Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.72.40
Current Song - It's My Life (No Doubt)
Note: I've been back since April 7, and it is now April 27. Of the 20 days since I came back home, a lot has happened. Thus the delay. Plus, I didn't write while on the vacation (compared to last year) simply because there was too much to do.
There are pictures of the trip on my Facebook photo album.
Because of the numerous things I saw, I had to break the entry down into four days. The previous entries broke down days 1, 2 and 3. This entry recalls Day 4, the final day of the vacaction.
Since I got a late ending to the previous day, I eventually work up later than planned. I couldn't change that, but I had to tweak some plans a little. I knew, however, that on the way there I had some time to spare from where I left in in Hastings on Day 1. I figured I had enough time to get back to Dubuque before dusk. But I still had the entire east side of the Twin Cities to see, and then all of Wisconsin.
I woke up at 9:30 a.m. and immediately prepared for departure, and checking out of the hotel. I got four cents off a gallon at the BP, and was given a coupon for five cents off on my next trip. There is no next trip. I still have the coupon, just in case. I decided to start where I-494 met the river on the east side. Doing so meant I had to cross the River on the new I-35W bridge. So yeah, I crossed it.
The road along the east side of the river was called East River Parkway. There was a park where the road intersected with 494, where I stopped for a while. Then began the journey down this East River Parkway through the Twin Cities.
To my amazement, it was pretty much the same experience as the drive along West River Parkway. Like the opposite site, there is a jogging path next to the road, and I had never seen that many joggers. I once again briefly thought to myself that I was the largest person within the city limits. Next to the jogging path was a wall of trees and shrubbery, so I couldn't really see water unless it was a park of some sort. But the houses were great. The south side of St. Paul seemed to have more scenic overlooks than Minneapolis, because the land is so high up. There was one overlook that gave a spectacular view of the downtown area. Not only did I see downtown, but the large bluff that I was on a couple of days earlier, as well as the state capitol building.
Because there was no split of the river, like on the other side, this East River Parkway was very straightforward, with the small exception of downtown. The west side had a split, where the mouth of the Minnesota River was, and it was difficult to navigate. But there were no problems on this day.
I actually didn't cross into Wisconsin from the east side of the river due to a missed turn, but joined Wisconsin at Red Wing. Little did I know there would be a lot more stops along this path than Iowa's. The Wisconsin "Great River Road" was Route 35, which was familiar to be because that route ends at East Dubuque. At least I knew I wasn't going to veer off too much!
Take someone down Illinois Route 2 between Grand Detour and Rockford, and they'll like it. I've been down it so many times not to even think about it anymore. But Wisconsin Route 35 has Illinois Route 2's number when it comes to scenery. It follows the river more than the Iowa/Minnesota side, and there are literally hundreds of bluffs.
Each town - Bay City, Stockholm, Nelson, Buffalo was more of the same. They are tiny towns that area stretched out. When you enter a town - lucky enough to after seeing bluff after bluff after bluff, and taking pictures of them while driving - you see a sign telling you the name of the town, and the town's population. These towns had small populations, and normally they do not take long to drive through. These towns are so stretched out, you begin to wonder when the end of town is.
The best thing about these towns is that they are in their own little holes. There's nothing visable north, south, east, or even west (except the River). It's an own little world. Pepin is between Stockholm and Nelson, and wasn't really typical of the other towns. It was much larger, and was popular because Laura Ingalls Wilder was born there.
You can't really put the descriptions into words, and really have to drive down Route 35 to get a feeling of it.
Wisconsin has so many historical markers. It seemed as if there was one every five miles. Any minor bit of history was marked. Not too long after entering Wisconsin there was a historical marker telling about a natural feature called "Bow and Arrow." It was a rock formation along the bluff that was discovered about 100 years ago, with its origins unknown. The next marker I stopped at was the site of Fort St. Antoine (1686), where an explorer claimed "the entire region west of the Great Lakes 'no matter how remote' in the name of Louis XIV." (The long-reigning, and final, King of France).
Along the way down was a Sugar Loaf Rock sighting. That rock is in Winona, MN and is featured in Day 1's entry.
Next up in the long and winding road of spectacular bluffs that is Route 35 was the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge. However, much of it was closed due to flooding. Not too far from that, however, was the Trempealeau State Park. Along the way in, I saw a sign that charged for entry. I thought being charged at Lake Itasca was enough, so I didn't visit the park. Now I wish I would have.
After Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge and Trempealeau State Park, it only made sense that the next town was called Trempealeau. I was getting hungry for some lunch, and found a perfect spot - that "restaurant" I wanted to eat at. It's called the Trempealeau Hotel Restaurant and Saloon. Their specialty is the Walnut Burger, and I wanted to try it before I noticed it had onions in them (I'm not a fan of onions). So a BBQ burger (good) had to do. I sat with a view of the River from a porch-like eating area. The place is nice, and literally hasn't changed since the saloon days. The hotel is on the second floor. Not too many places like this are still around. These particular hotel rooms are European style, with a shared bath and no electronics. $40-49 a night. I could go for that in the summer, because I don't really need a television and I have a cell phone. Plus the eating establishment is downstairs. I'd go back there again.
Next up in the long and winding road of spectacular bluffs is a suburb of LaCrosse called Onalaska. It's directly across from the man-made islands for the birds that I visited in Day 1. The River spills into a lake, with the river channel kind of pushed back toward the Minnesota side.
Natrually the next city is LaCrosse. I had been in LaCrosse once before, on my way back from the Spam Museum (this is true) in Austin, MN. I saw another restaurant that looked neat, but unfortunately I had already eaten. Downtown LaCrosse is very nice, and old. That makes it nice. Plus it has a nice riverfront park where the river can be seen from eye-to-eye. Among other sights was the world's largest 6-pack of beer. Boots and beer. Boots at Red Wing, and Beer at LaCrosse. This part of Wisconsin is known for its breweries, and this carries on to Milwaukee (home of the Brewers, which were formerly called the Cream Citys).
I fueled up the car in LaCrosse. The fuel was from a Kwik Trip, which also owns the station in Kellogg, MN (where I filled up on Day 1). By the time I got home, I had only burned a third of a tank (500 miles). Seems pretty good. That would get me home, but not before some more stops along the way. The first stop out of LaCrosse was Goose Island (no brewery there), probably so-named because the island looks like a goose. The road to get there was winding, like a goose's neck.
To give a good understanding of how plentiful Wisconsin's historical markers are, the first one outside of LaCrosse was about the "LaCrosse Boiling Water Reactor," which is the state's first nuclear power plant.
The area between LaCrosse and Prairie du Chien is noted for the Battle of Bad Axe, which is a landmark battle of the Black Hawk War. That was the battle where Black Hawk was captured, and thus ending the War. By the time I was done seeing the many historical markers revolving around the site, it had started to get a little dark outside.
When I got to Prairie du Chien, the camera was used for the final time. It couldn't take any good pictures at night, so I have no visual recollection after Prairie du Chien (and thus the photo album ends here). Prarie du Chien is a small town with a low flood plain. The 1965 flood took out a good chunk of the town and much of its historical buildings. The few that survive are surviving well, as a part of a park. It looked like the neighborhood had been bombed out (kind of like Old Valmeyer, Illinois).
The rest of the trip had to be enjoyed as dark fell. The next stop was going to be Wyalusing State Park, and was hoping there was no admission. There was, and I turned back. Another stop for another day. Wyalusing State Park is the opposite side of Pikes Peak Park in McGregor, IA - where the Wisconsin River joins the Mississippi. But the road there took me off the beaten path. I'm glad I went that way because I think I found my retirement spot.
Wyalusing is like the other Wisconsin river towns, except this one is off the beaten path on a road less traveled. It's population is only about 100, and there are no stores I believe. The town sits on the bottom of a bluff, trapped in it's own little world. To get things, you have to travel down the road 3 miles to a place called Grandpa's General Store in Bagley. I was warned by a friend about frogs in Bagley. And sure enough when I came toward Bagley, you could hear nothing but the croaks of frogs.
Then came the main road again, as night was there for sure. The first sight of a cornfield kind of let me down a little. But on I went, driving through Cassville and then Potosi. I had heard of Potosi from their high school sports successes in football and girls basketball, but never been there. It's a winding town, with a lot on one main road and is surrounded by cliffs. A late stop would have been the Potosi Brewery, but by that time it was 9:00 p.m.
So I wanted to eat some dinner, and headed back to Dubuque to officially conclude my trip. I picked up some Arby's after encountering some rain as I crossed into Iowa. Sure, I get back to Illinois to the tune of RAIN! This would be a theme throughout April. Leaving Dubuque, I headed my usual way home - down Route 84 to Savanna, Route 52 to Mt. Carroll and finally down Route 40 back home. I got back home around midnight.
End of vacation.
As I spring foward to this present day (after thinking back about the past), I feel as if this vacation experience made me grow up as a person. I'm almost 25 years old now. There was so much to see, and so much to manage on my own. Since coming back from my vacation, I haven't had a "down" day yet. I hope this continues.
With a lot of vacations, there are some regrets. I have a few. I regret not being able to make the trip from Little Falls to Bemijdi, and stopping at those Wisconsin State Parks, and waking up late on the final day. But I think the best thing about these types of vacations is that the opportunity to come back is there because of these regrets. Of course, I would do the whole thing all over again if I could. However, to be honest, I don't know if I'm going to be able to travel this far for leisure for a while. I would like to get things straightened up back home before putting the money aside.
There are still plenty of vacation spots. But because this particular one comes at a important time of my life, I don't think any other self-trip will top this one to Lake Itasca.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Minnesota - The Vacation (Day 3)
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.62.40
Current Song - I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide (ZZ Top)
Note: I've been back since April 7, and it is now April 26. Of the 19 days since I came back home, a lot has happened. Thus the delay. Plus, I didn't write while on the vacation (compared to last year) simply because there was too much to do.
There are pictures of the trip on my Facebook photo album.
Because of the numerous things I saw, I had to break the entry down into four days. The previous entries broke down days 1 and 2. This entry recalls Day 3, with the next entry being the final day of the vacaction.
Since I got to sleep fairly early, I woke up fairly early. I wanted to make it to Lake Itasca before sunfall, and this was the best way to do it. The hotel's breakfast (a small, but modest one) began at 5 a.m., so I ate some and then went on the road. I put a small amount of gas at a BP station in town. A coupon from a trip to Cub Foods advertised three cents a gallon off the price. That coupon would turn to four in the next trip, then five and up to seven.
I took I-35W back to where I left off the previous day, at Mill Ruins Park. This particular road has a feature where they charge you for using the far left lane, and it's set up like an I-Pass system. I thought about using it, because I have an I-Pass and it's useable in other states, but didn't do it. So I got to Mill Ruins Park and went west on West River Parkway.
West River Parkway eventually ended after a while, and I was back trying to go parallel along the river. I eventually had to get on I-94 before it exited onto another state highway that took me to Brooklyn Center. There was a park in the suburb that I parked for a while at, just to get a glimpse of the river. This was about 7 a.m.
From there, it was pretty much all county roads for a while. I saw a state park, Coon Rapids Dam, and parked there for a while to take a walk. It's pretty much just like the dam back home, with a walking bridge. The view was good enough, especially being morning, to get some good pictures in. It was at this point that I kind of figured out that the number of parks as I went up was going to be vast, and made the decision to keep following the river but stop at every other park along the way.
When I stopped at a wayside near Champlin, the thought came to me of how great it would be to have property along the Mississippi River. Then looking at it from this point made me wonder that these people don't think of it as big as I (an Illinois resident) would.
On west to Dayton. The Crow River empties into the Mississippi at this town, which had a boat launch that I parked for a while at. There was this large house at the confluence, larger than almost any house outside of Chicagoland that I had seen. I had to wonder which very important person lived there. I'm still wondering.
From Dayton to St. Cloud was more like viewing the Interstate than viewing the river. There wasn't much river to see along this road. Plus, there wasn't much of what I considered the image of Minnesota (evergreen trees, timber, etc.), and it looked somewhat similar to central Illinois. It wasn't until actually reaching St. Cloud that I saw the river again.
St. Cloud is home to St. Cloud State University, and I drove around the campus for a little while before crossing the river and stopping at a park. The park - once you get to the edge of the river, going down a steep and woody hill - provided a great view of the school's football stadium. At this point, the Mississippi is about the same size as the Pecatonica River. Between all of the stops I had made, it was about 11 a.m. when I was at St. Cloud. I made another change in vacation planning there, deciding that the river was small enough that no matter what side I was on, I was still going to see everything around it.
It was also at St. Cloud that my little experiment with ham sandwiches fell apart. Keeping sandwiches in a cooler for three days didn't turn out to be a good idea. The bread turned wet and soggy, and I don't have the taste buds for that. Out went the sandwiches, but I still feel I saved a bit of money on my food budget by doing this.
Now on the east side of the river, I continued upward and hit yet another state park. My brakes aren't the best, so at the sight of a brown road sign I have to slow down. Then when it says "state park" or "historical marker" I have to brake even more to make the turn. This particular sign led me to a park called "Bend in the River Regional Park". It wasn't much of a park, I thought, but maybe I didn't see all of it. I stopped at an old farm site that had been turned into a historical site. Small plaques told the stories of each of the buildings there.
Continuing north, there wasn't much river to see. But the road was signed "Great River Road" so I followed it anyway. One stop in Royalton was very interesting: Treasure City.
Treasure City (you have to see the picture of it from the outside) is a large store with a bunch of small items. Just how many small items? I had to walk side-to-side so I wouldn't break anything. Going through the store took about an hour. When I got in, I didn't know where to start. There were things everywhere! So I went right and took my time going through every little thing there. It's like a lady shopping at a department store. There was a figurine I wanted (called "Sports Nut" with a bunch of sports equpiment and a walnut with eyes next to them), and made my own little bookmark on it - put it off to the side of the shelf where I could come back later and pick it up after reviewing my gift budget.
Most of the south side of the store is figurines, nothing I would really want. This is where the ten-second rule of being frugal comes in: debate an item for ten seconds, and if you're still unsure that you want it, put it back. Among the items going through the debate was a traffic-light lamp. I always had a liking for a traffic light in my bedroom (since seeing one at Spencers years ago), but I already have a light.
Speaking of traffic signals, there was a board called "traffic sign bingo" that I considered for a while. When I was younger I had an infatuation with traffic signs. After going past a bunch of indian stuff, I reached a spinning display with a bunch of gag signs and bumper stickers. Of couse, I have to take a look at them because they are things that I like a lot. I picked one up advertising the place, and another that says "DO NOT WASH This car is undergoing a scientific dirt test" because I needed an excuse for the amount of dust accumulating on my car. Another item was a magnetic license plate with my name on it, kind of as proof I was really in Minnesota. I also picked up a gag card (the wallet kind) called "The Everything Free Card" which is sure to strike up some conversation. Yet another thing was a sleeve of three Backseat Driver's Licenses, which would be perfect for Danny since he doesn't have a real license yet. Going along with the money theme, I also picked up a coozy that says "I want less work, and more money, for not doing it."
All these items and not a shirt yet to punctuate my trip until I finally got to the north wall. Fortunately they had a Minnesota shirt that fits me. Then came more time looking at things I didn't need - but I didn't want to skip something that looked good. Among these was a Minnesota rubber coin holder keychain (because I lose loose change quite often) I finally got to the checkout counter and found my first sound of a Minnesota accent. But before I checked out I went through everything and did the ten-second thing again. I put back the Treasure City bumper sticker and the bingo game. The checkout counter had fake scratch-off tickets, which would be a good gag for my gas station friends (I eventually never used them, with more on that in a later blog entry).
Free cider, free four scoops of ice, and a bunch of outside pictures later, I was ready to go. Then I looked at the time, and it was 2:00 p.m. I needed to get to Lake Itasca, and get there fast. I had to sacrifice another part of the trip, and that was the river length from Little Falls to the Lake itself. Going through Grand Rapids and Bemidji would take a long time, and I thought I wasn't going to make it to the Lake before dusk. So it sucked to skip a part of the path, but realized that my main reason for going on this trip was to see the start of the Mississippi River. All that talk of not using a map came to an end when I plugged in Mapquest on my cell phone for the quickest way there.
Going northwest on US Route 10, the scenery still didn't look anything like the typical Minnesota. It isn't until you go north of US Route 10 do you start seeing forest green. Mapquest had me going on a bunch of country roads, and because of that I started looking for my "down-home restaurant." I found a couple, but both were closed at the moment. There's not much else to discuss from here to the Lake because there was no river to see.
US Route 71 eventually takes you to Lake Itasca, and I reached it at around 4 p.m. It was surrounded by tall and skinny trees along the drive. A sign after entering the park mentioned a pay station. Admission to a state park? There's nothing like this in Illinois. But I had to pay the $5 daily vehicle pass. There was a gift shop (I bought a book called "How to speak Minnesotian", which I felt awkward putting it on the counter in front of the Minnesotian clerk) and a museum at the welcome center that told the history of the park. Keep in mind I didn't even see the actual lake until I left the center.
There was an interesting segment at the museum that revolved around the actual beginning of the Mississippi River. I had no idea it was disputed. Three explorers had three different ideas, and after looking at a streams map even I had my own theory as to the end of the river. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft pointed out Lkae Itasca, Joseph Nicollet pointed out a creek that formed from the lake, and a man named Glazier noticed a creek from Itasca led to another lake. My theory? Go with Glazier's, and follow the stream from this lake (Lake Elk) to a small pond. The dispute ended with the naming of where the river meets the lake (the "headwaters") as the actual beginning (Schoolcraft's theory). I set out for both the headwaters and my determined ending.
It was six miles from the visitor's center, along a long and winding road filled with these tall trees. Kind of like a drunk guy paving the road. I passed the actual headwaters spot to go deeper into the park and to find "my" beginning. However, the road turned into a snowed road (there were no "road closed" signs to be seen), and there were a couple of trees down in the middle of the road due to the wind. The trees were cut wide enough for a car to pass. After a few minutes of fishtailing, I finally found a closed-off gate. So I wasn't able to get to "my" beginning. I wasn't all that disappointed. So I headed back to the actual headwaters.
Probably the best thing about this experience was that I was the ONLY car parked there. No one visits Minnesota state parks during the winter (April 6 is still considered winter). So I got to enjoy the headwaters experience all to myself. The river is only about seven feet wide when I crossed the footbridge to get to the headwaters. A wooden log greeted me where river met lake:
"Here 1475 ft above the ocean the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico"
You could hear a pin drop.
I enjoyed the sight for a couple of hours before sunset started. I took a bunch of pictures there as well. The lake took up a lot of space, and you could hear the water pass through the rocks put in place for the dividing line. In the summer, one can jump across the rocks. Since the water was high, I didn't exactly do that, but I took off my shoes and socks and dipped my feet in.
As I mentioned once already in my logs, a vacation is an occurance when one wants to get away from a bunch of things. Here I was at Lake Itasca, literally way from it all. All to myself. Peace. Quiet. Nothing to distract me. Savoring the moment.
Eventually the experience had to end, and the feeling of the long ride back home started to seep in. The journey was about 750 miles one-way. As I walked away, I looked at a few more markers and made my way back to my car. You could hear a pin drop.
Leaving the park, I still didn't find my "restaurant" but found a place called Itasca Junction. That was more of a gas station/ExpressLane deal with a small eatery. So this was my dinner. I had a bacon cheeseburger (good) with chips and a pepsi. I was sitting alone, while a regular group of Minnesota people were gathered at a larger table next to me. I couldn't help myself to notice the dialect.
I guess in a kind of Minnesota way, they offered me to take my Pepsi and have it refilled for my drive "back home." After reading my book from the park's gift shop, I guess this is normal. I drove back to the Twin Cities the same way I came up, but gassed up once more at a Shell in Verndale. I bought some more lottery tickets there.
I arrived in Minneapolis at dusk, and tried out some night pictures in downtown. It was after a long walk in downtown that I found the Mary Tyler Moore statue (mentioned in 'Day 2'), which was a required picture opportunity. A very-light-up building struck my eye, which was the Wells Fargo building. Very vertical with long lines of light going up and down. I'm glad these pictures turned out.
After walking back to my car at Mill Ruins Park, it was close to 11:00 p.m. - by far the most packed day of the trip. I still had the length back home to go on. On the way back to the hotel, I had to debate myself as to how to handle the final day. Sleep little and leave early, or sleep in and skip things along the way. Only the night's sleep would made the decision a final one.
Day 4's adventure will come in the next blog entry.
Current Song - I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide (ZZ Top)
Note: I've been back since April 7, and it is now April 26. Of the 19 days since I came back home, a lot has happened. Thus the delay. Plus, I didn't write while on the vacation (compared to last year) simply because there was too much to do.
There are pictures of the trip on my Facebook photo album.
Because of the numerous things I saw, I had to break the entry down into four days. The previous entries broke down days 1 and 2. This entry recalls Day 3, with the next entry being the final day of the vacaction.
Since I got to sleep fairly early, I woke up fairly early. I wanted to make it to Lake Itasca before sunfall, and this was the best way to do it. The hotel's breakfast (a small, but modest one) began at 5 a.m., so I ate some and then went on the road. I put a small amount of gas at a BP station in town. A coupon from a trip to Cub Foods advertised three cents a gallon off the price. That coupon would turn to four in the next trip, then five and up to seven.
I took I-35W back to where I left off the previous day, at Mill Ruins Park. This particular road has a feature where they charge you for using the far left lane, and it's set up like an I-Pass system. I thought about using it, because I have an I-Pass and it's useable in other states, but didn't do it. So I got to Mill Ruins Park and went west on West River Parkway.
West River Parkway eventually ended after a while, and I was back trying to go parallel along the river. I eventually had to get on I-94 before it exited onto another state highway that took me to Brooklyn Center. There was a park in the suburb that I parked for a while at, just to get a glimpse of the river. This was about 7 a.m.
From there, it was pretty much all county roads for a while. I saw a state park, Coon Rapids Dam, and parked there for a while to take a walk. It's pretty much just like the dam back home, with a walking bridge. The view was good enough, especially being morning, to get some good pictures in. It was at this point that I kind of figured out that the number of parks as I went up was going to be vast, and made the decision to keep following the river but stop at every other park along the way.
When I stopped at a wayside near Champlin, the thought came to me of how great it would be to have property along the Mississippi River. Then looking at it from this point made me wonder that these people don't think of it as big as I (an Illinois resident) would.
On west to Dayton. The Crow River empties into the Mississippi at this town, which had a boat launch that I parked for a while at. There was this large house at the confluence, larger than almost any house outside of Chicagoland that I had seen. I had to wonder which very important person lived there. I'm still wondering.
From Dayton to St. Cloud was more like viewing the Interstate than viewing the river. There wasn't much river to see along this road. Plus, there wasn't much of what I considered the image of Minnesota (evergreen trees, timber, etc.), and it looked somewhat similar to central Illinois. It wasn't until actually reaching St. Cloud that I saw the river again.
St. Cloud is home to St. Cloud State University, and I drove around the campus for a little while before crossing the river and stopping at a park. The park - once you get to the edge of the river, going down a steep and woody hill - provided a great view of the school's football stadium. At this point, the Mississippi is about the same size as the Pecatonica River. Between all of the stops I had made, it was about 11 a.m. when I was at St. Cloud. I made another change in vacation planning there, deciding that the river was small enough that no matter what side I was on, I was still going to see everything around it.
It was also at St. Cloud that my little experiment with ham sandwiches fell apart. Keeping sandwiches in a cooler for three days didn't turn out to be a good idea. The bread turned wet and soggy, and I don't have the taste buds for that. Out went the sandwiches, but I still feel I saved a bit of money on my food budget by doing this.
Now on the east side of the river, I continued upward and hit yet another state park. My brakes aren't the best, so at the sight of a brown road sign I have to slow down. Then when it says "state park" or "historical marker" I have to brake even more to make the turn. This particular sign led me to a park called "Bend in the River Regional Park". It wasn't much of a park, I thought, but maybe I didn't see all of it. I stopped at an old farm site that had been turned into a historical site. Small plaques told the stories of each of the buildings there.
Continuing north, there wasn't much river to see. But the road was signed "Great River Road" so I followed it anyway. One stop in Royalton was very interesting: Treasure City.
Treasure City (you have to see the picture of it from the outside) is a large store with a bunch of small items. Just how many small items? I had to walk side-to-side so I wouldn't break anything. Going through the store took about an hour. When I got in, I didn't know where to start. There were things everywhere! So I went right and took my time going through every little thing there. It's like a lady shopping at a department store. There was a figurine I wanted (called "Sports Nut" with a bunch of sports equpiment and a walnut with eyes next to them), and made my own little bookmark on it - put it off to the side of the shelf where I could come back later and pick it up after reviewing my gift budget.
Most of the south side of the store is figurines, nothing I would really want. This is where the ten-second rule of being frugal comes in: debate an item for ten seconds, and if you're still unsure that you want it, put it back. Among the items going through the debate was a traffic-light lamp. I always had a liking for a traffic light in my bedroom (since seeing one at Spencers years ago), but I already have a light.
Speaking of traffic signals, there was a board called "traffic sign bingo" that I considered for a while. When I was younger I had an infatuation with traffic signs. After going past a bunch of indian stuff, I reached a spinning display with a bunch of gag signs and bumper stickers. Of couse, I have to take a look at them because they are things that I like a lot. I picked one up advertising the place, and another that says "DO NOT WASH This car is undergoing a scientific dirt test" because I needed an excuse for the amount of dust accumulating on my car. Another item was a magnetic license plate with my name on it, kind of as proof I was really in Minnesota. I also picked up a gag card (the wallet kind) called "The Everything Free Card" which is sure to strike up some conversation. Yet another thing was a sleeve of three Backseat Driver's Licenses, which would be perfect for Danny since he doesn't have a real license yet. Going along with the money theme, I also picked up a coozy that says "I want less work, and more money, for not doing it."
All these items and not a shirt yet to punctuate my trip until I finally got to the north wall. Fortunately they had a Minnesota shirt that fits me. Then came more time looking at things I didn't need - but I didn't want to skip something that looked good. Among these was a Minnesota rubber coin holder keychain (because I lose loose change quite often) I finally got to the checkout counter and found my first sound of a Minnesota accent. But before I checked out I went through everything and did the ten-second thing again. I put back the Treasure City bumper sticker and the bingo game. The checkout counter had fake scratch-off tickets, which would be a good gag for my gas station friends (I eventually never used them, with more on that in a later blog entry).
Free cider, free four scoops of ice, and a bunch of outside pictures later, I was ready to go. Then I looked at the time, and it was 2:00 p.m. I needed to get to Lake Itasca, and get there fast. I had to sacrifice another part of the trip, and that was the river length from Little Falls to the Lake itself. Going through Grand Rapids and Bemidji would take a long time, and I thought I wasn't going to make it to the Lake before dusk. So it sucked to skip a part of the path, but realized that my main reason for going on this trip was to see the start of the Mississippi River. All that talk of not using a map came to an end when I plugged in Mapquest on my cell phone for the quickest way there.
Going northwest on US Route 10, the scenery still didn't look anything like the typical Minnesota. It isn't until you go north of US Route 10 do you start seeing forest green. Mapquest had me going on a bunch of country roads, and because of that I started looking for my "down-home restaurant." I found a couple, but both were closed at the moment. There's not much else to discuss from here to the Lake because there was no river to see.
US Route 71 eventually takes you to Lake Itasca, and I reached it at around 4 p.m. It was surrounded by tall and skinny trees along the drive. A sign after entering the park mentioned a pay station. Admission to a state park? There's nothing like this in Illinois. But I had to pay the $5 daily vehicle pass. There was a gift shop (I bought a book called "How to speak Minnesotian", which I felt awkward putting it on the counter in front of the Minnesotian clerk) and a museum at the welcome center that told the history of the park. Keep in mind I didn't even see the actual lake until I left the center.
There was an interesting segment at the museum that revolved around the actual beginning of the Mississippi River. I had no idea it was disputed. Three explorers had three different ideas, and after looking at a streams map even I had my own theory as to the end of the river. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft pointed out Lkae Itasca, Joseph Nicollet pointed out a creek that formed from the lake, and a man named Glazier noticed a creek from Itasca led to another lake. My theory? Go with Glazier's, and follow the stream from this lake (Lake Elk) to a small pond. The dispute ended with the naming of where the river meets the lake (the "headwaters") as the actual beginning (Schoolcraft's theory). I set out for both the headwaters and my determined ending.
It was six miles from the visitor's center, along a long and winding road filled with these tall trees. Kind of like a drunk guy paving the road. I passed the actual headwaters spot to go deeper into the park and to find "my" beginning. However, the road turned into a snowed road (there were no "road closed" signs to be seen), and there were a couple of trees down in the middle of the road due to the wind. The trees were cut wide enough for a car to pass. After a few minutes of fishtailing, I finally found a closed-off gate. So I wasn't able to get to "my" beginning. I wasn't all that disappointed. So I headed back to the actual headwaters.
Probably the best thing about this experience was that I was the ONLY car parked there. No one visits Minnesota state parks during the winter (April 6 is still considered winter). So I got to enjoy the headwaters experience all to myself. The river is only about seven feet wide when I crossed the footbridge to get to the headwaters. A wooden log greeted me where river met lake:
"Here 1475 ft above the ocean the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico"
You could hear a pin drop.
I enjoyed the sight for a couple of hours before sunset started. I took a bunch of pictures there as well. The lake took up a lot of space, and you could hear the water pass through the rocks put in place for the dividing line. In the summer, one can jump across the rocks. Since the water was high, I didn't exactly do that, but I took off my shoes and socks and dipped my feet in.
As I mentioned once already in my logs, a vacation is an occurance when one wants to get away from a bunch of things. Here I was at Lake Itasca, literally way from it all. All to myself. Peace. Quiet. Nothing to distract me. Savoring the moment.
Eventually the experience had to end, and the feeling of the long ride back home started to seep in. The journey was about 750 miles one-way. As I walked away, I looked at a few more markers and made my way back to my car. You could hear a pin drop.
Leaving the park, I still didn't find my "restaurant" but found a place called Itasca Junction. That was more of a gas station/ExpressLane deal with a small eatery. So this was my dinner. I had a bacon cheeseburger (good) with chips and a pepsi. I was sitting alone, while a regular group of Minnesota people were gathered at a larger table next to me. I couldn't help myself to notice the dialect.
I guess in a kind of Minnesota way, they offered me to take my Pepsi and have it refilled for my drive "back home." After reading my book from the park's gift shop, I guess this is normal. I drove back to the Twin Cities the same way I came up, but gassed up once more at a Shell in Verndale. I bought some more lottery tickets there.
I arrived in Minneapolis at dusk, and tried out some night pictures in downtown. It was after a long walk in downtown that I found the Mary Tyler Moore statue (mentioned in 'Day 2'), which was a required picture opportunity. A very-light-up building struck my eye, which was the Wells Fargo building. Very vertical with long lines of light going up and down. I'm glad these pictures turned out.
After walking back to my car at Mill Ruins Park, it was close to 11:00 p.m. - by far the most packed day of the trip. I still had the length back home to go on. On the way back to the hotel, I had to debate myself as to how to handle the final day. Sleep little and leave early, or sleep in and skip things along the way. Only the night's sleep would made the decision a final one.
Day 4's adventure will come in the next blog entry.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Minnesota - The Vacation (Part 2)
Cutter's Log - Supplemental
Note: I've been back since April 7, and it is now April 25. Of the 18 days since I came back home, a lot has happened. Thus the delay. Plus, I didn't write while on the vacation (compared to last year) simply because there was too much to do.
There are pictures of the trip on my Facebook photo album.
Because of the numerous things I saw, I had to break the entry down into four days. The previous entry broke down Day 1. This entry recalls Day 2, with the subsequent entries recalling days three and four.
The pizza I was eating drove me insane in the middle of the night because I had that burning-throat feeling. When this happened, I used to drink a lot of milk and it would go away. I didn't have that at my disposal this time, and kind of let it natrually go away. But it did hurt for a while.
Because of the change in plans I made yesterday, I decided to make my second day the one to go through both of the Twin Cities. I had been to Minneapolis only once, while on a trip to the Mall of America (in suburban Bloomington), but didn't really see anything. The plan was to go back to Hastings and pick up west alongside the river past the cities, and then cross and pick up east back to Hastings.
There's a road from Burnsville to Hastings I completely didn't know about (and would have been great yesterday), and I past Apple Valley along the way. I knew Apple Valley because of their great high school wrestling teams. But on to Hastings, where I saw a barge tow and a railroad bridge. Railroad bridge, whoop-de-do, but I have never seen one lift up and down for a barge. After mailing my postcards, I followed the river to Lock and Dam No. 2. Oddly enough, it's the only lock-and-dam I visited in the entire stretch (from 13 up, in Fulton). There the barge tow was waiting to be lifted, and there was a display of storage comparisons between trains and barges. I shot a picture of it and was impressed with just how much space a barge has compared to a train car.
Leaving Hastings, I saw a unique octagon-shaped house. These kind of houses have always been my favorite to look at. My dad likes to design floor plans in his spare time, and had a couple of books to guide him. There were some pages that featured octagonal houses and I always liked how they were shaped for some reason. The only other octagonal house I know of is in Prophetstown.
At this point, I'm not following the Great River Road but rather the river itself - meaning I was turning and doing turnabouts quite often. I let nature guide me, rather tahn use a GPS system.
The river sent me to a tiny town called Nininger, which I'm sure was a lot bigger a long time ago. Then it was off along the river and back into the Metro area. The river sent me to a park in South St. Paul, where I got to see just exactly how narrow the river really was at that point. It was there I got my first glimpse of the St. Paul skyline. Onward I drove and hit where I could see downtown. This particular part of downtown is on the west side of the river, and looked like it was undergoing redevelopment. But you could see the buildings and bridges real well. When there are buildings and bridges, I'm shooting pictures.
Then I saw a few houses on a bluff, that looked like they were overlooking the downtown area. A great view, I thought, so I went up there. Probably the best skyline view I had ever seen. You have to be rich to live in these houses, I thought. There is a street in front of these houses, dividing them from the bluff. The river tour began to turn into a city tour.
Coming back down is where I hit a snag in my road plans. Because of the high water, the actual path had been closed for a distance. So I spent a while trying to regroup and find out where to pick the path back up at. Again, this is without the guidance of a map. I went a ways and found the place where the Minnesota River empties into the Mississippi. It was there I knew that the easiest way to pick up where I left off on the west side is by crossing the river into the east side and finding it from there. Eventually I found a place near Minnehaha.
After driving a little ways I eventually found the road called "West River Parkway." That was great considering that I knew I wasn't going to get lost anymore. There is a jogging path next to the road, and I had never seen that many joggers. I briefly thought to myself that I was the largest person within the city limits. Next to the jogging path was a wall of trees and shrubbery, so I couldn't really see water unless it was a park of some sort. But the houses were great.
Driving along the parkway I stumbled upon the campus of the University of Minnesota. That's four Big Ten campuses down, eight to go. At that point, the river looked smaller than the Rock River, but still bigger than the Pecatonica. I didn't really know how close I was to downtown because of the bluffs, but it wasn't too long after that I hit the I-35W bridge. (For those unaware, I-35 splits into two roads, east and west, similar to Dallas).
Not too long ago I remember when the old I-35W bridge collapsed. I also remember it not taking too long to put up a replacement bridge. While it was put up pretty quickly, I knew about how technologically advanced this particular bridge was. The bridge was completely white, unlike any other bridge I had seen before. So that was another series of pictures.
Continuing on I hit a place called Mill Ruins Park. I had no knowledge of this, but when I saw the shelled-out mill building, I understood. After all that turning around and stopping, it was about 5:30 when I hit this park. The building is actually shelled out, from a fire a few years ago. But the building was stablized and made into a milling museum. This was unlike any perservation effort I had ever seen, and was very awed by this sight. Unfortunately because of time, I didn't visit the museum. It is one of several old flour mills still standing along the Minneapolis riverfront. Some of which have been converted into lofts. There was a free parking area next to a dam, and I parked and started walking.
That river tour turned into a tour of downtown Minneapolis. It was there when I came up with the fact that the Mary Tyler Moore show was based in Minneapolis. When I was younger I enjoyed watching the show on Nick at Nite, before I would go to bed. From age 8 to 11 we had a television in our (me and Mike's) bedroom. That iconic scene where she throws her hat up in the air is commemorated by a statue. I wanted to find that statue. I didn't before it got dark out, and my camera wasn't going to work all that well.
Day 2 didn't turn out to be a whole lot, because that wasn't even half of my entire plan for the day. It was going to take a lot longer to see all of this. While looking out at the river from the arch footbridge, I reorganized my plans once more. I still had the whole west side of Minneapolis to see, the journey to Lake Itasca, and the entire east side of the Twin Cities to see. I'm glad I axed the St. Croix leg of the trip. The next day was going to start very early, going up the west side of Minneapolis and then marching forward to Lake Itasca. Day 4 was going to be dedicated to finding that statue, and going along the east side of the river and back home.
I really wanted to see everything along the way, and the things that were challenging me were my budget and the night sky. Luckilly I had some left-over pizza in my room ($12 can get you a long ways apparently), and made sure to sleep early for the early trip the next day.
Day 3's adventure will come in the next blog entry, and is a lot longer than this entry.
Note: I've been back since April 7, and it is now April 25. Of the 18 days since I came back home, a lot has happened. Thus the delay. Plus, I didn't write while on the vacation (compared to last year) simply because there was too much to do.
There are pictures of the trip on my Facebook photo album.
Because of the numerous things I saw, I had to break the entry down into four days. The previous entry broke down Day 1. This entry recalls Day 2, with the subsequent entries recalling days three and four.
The pizza I was eating drove me insane in the middle of the night because I had that burning-throat feeling. When this happened, I used to drink a lot of milk and it would go away. I didn't have that at my disposal this time, and kind of let it natrually go away. But it did hurt for a while.
Because of the change in plans I made yesterday, I decided to make my second day the one to go through both of the Twin Cities. I had been to Minneapolis only once, while on a trip to the Mall of America (in suburban Bloomington), but didn't really see anything. The plan was to go back to Hastings and pick up west alongside the river past the cities, and then cross and pick up east back to Hastings.
There's a road from Burnsville to Hastings I completely didn't know about (and would have been great yesterday), and I past Apple Valley along the way. I knew Apple Valley because of their great high school wrestling teams. But on to Hastings, where I saw a barge tow and a railroad bridge. Railroad bridge, whoop-de-do, but I have never seen one lift up and down for a barge. After mailing my postcards, I followed the river to Lock and Dam No. 2. Oddly enough, it's the only lock-and-dam I visited in the entire stretch (from 13 up, in Fulton). There the barge tow was waiting to be lifted, and there was a display of storage comparisons between trains and barges. I shot a picture of it and was impressed with just how much space a barge has compared to a train car.
Leaving Hastings, I saw a unique octagon-shaped house. These kind of houses have always been my favorite to look at. My dad likes to design floor plans in his spare time, and had a couple of books to guide him. There were some pages that featured octagonal houses and I always liked how they were shaped for some reason. The only other octagonal house I know of is in Prophetstown.
At this point, I'm not following the Great River Road but rather the river itself - meaning I was turning and doing turnabouts quite often. I let nature guide me, rather tahn use a GPS system.
The river sent me to a tiny town called Nininger, which I'm sure was a lot bigger a long time ago. Then it was off along the river and back into the Metro area. The river sent me to a park in South St. Paul, where I got to see just exactly how narrow the river really was at that point. It was there I got my first glimpse of the St. Paul skyline. Onward I drove and hit where I could see downtown. This particular part of downtown is on the west side of the river, and looked like it was undergoing redevelopment. But you could see the buildings and bridges real well. When there are buildings and bridges, I'm shooting pictures.
Then I saw a few houses on a bluff, that looked like they were overlooking the downtown area. A great view, I thought, so I went up there. Probably the best skyline view I had ever seen. You have to be rich to live in these houses, I thought. There is a street in front of these houses, dividing them from the bluff. The river tour began to turn into a city tour.
Coming back down is where I hit a snag in my road plans. Because of the high water, the actual path had been closed for a distance. So I spent a while trying to regroup and find out where to pick the path back up at. Again, this is without the guidance of a map. I went a ways and found the place where the Minnesota River empties into the Mississippi. It was there I knew that the easiest way to pick up where I left off on the west side is by crossing the river into the east side and finding it from there. Eventually I found a place near Minnehaha.
After driving a little ways I eventually found the road called "West River Parkway." That was great considering that I knew I wasn't going to get lost anymore. There is a jogging path next to the road, and I had never seen that many joggers. I briefly thought to myself that I was the largest person within the city limits. Next to the jogging path was a wall of trees and shrubbery, so I couldn't really see water unless it was a park of some sort. But the houses were great.
Driving along the parkway I stumbled upon the campus of the University of Minnesota. That's four Big Ten campuses down, eight to go. At that point, the river looked smaller than the Rock River, but still bigger than the Pecatonica. I didn't really know how close I was to downtown because of the bluffs, but it wasn't too long after that I hit the I-35W bridge. (For those unaware, I-35 splits into two roads, east and west, similar to Dallas).
Not too long ago I remember when the old I-35W bridge collapsed. I also remember it not taking too long to put up a replacement bridge. While it was put up pretty quickly, I knew about how technologically advanced this particular bridge was. The bridge was completely white, unlike any other bridge I had seen before. So that was another series of pictures.
Continuing on I hit a place called Mill Ruins Park. I had no knowledge of this, but when I saw the shelled-out mill building, I understood. After all that turning around and stopping, it was about 5:30 when I hit this park. The building is actually shelled out, from a fire a few years ago. But the building was stablized and made into a milling museum. This was unlike any perservation effort I had ever seen, and was very awed by this sight. Unfortunately because of time, I didn't visit the museum. It is one of several old flour mills still standing along the Minneapolis riverfront. Some of which have been converted into lofts. There was a free parking area next to a dam, and I parked and started walking.
That river tour turned into a tour of downtown Minneapolis. It was there when I came up with the fact that the Mary Tyler Moore show was based in Minneapolis. When I was younger I enjoyed watching the show on Nick at Nite, before I would go to bed. From age 8 to 11 we had a television in our (me and Mike's) bedroom. That iconic scene where she throws her hat up in the air is commemorated by a statue. I wanted to find that statue. I didn't before it got dark out, and my camera wasn't going to work all that well.
Day 2 didn't turn out to be a whole lot, because that wasn't even half of my entire plan for the day. It was going to take a lot longer to see all of this. While looking out at the river from the arch footbridge, I reorganized my plans once more. I still had the whole west side of Minneapolis to see, the journey to Lake Itasca, and the entire east side of the Twin Cities to see. I'm glad I axed the St. Croix leg of the trip. The next day was going to start very early, going up the west side of Minneapolis and then marching forward to Lake Itasca. Day 4 was going to be dedicated to finding that statue, and going along the east side of the river and back home.
I really wanted to see everything along the way, and the things that were challenging me were my budget and the night sky. Luckilly I had some left-over pizza in my room ($12 can get you a long ways apparently), and made sure to sleep early for the early trip the next day.
Day 3's adventure will come in the next blog entry, and is a lot longer than this entry.
Minnesota - The Vacation (Day 1)
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.52.40
Current Song - Lookin' Out My Backdoor (CCR)
Note: I've been back since April 7, and it is now April 25. Of the 18 days since I came back home, a lot has happened. Thus the delay. Plus, I didn't write while on the vacation (compared to last year) simply because there was too much to do.
There are pictures of the trip on my Facebook photo album.
Because of the numerous things I saw, I had to break the entry down into four days. This entry recalls Day 1, with the subsequent entries recalling days two, three and four.
After I came home from New York around this time last year, I started to think about where I would go the next year. Would I continue on my Hall of Fame journey and go to Springfield, MA (basketball)? Would it be somewhere west, or south? I thought about it for a while, and there were many bumps in the road along the way.
Mainly, running the website caused me to put the vacation idea on the backburner. I had requested some time off the week after Christmas, and thought that would be a perfect time to maybe go somewhere south or west. A destination just wasn't thought of. Ideas came to mind, such as Montreal, Boston, Florida, and Seattle. Myrtle Beach was another, and seemed to be the favorite. When it came time to start thinking about the actual vacation, I didn't have much planned. The days went by fast, and I spent this week off at home instead of somewhere else.
The time off allowed me to think of vacation plans earlier. I planned another week, this time in April, for the actual vacation. Again, Myrtle Beach seemed to be the favorite, but some other ideas came to mind. That, combined with the fact that any beach destination was going to be packed with people wasn't going to be enjoyable, made me look somewhere north.
From Illinois, there isn't much north. I had been to Milwaukee, Green Bay, Detroit, and the Mall of America. I needed a Passport to leave the country, thus forcing Montreal out. The feeling of Northern Exposure came to be a little, and I kind of focused on some point in Minnesota. I didn't know much about Minnesota, other than the fact that the Mississippi River starts there (and my sixth-grade teacher once visited the point where it starts). After that thought, it kind of all came together.
Visit the Mississippi River where it starts, and drive along it until I get there.
I really like off-beat drives, and this kind of solidified the plans. The first time I went to St. Louis, we went there from the Quad Cities down on the west side of the river. Real enjoyable.
After planning a route, and a vacation timetable, the journey to Lake Itasca was on.
I budgeted less than what I did last year. My mom would use the term "el cheapo" on trips that weren't all that financially great. But they were good trips, anyway. Just like this one.
"El cheapo" meaning for this trip:
1. I cut out a coupon for a loaf of bread, another coupon for a pound of ham, buy cheap sandwich bags, and made sandwiches for the trip. Cut out another for a 12-pack of pop, and put that in the cooler as well.
2. Find the cheapest chain hotel possible for a three-night stay.
3. Start filling up my tank in Iowa.
The first stop was Clinton, just for the purpose above - to fill up my tank. I wanted to leave very early in the morning, so I could cram the Mississippi adventure from sun-up to sun-down. I left home at 4:00 a.m., not knowing when the sun actually came up. I was given some lottery advice from a customer of mine, to buy tickets while vacationing because it always seems like the winners are always those who just pass by. So along with the gas, and fuel treatment, I bought a Cash Game ticket, Hot Lotto, Mega and Powerball ticket.
On north on Route 67 to Sabula. I had passed through Sabula a couple of times, but no from the side I came up on. It was still dark out, and around 5:00 a.m., and I parked at a place called Driscoll's Island for a small break and took pictures. The camera - Danny's - didn't fare too well for night shots. I had a feeling that this was going to be the theme for most of the Iowa stretch. It wouldn't do much good to go into Sabula because there would be nothing to take pictures of. It was there I planned to shoot a "gag photo" of myself on the Savanna-Sabula bridge. That would be on the way back home.
On north on Route 52 to Bellevue. To my dismay, it was still dark out. On our way back from the Mississippi River museum in Dubuque (with my grandparents some years ago), we stopped at a cafe there and watched barges go by. It was night, but the camera began to work a little. The town has a nice riverfront park.
As 52 worked its way north toward Dubuque, I noticed that I wasn't following the River any more. So I tried to go on some backroads to get parallel with the river. I veered off at St. Donatius, which is a small town with a Luxembourg heritage (and perhaps bigger than Luxembourg itself?). The thought of going on vacation and driving on gravel roads seemed a bit exciting before I suddenly got lost. What then made it worse was a wicked curve of the road. I was driving 30 mph when I cut a tight curve to the left. No signs or anything, but this curve made my car fishtail and my heart chugging. So I had to take a picture of the curve that nearly killed me. But all worries aside, this part of Iowa is very hilly and there are a few shelled-out houses, too.
Getting back on course, Route 52 then made its way into Dubuque. I had been there a few times, mostly for visits to Diamond Jo Casino when I was bored after Highland classes. The main bridge to Dubuque, the Julian Dubuque Bridge, engulfs the rest of the cityfront when looked at on the climb down on Route 52. While I had visited Diamond Jo on the riverfront before (both boat and land), I never visited the actual riverfront. Thus I did, and it was light enough for some good pics. There's a little walkway on a levee, and it had markers for the Star Brewery and the Shot Tower. They made lead in the Shot Tower.
Going up further on Route 52, I took a turn off toward the river. It was there I decided just to follow the "Great River Road" and "America's Byways" signage throughout the entire trip. The turnoff took me to a couple of unique places.
Balltown was just a small little town until I noticed a place I had seen before in a couple of news reports. Breitbach's Country Dining is the oldest restaurant in Iowa, and perhaps known for a couple of fires there in recent years. Unfortunately, they were closed on Mondays, so breakfast had to wait. Leaving Balltown, there is a great lookout where one can see for miles (just think of the "Who" song). Any place that has a binocular machine is a sight to see.
The next stop on this very tiny road was a place called North Buena Vista. Usually I think of Buena Vista as a southern resort, but this was far from it. The road actually just nicks the corner of the town, but I went in. There is a grotto made from the foundation of rock. There are also some campsites, and an old restaurant that kind of looked like a place I wanted to eat at. It was there that I wanted to stray away from the usual chain places, and have dinner at these types of "dives."
Going up even further on Route 52 (I rejoined it again), I kind of got the feeling that Iowa is much more than it's sterotypical feeling - that of corn and farms. Upon reaching Guttenberg, there was a "roadside table" (I call them) along 52. It was a unique view of the river looking north, where most views make you look left and right. The river was very high at that point, so I wasn't able to tell the actual river boundary, but there was plenty of river to look at. It was there that I tested out the camera's 10-second feature. My family kind of gets a little bummed when I take these pictures and there's not much of me in them. This 10-second thing would really help out on the photo album, having to balance the camera on a level point and then dash to a pose.
Once again, after leaving Guttenberg, I found myself not seeing the river anymore. I didn't want to get lost like earlier in the day, so I just drove on until I found the next major road that would take me east again. That was a road to McGregor. It was there that I found Pikes Peak Park just south of the town. My feet were tired and I decided to take an extended break. I was the only car in the parking lot of this very large park. You go on vacations to get away from it all, and here I was literally away from it all. Pike Peak was the place to see where the Wisconsin River met the Mississippi, but with a lot of high waters it was hard to tell where the meeting point was. There was also a marker there stating that Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet entered the Mississippi from here.
When I got back to my car, I noticed that my both my camera battery was low and my cell phone battery was getting lower. I had both chargers with me and found a shelter with a couple of outlets for charging them. While I was waiting for them to charge, I walked around the park a little bit before it rained. (Mind you I was the only person at the park, so I could literally leave my electronics safely in the shelter and walk freely). I read a park display reading out the path of the northern part of the river, and noting to myself that I was making great timing to make it to the Twin Cities before dusk.
McGregor is an interesting-looking small town. Most of the town is high, while the downtown is nearly level with the river. You could see shops, with the rock bluff literally in the background. I didn't know this before, but McGregor was the site of the first Ringling Brothers circus. We were off Route 52 at this time, and was on a county road. After leaving McGregor and Marquette (pretty much twin cities), I was anxious to get to the Minnesota border - much to the tune of the cries of "are we there yet?"
Finally after exiting New Albin (a town that has a high school with a lot of state baseball championships), we reached the wooden sign hanging from a stone rock, "Minnesota Welcomes You". There was another marker at the sign, with a mileage display. Another 150 or so miles to the Twin Cities. I crossed the border around 2:30 p.m. and hoped I get to the day's endpoint soon. But there was a lot of river to be seen. At this point, the roads and Minnesota landscape were becoming the attraction.
I reached Winona only to see a very unique rock on the top of the hill. I didn't know what it was until I stopped at a Walgreens simply to find some Minnesota postcards. It was after reading the postcards that I found the name of Sugar Loaf Rock. Green-eyed lady, lovely lady? Hardly. The rock looks like a vertical trapezoid sticking out of the ground. I drove through Winona, which is home to Winona State University (were Rock Island played a football game at a couple of years back), and stopped at their riverfront.
After leaving Winona I noticed my gas tank was getting dry. I went on for a few more miles on Route 61 before deciding on a Kwik Trip in Kellogg. The price of gas there was the same as it was in Sterling at the time (3.79). Little did I know this gas would be better than the Shell gas I got in Clinton. Because I that took me to Itasca and back to the Twin Cities.
On I went following the river past Wabasha and into Lake City. The welcome sign to Lake City noted that the town was the birthplace of waterskiing. The Mississippi forms a lake at this point (hence the name Lake City), where I stopped and took some river pictures because of the vast amount of water. To tell how high the water was at the time, I placed my camera on the ground and took a pic from ground level. There were small waves rushing onto the land as I took the picture.
I took a second break at Lake City to reorganize my plans. I had just topped off my tank at Kellogg and thought to myself that I was going to go over my fuel budget on this trip (not knowing how good this fuel in my car actually was). I had planned on taking a side trip up along the St. Croix River, which would have taken me to Duluth. I decided to axe that entire side trip, and put all resources toward the Mississippi. Thinking tactically kind of meant my head was getting the best of me for the day, and I was longing for the Twin Cities.
It was about 4:00 when I entered Red Wing. I wanted to get my mind off of vacation planning and find something interesting. Then I found the Red Wing shoe store and museum. It was basically a shop with shoes and Red Wing memorabilia. The place was also home to the world's largest boot (size 877), which is about two stories tall. The museum was upstairs and had a spacious artifact display telling the history of Red Wing shoes.
By the time I arrived in Hastings, I found out that these "Great River Road" signs were becoming misleading. I was following it, and I was crossing the Mississippi River at the same time. I hadn't crossed it since Clinton. I was a bit confused at that point, and stopped for a while. It was there that I realized that there's only one Great River Road in Minnesota, and it crossed the river at various times. I was playing tactical once again, and decided enough was enough. I drove toward the Twin Cities and found my way to the Travelodge in suburban Burnsville.
Because it is just me traveling, a small room with a small bed, television, alarm clock and a bathroom fits me well. When I got there, I went to the phone book to find a map of the city. There I could map my way through the Twin Cities along the river. I ordered some pizza and slept away watching television.
Day 2 would be touring the river through the Twin Cities, Day 3 would be the drive to Lake Itasca, and Day 4 would be the drive back on the east side of the river.
Day 2's adventure will come in the next blog entry.
Current Song - Lookin' Out My Backdoor (CCR)
Note: I've been back since April 7, and it is now April 25. Of the 18 days since I came back home, a lot has happened. Thus the delay. Plus, I didn't write while on the vacation (compared to last year) simply because there was too much to do.
There are pictures of the trip on my Facebook photo album.
Because of the numerous things I saw, I had to break the entry down into four days. This entry recalls Day 1, with the subsequent entries recalling days two, three and four.
After I came home from New York around this time last year, I started to think about where I would go the next year. Would I continue on my Hall of Fame journey and go to Springfield, MA (basketball)? Would it be somewhere west, or south? I thought about it for a while, and there were many bumps in the road along the way.
Mainly, running the website caused me to put the vacation idea on the backburner. I had requested some time off the week after Christmas, and thought that would be a perfect time to maybe go somewhere south or west. A destination just wasn't thought of. Ideas came to mind, such as Montreal, Boston, Florida, and Seattle. Myrtle Beach was another, and seemed to be the favorite. When it came time to start thinking about the actual vacation, I didn't have much planned. The days went by fast, and I spent this week off at home instead of somewhere else.
The time off allowed me to think of vacation plans earlier. I planned another week, this time in April, for the actual vacation. Again, Myrtle Beach seemed to be the favorite, but some other ideas came to mind. That, combined with the fact that any beach destination was going to be packed with people wasn't going to be enjoyable, made me look somewhere north.
From Illinois, there isn't much north. I had been to Milwaukee, Green Bay, Detroit, and the Mall of America. I needed a Passport to leave the country, thus forcing Montreal out. The feeling of Northern Exposure came to be a little, and I kind of focused on some point in Minnesota. I didn't know much about Minnesota, other than the fact that the Mississippi River starts there (and my sixth-grade teacher once visited the point where it starts). After that thought, it kind of all came together.
Visit the Mississippi River where it starts, and drive along it until I get there.
I really like off-beat drives, and this kind of solidified the plans. The first time I went to St. Louis, we went there from the Quad Cities down on the west side of the river. Real enjoyable.
After planning a route, and a vacation timetable, the journey to Lake Itasca was on.
I budgeted less than what I did last year. My mom would use the term "el cheapo" on trips that weren't all that financially great. But they were good trips, anyway. Just like this one.
"El cheapo" meaning for this trip:
1. I cut out a coupon for a loaf of bread, another coupon for a pound of ham, buy cheap sandwich bags, and made sandwiches for the trip. Cut out another for a 12-pack of pop, and put that in the cooler as well.
2. Find the cheapest chain hotel possible for a three-night stay.
3. Start filling up my tank in Iowa.
The first stop was Clinton, just for the purpose above - to fill up my tank. I wanted to leave very early in the morning, so I could cram the Mississippi adventure from sun-up to sun-down. I left home at 4:00 a.m., not knowing when the sun actually came up. I was given some lottery advice from a customer of mine, to buy tickets while vacationing because it always seems like the winners are always those who just pass by. So along with the gas, and fuel treatment, I bought a Cash Game ticket, Hot Lotto, Mega and Powerball ticket.
On north on Route 67 to Sabula. I had passed through Sabula a couple of times, but no from the side I came up on. It was still dark out, and around 5:00 a.m., and I parked at a place called Driscoll's Island for a small break and took pictures. The camera - Danny's - didn't fare too well for night shots. I had a feeling that this was going to be the theme for most of the Iowa stretch. It wouldn't do much good to go into Sabula because there would be nothing to take pictures of. It was there I planned to shoot a "gag photo" of myself on the Savanna-Sabula bridge. That would be on the way back home.
On north on Route 52 to Bellevue. To my dismay, it was still dark out. On our way back from the Mississippi River museum in Dubuque (with my grandparents some years ago), we stopped at a cafe there and watched barges go by. It was night, but the camera began to work a little. The town has a nice riverfront park.
As 52 worked its way north toward Dubuque, I noticed that I wasn't following the River any more. So I tried to go on some backroads to get parallel with the river. I veered off at St. Donatius, which is a small town with a Luxembourg heritage (and perhaps bigger than Luxembourg itself?). The thought of going on vacation and driving on gravel roads seemed a bit exciting before I suddenly got lost. What then made it worse was a wicked curve of the road. I was driving 30 mph when I cut a tight curve to the left. No signs or anything, but this curve made my car fishtail and my heart chugging. So I had to take a picture of the curve that nearly killed me. But all worries aside, this part of Iowa is very hilly and there are a few shelled-out houses, too.
Getting back on course, Route 52 then made its way into Dubuque. I had been there a few times, mostly for visits to Diamond Jo Casino when I was bored after Highland classes. The main bridge to Dubuque, the Julian Dubuque Bridge, engulfs the rest of the cityfront when looked at on the climb down on Route 52. While I had visited Diamond Jo on the riverfront before (both boat and land), I never visited the actual riverfront. Thus I did, and it was light enough for some good pics. There's a little walkway on a levee, and it had markers for the Star Brewery and the Shot Tower. They made lead in the Shot Tower.
Going up further on Route 52, I took a turn off toward the river. It was there I decided just to follow the "Great River Road" and "America's Byways" signage throughout the entire trip. The turnoff took me to a couple of unique places.
Balltown was just a small little town until I noticed a place I had seen before in a couple of news reports. Breitbach's Country Dining is the oldest restaurant in Iowa, and perhaps known for a couple of fires there in recent years. Unfortunately, they were closed on Mondays, so breakfast had to wait. Leaving Balltown, there is a great lookout where one can see for miles (just think of the "Who" song). Any place that has a binocular machine is a sight to see.
The next stop on this very tiny road was a place called North Buena Vista. Usually I think of Buena Vista as a southern resort, but this was far from it. The road actually just nicks the corner of the town, but I went in. There is a grotto made from the foundation of rock. There are also some campsites, and an old restaurant that kind of looked like a place I wanted to eat at. It was there that I wanted to stray away from the usual chain places, and have dinner at these types of "dives."
Going up even further on Route 52 (I rejoined it again), I kind of got the feeling that Iowa is much more than it's sterotypical feeling - that of corn and farms. Upon reaching Guttenberg, there was a "roadside table" (I call them) along 52. It was a unique view of the river looking north, where most views make you look left and right. The river was very high at that point, so I wasn't able to tell the actual river boundary, but there was plenty of river to look at. It was there that I tested out the camera's 10-second feature. My family kind of gets a little bummed when I take these pictures and there's not much of me in them. This 10-second thing would really help out on the photo album, having to balance the camera on a level point and then dash to a pose.
Once again, after leaving Guttenberg, I found myself not seeing the river anymore. I didn't want to get lost like earlier in the day, so I just drove on until I found the next major road that would take me east again. That was a road to McGregor. It was there that I found Pikes Peak Park just south of the town. My feet were tired and I decided to take an extended break. I was the only car in the parking lot of this very large park. You go on vacations to get away from it all, and here I was literally away from it all. Pike Peak was the place to see where the Wisconsin River met the Mississippi, but with a lot of high waters it was hard to tell where the meeting point was. There was also a marker there stating that Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet entered the Mississippi from here.
When I got back to my car, I noticed that my both my camera battery was low and my cell phone battery was getting lower. I had both chargers with me and found a shelter with a couple of outlets for charging them. While I was waiting for them to charge, I walked around the park a little bit before it rained. (Mind you I was the only person at the park, so I could literally leave my electronics safely in the shelter and walk freely). I read a park display reading out the path of the northern part of the river, and noting to myself that I was making great timing to make it to the Twin Cities before dusk.
McGregor is an interesting-looking small town. Most of the town is high, while the downtown is nearly level with the river. You could see shops, with the rock bluff literally in the background. I didn't know this before, but McGregor was the site of the first Ringling Brothers circus. We were off Route 52 at this time, and was on a county road. After leaving McGregor and Marquette (pretty much twin cities), I was anxious to get to the Minnesota border - much to the tune of the cries of "are we there yet?"
Finally after exiting New Albin (a town that has a high school with a lot of state baseball championships), we reached the wooden sign hanging from a stone rock, "Minnesota Welcomes You". There was another marker at the sign, with a mileage display. Another 150 or so miles to the Twin Cities. I crossed the border around 2:30 p.m. and hoped I get to the day's endpoint soon. But there was a lot of river to be seen. At this point, the roads and Minnesota landscape were becoming the attraction.
I reached Winona only to see a very unique rock on the top of the hill. I didn't know what it was until I stopped at a Walgreens simply to find some Minnesota postcards. It was after reading the postcards that I found the name of Sugar Loaf Rock. Green-eyed lady, lovely lady? Hardly. The rock looks like a vertical trapezoid sticking out of the ground. I drove through Winona, which is home to Winona State University (were Rock Island played a football game at a couple of years back), and stopped at their riverfront.
After leaving Winona I noticed my gas tank was getting dry. I went on for a few more miles on Route 61 before deciding on a Kwik Trip in Kellogg. The price of gas there was the same as it was in Sterling at the time (3.79). Little did I know this gas would be better than the Shell gas I got in Clinton. Because I that took me to Itasca and back to the Twin Cities.
On I went following the river past Wabasha and into Lake City. The welcome sign to Lake City noted that the town was the birthplace of waterskiing. The Mississippi forms a lake at this point (hence the name Lake City), where I stopped and took some river pictures because of the vast amount of water. To tell how high the water was at the time, I placed my camera on the ground and took a pic from ground level. There were small waves rushing onto the land as I took the picture.
I took a second break at Lake City to reorganize my plans. I had just topped off my tank at Kellogg and thought to myself that I was going to go over my fuel budget on this trip (not knowing how good this fuel in my car actually was). I had planned on taking a side trip up along the St. Croix River, which would have taken me to Duluth. I decided to axe that entire side trip, and put all resources toward the Mississippi. Thinking tactically kind of meant my head was getting the best of me for the day, and I was longing for the Twin Cities.
It was about 4:00 when I entered Red Wing. I wanted to get my mind off of vacation planning and find something interesting. Then I found the Red Wing shoe store and museum. It was basically a shop with shoes and Red Wing memorabilia. The place was also home to the world's largest boot (size 877), which is about two stories tall. The museum was upstairs and had a spacious artifact display telling the history of Red Wing shoes.
By the time I arrived in Hastings, I found out that these "Great River Road" signs were becoming misleading. I was following it, and I was crossing the Mississippi River at the same time. I hadn't crossed it since Clinton. I was a bit confused at that point, and stopped for a while. It was there that I realized that there's only one Great River Road in Minnesota, and it crossed the river at various times. I was playing tactical once again, and decided enough was enough. I drove toward the Twin Cities and found my way to the Travelodge in suburban Burnsville.
Because it is just me traveling, a small room with a small bed, television, alarm clock and a bathroom fits me well. When I got there, I went to the phone book to find a map of the city. There I could map my way through the Twin Cities along the river. I ordered some pizza and slept away watching television.
Day 2 would be touring the river through the Twin Cities, Day 3 would be the drive to Lake Itasca, and Day 4 would be the drive back on the east side of the river.
Day 2's adventure will come in the next blog entry.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Rocky Thoughts
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.20.40
Current Song - Take Me Home (Phil Collins)
I think it all started when our dog's leash broke under my "watch" at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Usually I wait for him to bark, but after a while there was no barking. When his leash was found severed I spent all night looking for him.
This led to a lot of self-doubt in my ability to think straight. I was chided from all angles regarding this event with my dog. The recovery process from this sudden rocking of the ship was very difficult.
Then came a blow I really did not need. I live with the parents, and they are still willing to do my laundry. I have had a habit of turning my clothes inside-out when taking them off. For some reason I've always lifted from the bottom up instead of the top up. The result is that the shirts are inside-out when I put them in the hamper.
Now I should know better to leave the clothes in the hamper looking the correct way. However, just the mention of this fact sent me into an even deeper rut, and thus the ship was rocked a little harder.
***
You see, this is a struggle between myself and reality. I, like everyone else, have dreams to do what we WANT to do and like doing it. I kind of have that already. But with every little reminder that I'm not up to par with reality, it sets me back a little.
(I have stared blankly for 20 minutes)
I'm forgetting things, and am falling way behind the progress of the other 24-25 year olds that I know. For those who looked back on my intellect from long ago and thought I had high hopes, don't cry for me. Instead, cheer me on as I take on this force that is reality and find a way to be successful in it and regain my ground.
First, I would like to seek and maim those who are detrimental to my success. Then again, I don't know.
Current Song - Take Me Home (Phil Collins)
I think it all started when our dog's leash broke under my "watch" at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Usually I wait for him to bark, but after a while there was no barking. When his leash was found severed I spent all night looking for him.
This led to a lot of self-doubt in my ability to think straight. I was chided from all angles regarding this event with my dog. The recovery process from this sudden rocking of the ship was very difficult.
Then came a blow I really did not need. I live with the parents, and they are still willing to do my laundry. I have had a habit of turning my clothes inside-out when taking them off. For some reason I've always lifted from the bottom up instead of the top up. The result is that the shirts are inside-out when I put them in the hamper.
Now I should know better to leave the clothes in the hamper looking the correct way. However, just the mention of this fact sent me into an even deeper rut, and thus the ship was rocked a little harder.
***
You see, this is a struggle between myself and reality. I, like everyone else, have dreams to do what we WANT to do and like doing it. I kind of have that already. But with every little reminder that I'm not up to par with reality, it sets me back a little.
(I have stared blankly for 20 minutes)
I'm forgetting things, and am falling way behind the progress of the other 24-25 year olds that I know. For those who looked back on my intellect from long ago and thought I had high hopes, don't cry for me. Instead, cheer me on as I take on this force that is reality and find a way to be successful in it and regain my ground.
First, I would like to seek and maim those who are detrimental to my success. Then again, I don't know.
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