago – driving up the “North Shore Drive” to the Canadian border.  Duluth is at the southeast corner of Lake Superior, the largest and western-most of the five Great Lakes.  North Shore Drive is Highway 61 which runs up the entire west coast of the lake as it borders Minnesota.  I had driven about halfway up when I was here before but wanted to see all of it.  It was a gorgeous day, clear with temps in the low 70’s when I left town in the late morning and dropping into the high 60’s when I was at the northern end of the line.

The lake looked pretty much the same regardless of where I stopped.

It amazed me last year when I went through this tunnel through a mountain which runs right up to the lake’s shoreline.  The lake starts just to the left of where the people are walking.

This is the Split Rock Lighthouse, which sits on a cliff overlooking the lake:

This is a marina further north, I don’t remember exactly where:

This is something which almost got me in trouble the last time I was here.  I was intrigued by the sign but couldn’t figure out exactly what it was directing me to.  There was a house a little further up the road but no sign on it indicating it was a museum or gift shop, and there was no one home.  I did find a small driveway opposite the sign coming from the other direction.  It was initially paved, quickly changed to dirt and then became just two tire tracks in the grass – all leading down towards the lake.  When I got pretty far down the hill all I could see was a cabin right next to the shore with no vehicles and no sign that anyone was there.  It was all I could do to get the car turned around and get back up the hill to the main road (I was afraid I was going to have to call AAA to perform what would have been my first “extraction”).  I got out safely but still don’t know exactly what this sign signifies.

And this is in Grand Marais, near the northern end of the road.  The road continues on state land for a while longer, then crosses onto the Grand Portage Indian Reservation where it ultimately ends just past the town of Grand Portage (the road doesn’t actually end there, it crosses over into Canada).

Wednesday I plan to spend most of the day near downtown Duluth.

While I was staying at my Airbnb in Bismarck the “co-host” there kept me entertained.  Gizmo, who I’m told is a domestic shorthair variety of cat, was a frequent companion while I was there.  As soon as she heard me open my door in the morning she came running downstairs to see what I was doing.  It was actually hard for me to get pictures of her because she was always so close.  I would often sit and let her sit or nap on my lap, but she mainly wanted me to rub under her chin.  She came right to me when I entered the house the first time and shadowed me most of the time I was there.

Downstairs (in the guest living room) Sunday morning:

Upstairs, right before I left Monday morning:

My reward for driving all the way to the end of the 14-mile one-way road in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park on Saturday was that that’s where the bison were.  Right where the road met the parking lot there several bison had meandered over right next to the road while others remained out in the field behind them.  After turning around I waited a short while, then drove around a few cars which had stopped to take pictures.  I took these from the relative comfort and safety of my car as I drove slowly around the other cars and stopped briefly to snap each shot.