Ruth and the sunset at the island of Dhiffushi, Maldives.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox

We tried to leave Grand Forks fairly early, but it was still around 9:30am by the time we got on the road. Said goodbye to our couchsurfing host Jasmine, and got on our way.

Thanks for having us Jasmine!

Kevin, Jasmine, Ruth.

So we headed for Duluth, Minnesota. The scenery slowly changed from farmfields to forests, but still nothing worth taking photos of. We did stop in the small city of Bemidji and asked at the tourist office if there were any worthwhile hiking trails in the area, but they didn't know of anything. They did have lots of bicycle paths though and it seemed like a pretty enough place.

Grand Forks to Duluth. 266 miles (428 kms). You can see the city of Bemidji right around the half way mark.

At the tourist office, they have a couple of statues. One is a huge monument to Paul Bunyan and his faithful ox companion Babe. I ask Ruth to stand by them for perspective so I can take a picture.

Ruth, holding Paul Bunyan's hand. Too funny.

Made it to Duluth around 3:30pm. I had ordered a camera bag from Walmart's online site and had it delivered to the Duluth Walmart. So we stopped by there and did a little shopping. I brought the camera inside with me to make sure it fit. And it was exactly what I was looking for!

Then we stopped by a couple of second hand stores. We need some new clothes! All we really had with us for the summer was work clothes, so we're traveling really light again and some of our clothes are looking a little worse for wear! We each want a new sweatshirt, and we're not paying $60 or more for a decent quality one. By the same token, I don't really want a $12.99 cheapo one from Walmart. So we're looking for a good second had quality one at a second hand store. Haven't found one yet, but we'll keep looking.

Much of Duluth is built into the side of hill overlooking Lake Surperior. There's a lot of shipping traffic through here as the freighters come from the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence seaway to the Great lakes and finally Lake Superior. We found somewhere to park and got a couple of quick pics of some of the boats.



Someday, we will do a trip on one of these types of ships!

So then we headed over to Rebecca and Steve's place. Rebecca has been reading our blog for over two years and had seen we were headed this way and invited us for a visit. Turns out we have lots in common with these people, we're about the same age, and the conversation flowed non-stop. They've been to Mexico several times, and they're now considering the RV lifestyle as their youngest daughter Kelsey will be bound for college next year and they'll have the ability to travel more often.

Rainbow on the way to Rebecca and Steve's place.

Today, there's a hot air balloon festival in Duluth, but the weather may not cooperate so we'll see what happens. Rebecca and Steve are going to show us the sights, and there's a hawk migration going on that we want to try and see.

11 comments:

  1. Nice picture with Paul Bunyan:) I have spent lots of time on commercial ships, so not my idea of a vacation.

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  2. Our son's former job had their main office in Bemidji so he took us there a few years ago. We too had to have pictures taken with Paul Bunyan and Babe. Did you get a chance to see the fireplace inside the visitor center? It's made with rocks from every state and some foreign countries as well. It was pretty cool. We enjoyed a visit to Duluth several years ago. The drive north along the lake is very nice with some good hiking trails, waterfalls and lighthouses.

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  3. I love the photo of Ruth holding Paul's hand! Too funny.
    Safe travels!!!

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  4. It seems women always like taller men! Great photo op. Again, a couch-surfing visit with a 'virtual' friend - I love it!

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  5. Paul and Blue seem to show up most anywhere there were trees to cut I guess. We saw them in Maine, and figured that was their "home". Apparently not.

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  6. You are making pretty good progress and seem to be enjoying the sights along the way.
    Thrift stores are great places to shop.

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  7. The migrating hawks were up and moving this morning in western MN, so you could be in for a real treat on Hawk Ridge.

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  8. Trust me, you don't want to vacation on a commercial freighter. I had to go on board many of them during my Coast Guard career and way too often I felt like I couldn't get a shower fast enough.

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  9. Evelyn's right about the North Shore, there is a state park about every 20 miles with some fun hikes.
    Ah, Paul and Babe were two of my kids favorite things when we went up north.

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  10. Howdy Ruth & Kevin,
    NOW, I'M REALLY JEALOUS!!! I can take Kevin, but a CONCRETE CHOPPER?? Ain't no way!!!
    Sounds like you kids are having a great time and the weather is being kind to you !!!
    My b-i-l was in Great Lakes USNavy boot-camp and talked about being in Bemidji, said it was a very nice little town....

    Enjoying the trip, so far, and all of the HAPPY DAYS, with y'all !!!

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  11. Enjoying following your trip, so many deja vu moments.

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