Holy crap!

It’s cold! We’d been waiting a couple of days until the mobile propane truck makes its run through the campgrounds, but apparently we waited too long. We mentioned that we were parked in the RV Park at Mystic Lake Casino, not because we missed the Strip, but because it is the only place within a couple hundred miles of Minneapolis that hasn’t already closed for the season. They shut off our water 4 days ago so were trying to make our full tank last until we leave.

Last night was the first time it was in the twenties. We had no idea that we would run out of propane during the night, and it would be so cold that our heat pumps wouldn’t work. I woke up a few times feeling the cold pressing through our single pane windows. But I had no idea. When we got up, the temperature in Colectiva was 41 – yikes! So, we took Kona out to the car and drove around the park for a while just so he could warm up a bit. The pooch and the Woman stayed out in the car nearly until the propane truck finally arrived. 

Talk to you soon!

Flurry of activity pays off

When Bladerunner 2049 was announced, I was ready and waiting. The Woman said she wouldn’t go see it until she had re-watched the original so she could better put the two together. So, I went to Amazon and had the original sent ahead to us in the Twin Cities. I figured 2049 would still be prominent in the theaters then.

Well, we got to Mystic Lake Casino (the only RV Park open this time of year in the area) and cracked out the disc. Oh no! The disc I ordered from Amazon was a multi-format disc, with one of the formats being traditional DVD. But the disc they sent was only Blu Ray, and wouldn’t play on our machine. So, a quick Google search found a Target 4 miles away, and I jumped in the Equinox and headed over. After scouring their shelves for some time, I finally found one copy sitting behind some other discs on the discount DVD shelf – yippee!

The Woman was happy. She got refreshed, and the next day we hopped to the nearest theater and took in Bladerunner 2049. It was great fun, although a bit stretched and slow at times. My goodness, we left the theater nearly 3 hours after the film started!

So, it all worked out as planned, despite the scuttle. And, the bonus paid for our movie, a Fat Tire and a Chardonnay. I sent the incorrect disc back to Amazon and they credited me the $24.99 it cost. The DVD I picked up at Target was $5 even. I think I ended up with a few cents in my pocket afterward!

Talk to you soon!

Duluth Minnesota

We learned that just North of Duluth stood the Whispering Giant that Peter Wolf Toth had carved and donated to the State of Minnesota. Of course, we couldn’t let that stand without paying a visit to take in another magnificent Toth carving.

Outside the visitor center in Two Harbors Minnesota is the state’s gift from Toth. We don’t believe we have yet to see a Whispering Giant with hands – all we’ve seen so far have only been massive head carvings. It was fun to see a little variation here on the Range.

We got really lucky. Our nephew Jonny is currently a student at the University of Minnesota, Duluth campus. It turned out that the only day we happened to be staying in Duluth was the day he was in a choir concert open to the public. We scooped up our tickets and by a fluke, got to see Jonny perform in a very interesting and complex demonstration of Barouche era music. (The tall guy, not unlike his Auntie) Fun!

Talk to you soon!

Itasca State Park

I just assumed that everyone who lived, as a child, had visited the headwaters of the Mississippi River when they were a kid, doing the family caravan thing in a station wagon. I knew that I had done that, but learned that the Woman had never been there. While it wasn’t directly on our path South, it wasn’t that far out of the way.

As we neared Itasca State Park, we began crossing the Mississippi River on bridges – it was more of a creek up here than a river. But it was really cool to see where the source of the 4^th longest river in the world got its start. We spotted this lovely ladder-back woodpecker on a trail that meandered along the edge of the River.

Itasca was great and well worth a visit if you haven’t. The Park has oodles of  history – in the early 1800’s the local settlers had their share of feuds. In October of 1898, William McMullen was hunting with Nelson Rust when Rust shot him through the heart. Rust claimed he thought the white scarf McMullen wore was the tail of a deer. Friends of McMullen knew that Rust wanted the land that McMullen owned, and believed it was not an accident. Rust was acquitted at trial, but the marker in the 1800’s era Pioneer Cemetery where the early settlers are buried leaves the question open.

Apparently the source of the great Mississippi was unknown well into the mid-1800’s. Since the river passes through several lakes in its early miles many debated which lake was actually the source. Eventually scientists agreed it was, in fact, Lake Itasca that served as the source. Land surveyor Jacob Bower is credited with providing the best evidence to support the lake as the true source, and Henry Schoolcraft renamed the lake Itasca coined from a combination of Latin words essentially meaning “truth head”.

We had a spectacular visit, especially since the weather was 70 and sunny, not very normal for late October this far North in Minnesota. We hiked all the trails we could find, and visited all the CCC era structures that still remain in the Park.

The pooch joined us on several of the hikes and enjoyed it thoroughly. Kona had never strolled through fallen leaves before, and you could clearly see how happy he was romping and creating a leaf crinkling ruckus.

We saw visitor alerts all over the roadways in Itasca Park. I assume that they may actually post some meaningful warnings at times, but when it’s sunny and 70’s, maybe this is all you get warned about or alerted to. 

While we haven’t driven all of it, I can safely say that we have easily driven more than half of the Great River Road that lines the entire length of the Mississippi River. Much of it we drove in the heartland a couple years ago from the Twin Cities down to Missouri. But, we had never driven a portion of the Road that actually lies North of the headwaters. We learned that as the Mississippi leaves the waters of Itasca, it actually makes a big sweeping curve Northeast, and then begins its long trudge to New Orleans. So, we added a whole bunch more Great River Road mile notches to our belt.

Here I am actually standing in the center of the Mississippi River just a few feet from Lake Itasca. While the water was brisk, the sun and the 70’s made the venture worthwhile. It didn’t take very long for my numb feet to return to normal.

Talk to you soon!

International Falls Minnesota

The Woman wanted her drugs – Tylenol with Codeine – which used to be over the counter in Canada. She tried to buy some in Winnipeg and learned it was now considered prescription only. However, she learned that was a Provincial determination, and Ontario hadn’t adopted that as yet. So, we headed to International Falls via Kenora Ontario – an hour out of the way, but the Woman got her opioids. On top of that, I got to see Husky the Musky, allegedly the largest statue of a Musky in the world!

It was nice to cross the border and be back in the States again – no more translation fees on the credit card or roaming charges from Sprint – yippeeeeeeee! However, the Canadians weren’t about to let us leave without one last gift. The gift that keeps on giving – and giving. I am really glad that I don’t have to walk across this field!

I hadn’t been in International Falls in maybe 40 years, and the Woman had never been here. It seemed actually balmy compared to Winnipeg and Churchill – temps in the low 60’s had us out walking around, and seeing folk in lawn chairs in their yards.  We took the pooch to Smokey the Bear Park, where the largest Smokey statue has been claimed by the city of International Falls. Built in 1953, me and the bear are the same age – I think I am fairing age better, but give it another 20 and maybe not.

We headed to Voyageurs National Park. Although born in Minnesota, neither of us had ever been here. It’s essentially a water park – even though it covers over 200,000 acres, the vast majority can only be reached by water. The Kabetogoma Peninsula, which lies entirely within the Park, can only be reached by water. We hit the Rainy Lake Visitor center which is the only one open year-round. We hiked the only trail available in our balmy weather and had a great time.

On the way to the National Park we passed by the town of Rainier. The former 3-time mayor of the town, Vic Davis, owned an island in Rainy Lake. The US Government decided to expand the size of Voyageur National Park in 1980 and through eminent domain, seized his land and told him to vacate. In protest, he had a 25-foot-tall statue made of himself as a Voyageur and placed it on the island. Not amused, the NPS removed the statue and forced Vic from the island.

After suing the Feds, Vic was awarded $90,000 in compensation for his stolen land, and he gifted his statue to his town of Rainier, where it stands today. We swung through Rainier just to see what all the hub bub was about. It was a very small town, that looked like it might sport a bit more action during the summer lake season. If we ever get back here, I’m pretty sure I would want to try out Woody’s Guide Service – wouldn’t you?

Apparently, folks in International Falls are statue fanatics. While he was actually born in Rainy River Ontario to Eastern European immigrants, the world famous early football star Bronko Nagurski was raised in International Falls. Playing football in Bemidji where he graduated high school, he went on to play with the University of Minnesota Gophers. He helped the Gophers to an 18-4-2 record during his time, and took them to the Big 10 Conference Championship in 1927. Apparently Nagurski considered the Falls as his home town, and dedicated a wing of the Koochiching County Museum.

Talk to you soon!

Winnipeg II

We attempted to exhaust Winnipeg. We learned that in addition to giving a Whispering Giant to every state in the US, Peter Wolf Toth also gave one of his mammoth wood carvings to Canada. It turns out that the only Toth in Canada happens to be in the town of Winnipeg Beach, about an hour North of Winnipeg on Lake Winnipeg. We enjoyed the drive, because even though its nearing winter and all the “beach” businesses are closed for the season, each of these beach towns reminded us a bit of the Texas and Florida coasts – outdoor dining on the water (vacant now), video parlors with garage doors for the warm season – it was great fun!

We visited the Canadian National Museum of Human Rights. It is a massive structure that reminded me in some ways of our visit to the Guggenheim in Spain, at least as far as the quality of the exhibits and the interesting paths to see them. The museum walks through a multitude of struggles in the world for basic human rights, not always pointing out how political governments lead the way. The museum addresses both famous historical human rights struggles, like the holocaust and the plight of indigenous folk in Canada as the country expanded West, as well as every day struggles for gender rights, cultural rights, and basic human needs. We spent the better part of a day here, and could easily have come back for more.

The Woman had her 63^rd birthday while we were in Winnipeg. The always nice folks on our Fantasy RV Tour were on top of it. When the Woman woke up on her birthday and took the pooch out for his morning restroom break, she was greeted by a coach door full of balloons and a birthday greeting!

We spent a day in Steinbach Manitoba where they have assembled a collection of actual buildings and everyday items from the many Mennonite villages that populated early Manitoba. We learned that our knowledge of the Mennonite belief was pretty sketchy. We had seen some displays on the Mennonites in the Human Rights Museum, but didn’t realize how persecuted these folks were everywhere that they tried to settle and make a life. This steam driven tractor was actually used on one of the many Mennonite farms in the nearby area.
Talk to you soon!

Winnipeg Manitoba

We’ve been to Winnipeg before but didn’t take in the sights. So, now was our chance. Winnipeg sits on the vast Manitoba plains, as flat as can be. So renowned architect Etienne Gaboury took it on himself to build some mountains in Winnipeg. Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church is one of the many mountains French born Gaboury was responsible for. He built another “mountain” in his design of the main downtown bridge across the Red River.

Another mountain Gaboury was the architect of is the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg. We got to tour the mint and learn about what has turned into big business. Built in Winnipeg in order to minimize shipping costs (Winnipeg is just about in the dead center of Canada), the mint actually makes coins for over 170 countries throughout the world. During a brief time when the US mint was having a material supply problem the Winnipeg mint even made some coin blanks for the US.

We visited the remains of Upper Fort Gary, another of the string of early Hudson Bay Company trading posts. All that remains is the East gate of the fort, but considering that it was built in the early 1800’s, it’s still pretty impressive. It lies in the shadow of the historic Hotel Fort Gary, where the wealthy and famous were put up after arriving in Winnipeg at Union Station, across the street.

We grabbed lunch getting an hour long panoramic view of all of Winnipeg. The saucer shaped structure on the top of the high rise in the last picture is the Prairie 360 restaurant. It has a revolving seating area that lets you dine and get a private tour of the town. Since the only mountains anywhere near are the ones designed by Gaboury, you get an unobstructed, spectacular view.

We toured the Manitoba Legislative Building, completed in 1920. We learned that it was designed by Frank Worthington Simon, a notable Free Mason of the times. As we toured the impressive stone building, our guide pointed out all the mysterious Free Mason symbolism that was built into the structure. There were hundreds of such symbols that otherwise would just look like interesting decorations. 

On the dome of the Legislative Building is one of the objects most recognized by Winnipeggers. Known as the Golden Boy, this statue of Mercury shows up in most tourism related brochures, and on post cards anywhere you look. The sun gave us a nice show of it this day.

We visited the gravesite of Louis Riel, in the shadow of the ruins of the St. Boniface Cathedral. Louis Riel was a Metis who campaigned tirelessly for the preservation of lands, rights and the culture of the Metis. He is credited for creating the movement that resulted in the granting of Manitoba the status of a province of Canada in 1870.

Sadly, his activities that resulted in Manitoba being admitted as a province ended up not serving him well. His activities to preserve the lands, culture and rights of the Metis got him arrested and tried for treason against the Nation of Canada. He was found guilty and hung on May 20, 1885. This statue of Riel used to sit outside the Legislative Building, but locals found it to risqué and so it was moved to Assiniboine Park. Interestingly, it was sculpted by Etienne Gaboury.

Not only did we visit all the historical Hudson Bay Company trading forts, we decided to peek into the original Hudson Bay Company department store in downtown Winnipeg. The store used to have 8 floors cram packed with merchandise for sale. Now, with the advent of online competition, 6 of the floors are empty and only the first two are open to shoppers. It’s still cool though to think that this is the first company ever to be incorporated, by British Royal Charter, on May 2, 1670!

Talk to you soon!