We had to skip out of Iowa a bit early because of weather and reservation issues, so we spent an extra weekend in Minnesota. Which was great. Except we found out that a tornado had touched down in the town we stayed in the NIGHT before. And we found that out because I had asked the owner of the campground if the river just across from our site was always that high. Which, of course, it wasn’t. Thankfully, the rest of the week was calm and we had a great extended stay!
Memory #1 – Owatonna
We stayed the first weekend in Owatonna right alongside a river. A very swollen river. And it continued to swell until the day we left. This crazy weather has been hounding us since Nebraska. We hadn’t seen hardly a drop of rain the first 10 weeks of out trip and now we can’t seem to escape it.
Thankfully, we didn’t get much rain in Owatonna. If we did, we probably would have had to leave. But as it was, we had a really nice time. We met some very nice people who invited us over to their campfire for a nice evening chat. Turns out, they had a couple kids that were basically our kids ages and they all had a good time together over the weekend! And don’t forget the importance of sharpening our Uno skills!!!
Memory #2 – St. Paul and a Friend!!!
We were able to catch up with a good friend who just bought a home in St. Paul since we were visiting the Minnesota Capitol on Monday. We have known Mark for many years now and served with him in Youth Ministry for 2 or 3 years. He is a really great guy and was super-nice. But, even though he was a native, he apparently needed us to give him a tour of St. Paul. He had never been there?!?
No problem, I knew where I wanted to go anyway. He suggested a great pizza place and the we were off to the Capitol. This was the first time we really took much time in the city in any of our stops, and the first time we had taken our bikes on the road as well.
After the Capitol, we hopped on our bikes to check out the Landmark Center and the St. Paul Cathedral. The Cathedral was pretty amazing! We missed being able to get inside by a half hour – which stunk. And the bike ride from Landmark to the Cathedral took us through a tent city – which was sobering. But St. Paul, Minnesota was a really nice place. Glad we got to show Mark around!
Memory #3 – Cyrus and a Friend!!!
Mark and his family were kind enough to invite us to the family home in Cyrus the next day – and what a beautiful home they had! And what great people they were!
Mark made us some lunch and then invited us to get schooled by him in Bocci Ball. 3 rounds of dominance getting us back from his visit to Colorado when I schooled him in Croquet. And then, to add to the humiliation, he schooled me in about 3 games of horse. What a great host?!?!
To make up for it, his Mother made up some amazing chili and homemade apple crisp! Too delicious. We topped the evening off with a bonfire and good conversation. It really is nice to see familiar faces on such a long road trip – thank you Mark and family for being such great hosts!
Memory #4 – Grand Marias
We had quite the trek from Cyrus to Grand Marias – but what a beautiful part of the country! As we came over the last hill dropping us into Duluth, we saw what seemed like an ocean to the north of us. We thought we had made a new discovery as we had never been taught about any oceans near Minnesota – but here one was!
Once we realized that we were looking at a lake, and not an ocean, we were even more in awe. Now that is a LAKE! Lake Superior that is.
About and hour or so later, we were all the way up in Grand Marias. The campground was huge and very spacious! And the views right from our campground of the marina and the lighthouses.
Walking through town, you have a ton of options for great food and many little shops to explore if that’s your thing. This was a cool little town with lots of ways to spend your time both in nature and in the city.
Memory #5 – Duluth
We wheeled out of Grand Marias because we couldn’t reserve a spot for the rest of the weekend. Again… This is becoming a recurring theme… But it was fine because Duluth was pretty great as well. An, on the way down to Duluth we were able to check out Gooseberry Falls which was beautiful! And it put us closer to our next state, Wisconsin.
We stayed in a little campground south of Duluth that sat us right on the St. Louis River. Thankfully, this river was not flooding – because it was HUGE! We could see it right from our campsite and the other side was a state park. Beautiful!
While in Duluth, we checked out Canal Park and saw the Ariel Bridge do it’s thing. We grabbed a bite to eat at Grandma’s. And we took some time to relax!
Duluth is a cool town – if you have never been there you should check it out!
The Wrap
We had a really great time in Minnesota. Our extended stay was peaceful and relaxing. And you can’t beat catching up with old friends while taking it all in. Thanks Minnesota for the memories, but we are off to Wisconsin!