Jim& June's Odyssey 091004
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2009
1
3
14
Trip End
Sep 29, 2009
Duluth, Minnesota, United States
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Along the way:
After leaving Bonnyville, we stopped at Shirley & Thorny's place (near Smoky Lake) and helped them build a 30’x30’ deck with a 20’x20’ addition onto their house. In Edmonton, we rebuilt a deck at Pauline & Franks. In Ponoka, we parked in front of Tony & Heidi’s place to visit for a couple days. We left the motorhome at Amanda & Andy’s (near Bragg Creek) for a week while visiting with June’s folks, sister and niece in High River and friends in Calgary. In Medicine Hat, we stayed at Shirley & Rod’s then visited with Uncle Frank & Mary, Rammer, Carissa & Chase. Our drive through Saskatchewan was mired by heavy rain so we drove to Brandon. The next morning was clear but by the time we got to eastern Manitoba, it was raining again. In Kenora, we stayed in Anicinabe campground (again) and had the camp managers, Larry & Nancy Cruikshank, over for supper and a visit – they’re heading for Florida for the winter as well. When we left a couple days later it was still raining – yikes. The very nice and gently undulating highway between Kenora & the US border is lined with rocks, muskegs, lakes, Indian territory, hunting/fishing camps and wilderness charter groups. In the US, the land began to open up to more farm land.
DULUTH, MINNESOTA:
Located on the western tip of Lake Superior, this is the largest inland port in the world. Nearly every train system in North America has a rail line terminating at massive grain terminals, iron ore storage/transfer or freight handling facilities. On the other hand, residences along the shoreline are majestic BUT none have docks nor boats in front of them (fearing damage from severe storms, I suppose).
Places we Visited:
- Glensheen Historic Estate – Built by a self taught lawyer and former Solicitor General of Minnesota for a cost of $850k in 1905 (today’s equivalent of $30 million), it overlooks the north shore of Lake Superior. The house has 14 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, 15 fireplaces and is a 27,000 sq ft masterpiece with electricity, intercom system, burglar alarm, a central vacuum system, hand carved walnut decor and 14 carat gold leaf ceilings. Chester Congdon made his fortune by buying up 2nd grade iron ore properties and waited until the mining companies cleaned out their 1st grade deposits – he then multiplied his investment by 16 times. THEN, he built another house twice this size in Yakima, Washington (close to his fruit growing operation). Currently, the Congdon family descendants use it as a time-share vacation destination.
· Toms Logging Camp – Located near Knife River, this is an authentic duplicate of a typical by-gone era with all the buildings (including a horse barn, blacksmith shop, harness shop, shoe shop, horseshoeing stall, bunkhouses, cook shanty and Finnish style sauna), articles, original tools and equipment when 30" diameter logs were the norm and horses provided ALL the power.
· Statue of Leif Erikson – Considered being the original discoverer of America, the citizens of Duluth have erected a statue of their hero and placed it in a large and prominent rose flowered garden overlooking the beaches of Lake Superior – very scenic.
· Minnesota Point – A long thin slice of land (actually a wide sand bar) that separates Lake Superior from a bustling deep harbor in Superior Bay. The Aerial Lift Bridge – the landmark of Duluth, provides access/egress to the "Point” where there are numerous residences, parks and recreational facilities. Every 2 hours, the bridge raises 225ft and a large ship passes underneath. As the deck goes up, large concrete counterweights (measuring 20ft wide x 60 ft high x 10 ft thick) drop to block any access onto the bridge – the whole bridge deck goes up in 2 minutes. A block away, we stayed at the Lakehead Boat Basin and it is NOT an RV resort, it’s a parking lot at a marina – we’re surrounded by, yachts, wharfs, fishing charter / excursion boats and float planes. At least, they have full hook-ups so it’s OK.
· Superior, Wisconsin – Located just across St Louis Bay, this smaller city is connected to Duluth by incredibly long and high bridges.
Things we Observed:
· A rail line through northern Minnesota is maintained by CN personnel and is used exclusively by CN trains, hmm???
· The water of Lake Superior in Duluth is red - don’t know if it’s from the algae in the lake or the iron ore content in the water. The gravel shoreline is red as well.
· When the ice breaks up, it pushes gravel, rocks and boulders 20 ft above the waterline.
· Log load squeezers. Along the highway south of Kenora, drivers are advised to check their “Pulp Load.” At designated locations, there are two 12 ft diameter culverts standing upright. We suppose that the truck is driven between these culverts and any logs that may be sticking out are squeezed back onto the truck where the driver then chains it into position.
Things we Learned:
· The town of Eveleth, Minnesota has the American Hockey Hall of Fame (located on Hat Trick Avenue) and boasts the world’s largest hockey stick.
· The town of Duluth is actually quite small. The city of Superior just across the bridge is much larger and has more businesses.
June’s Comments:
The so called RV park (listed in the Woodall’s RV directory) was actually a marina where boats were parked. The whole area was concrete (no grass or trees anywhere). We had full service and a picnic table so it was adequate for a two-night stay. As it turned out, the location was excellent – within walking distance of the downtown area. I was impressed with Leif Erickson Park. It was built above the freeway and had a huge rose garden that contained over 2000 rose bushes and 600+ varieties of roses. A lot of the bushes still had roses in full bloom. In another area there was a peony garden that had over 380 varieties of peonies. The downtown core catered mainly to tourists – small cantinas, bars, lounges, restaurants and gift shops. The whole area (about a six square blocks) was built with brick cobblestones instead of pavement. It was a pleasant walk after a long day’s drive!
