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[Ken 06/30/2017] Greetings from the land of the Chippewa. Also the land of Lake Wobegone, 3M, the Mayo Clinic, Land O'Lakes Dairy, Casey Jones, Tonka trucks, Gitchee Gumee, totem poles, and Paul Bunyan. And of course, Babe, the blue ox. According to the locals, this part of the United States is called "Up North" and "Way Up North," depending on your geographic position. It's also called the "Northwoods." A quick look at a US map will prove these assertions -- Minnesota reports in as the northernmost state in the lower 48 (should that be 49?).
| | While the region is most famous for logging, water skiing (invented in Minnesota), snow-mobiling (also invented in Minnesota), motor-boating (one in six Minnesotans own a boat), and fishing, we came to Bemidji, Minnesota, to be tourists. And also to bike a section of the cycling-favorite Paul Bunyan State Rail-to-Trail. The scenic 120-mile Paul Bunyan Trail is the longest paved section in the US rail-to-trail system. |
| It is great to ride in rustic shade, alongside calm Minnesota lakes, on paved and level paths, and through distinguished, beautiful forests of white birch, balsam fir, and Norway pine. While the PB Trail starts at Lake Bemidji, we chose to ride an unmapped section that is popular with local cyclists -- a trail that follows the shoreline around the Lake. This route actually twice crosses the Mississippi River. The river is pretty small up here when compared to what we see of the Mighty Mississippi farther south! | |
 | The seventeen-mile bike ride around Lake Bemidji was gorgeous. A well-deserved scoop of ice cream from the local "River Dipper Ice Cream Shoppe" was in order. Afterwards, we toured the local train depot and some of the historic downtown streets. We enjoyed watching the celebrants of this small town getting ready for a feverish Fourth of July weekend. From the looks of things, it is going to be a festive weekend for the lake community! |
| Bemidji got its start as a logging stop on the Mississippi River, so among the town's scheduled holiday activities was a demonstration of log rolling (they don't use real logs, anymore, unfortunately). All I can say is that it is harder than it looks! Our day in the Bemidji area was laid-back and refreshing. After a quick look around it is easy to understand why Minnesota consistently ranks so high as a bicycle-friendly state -- there are bikes and trails everywhere! Some day we will have to ride the whole trail! | |
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[Ken 06/22/2017] Today, we made it to Trout Lake Camps (there are two of them) in north-central Minnesota. The RV Park at Trout Lakes serves both camps and it is jammed full. There are thirteen RV spaces and there are thirteen RVs. If you can't find us on the Minnesota map, just look at the end of the long, flat, dirt road that goes through the middle of an overgrown forest of Northwoods' birch and pine and dead-ends between two big lakes (and a little one) with a lot mosquitoes. Yea ... that's where we are.
Its hard for me to comprehend that we are [now] farther north than we were at Lighthouse Camp in Barker, New York, last August -- that camp just seemed so far "up there" to me! Coincidentally, it is 1450 miles from Livingston, TX, to Barker, NY, and we drove 1450 miles from Livingston to get to Trout Lake Camp in Minnesota. Hmmmmm....
Today also completes our first month on-the-road for this summer's tour. Boy did that time go fast! We celebrated by giving Faith a bath -- boy is she shiny!
Its hard for me to comprehend that we are [now] farther north than we were at Lighthouse Camp in Barker, New York, last August -- that camp just seemed so far "up there" to me! Coincidentally, it is 1450 miles from Livingston, TX, to Barker, NY, and we drove 1450 miles from Livingston to get to Trout Lake Camp in Minnesota. Hmmmmm....
Today also completes our first month on-the-road for this summer's tour. Boy did that time go fast! We celebrated by giving Faith a bath -- boy is she shiny!
the music man... |  |
[Ken 06/20/2017] We made an entertaining stop in Mason City, Iowa, this afternoon. Not only is this town famous for its Frank Lloyd Wright architecture (Wright lived in Mason City for several years), but this is also the birthplace of Meredith Willson, known for writing the music and lyrics for the unforgettable Broadway musical The Music Man.
"River City" in the show is Mason City, Iowa, Wilson's 1910's home. With permission from Warner-Brothers, some of the Hollywood set is recreated here in Music Man Square. The inspiration for so many of the characters and places in the musical were actually taken from this town.
It is obvious that Mason City is proud of its connection to The Music Man. In fact, the phone book for the small town of Mason City lists a group of people with the name [Professor] "Harold Hill!" We saw T-Shirts with the word "Trouble" printed in bold lettering. And there is even a Wells Fargo wagon at the Wells Fargo bank!
"River City" in the show is Mason City, Iowa, Wilson's 1910's home. With permission from Warner-Brothers, some of the Hollywood set is recreated here in Music Man Square. The inspiration for so many of the characters and places in the musical were actually taken from this town.
It is obvious that Mason City is proud of its connection to The Music Man. In fact, the phone book for the small town of Mason City lists a group of people with the name [Professor] "Harold Hill!" We saw T-Shirts with the word "Trouble" printed in bold lettering. And there is even a Wells Fargo wagon at the Wells Fargo bank!
It was fun to tour Music Man Square and see familiar scenes from the show. In addition to the movie set, there is a Hall dedicated to the lifetime achievements of Meredith Wilson. The museum also features an antique musical instrument collection of primarily brass instruments (very interesting to me!). Meredith Wilson's personal flute is also on display. We also learned that Meredith Wilson played in the John Philip Sousa band as an adult -- something that he and I have in common!
| The museum is prominently positioned in the downtown area. On the outside upper edge of the building are etched the lyrics of "Seventy Six Trombones" -- in giant letters and around all four sides of the structure! And you will never guess what covers the ceiling of the museum's rehearsal hall -- used by the local community band. The ceiling is covered with no less than seventy-six vintage trombones! What else would you expect?!?!? | |
 | self portrait[Ken 06/19/2017] The odometer on Faith turned 35,000 miles today. Reason enough to celebrate with a selfie, huh? (My reflection, hands on the steering wheel, can be seen in the gauge). |
fort scott national historic site
[Ken 06/18/2017] I got to spend Fathers Day on-the-road this year. We finished up at our SOWER assignment in Missouri and were on the first leg of our trip north to Minnesota for our next assignment. There was a sign on the side of the road that said "Fort something-or-other," and the steering wheel just automatically followed the arrow.
Fort Scott was a busy southeast Kansas military outpost, but for just a short time. It served to protect the young United States from Indian attacks in the 1840's before becoming an infantry post during the battle against Mexico over what would become the Texas Territory. In the very early Civil War it was the site of one of the earliest skirmishes against Confederate troops.
In addition, Fort Scott was a major trading center -- warehousing and moving millions of pounds of supplies for the US military. It played a prominent role in the westward expansion of a fledgling United States and the growing railroad, as a result, before being shuttered in the early 1870s. Today, a well-preserved historic town [also] named "Fort Scott" sits adjacent to the Historic Site and offers pizza and ice cream to tourists. Yumm.
In addition, Fort Scott was a major trading center -- warehousing and moving millions of pounds of supplies for the US military. It played a prominent role in the westward expansion of a fledgling United States and the growing railroad, as a result, before being shuttered in the early 1870s. Today, a well-preserved historic town [also] named "Fort Scott" sits adjacent to the Historic Site and offers pizza and ice cream to tourists. Yumm.
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We'd been to the Fort a couple times before, and we enjoyed this stop equally; it's just a nice place to stop. The park service does a good job here -- presenting and interpreting life at the Fort during the mid-1800's -- things are well kept. This is the first time, however, that Deb and I had been to the Fort without our kids. The walk through the Fort grounds allowed for a lot of Fathers Day reminiscing, however. "Oh, those trips with the kids were fun days...."
 | At Fort Scott National Historic Site in July 2003 with our two sons, Robby and Chris, my mother, and Gizmo the camping dog (Mallory was in Poland). |
happy flag Day!
[Ken 06/14/2017] I put a flag on the work truck that I had been using at NTM -- just for today. I drew a lot of attention, as they thought I was rallying a militia of some sort to defend the campus against the likes of Santa Anna. I had to explain that I was merely acknowledging Flag Day with the only spare flag that I had! I got lots of looks as I rolled through the hills of central Missouri today, for sure!
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[Ken 06102017] I have always enjoyed the rolling green hills of The Show Me State. The horizons are beautiful and the highways are scenic. “Just around the bend…” is a small town lost in time but still thriving in service to the local community.
The Ozarks, however, are not a part of Missouri where I have ever spent any time. We’ve driven through, of course, from north-to-south and from east-to-west, many times. While serving at New Tribes Missionary Training Center in Camdenton we had the perfect opportunity to get to know this countryside much better.
Central Missouri is noted for a sizable [some say] dragon-shaped lake. The town of Camdenton sits at the south end of the Lake of the Ozarks -- a lake made of a lengthy series of esses with arms off each curve and fingers off each arm that form countless secluded coves. In all, there are more miles of shoreline on this lake than there is coastline in California.
The combination of vibrant canyon-like scenery, the variety of water types, and the State’s oversight to place any restriction on the type or size of boat that can be placed on the Lake, creates a tremendous draw to the region by what the locals call “lake people.” I was called-out in Church on our first Sunday here by not dressing like “lake people” dress. I made sure that never happened again! Flip flops for church! WooHoo!
The combination of vibrant canyon-like scenery, the variety of water types, and the State’s oversight to place any restriction on the type or size of boat that can be placed on the Lake, creates a tremendous draw to the region by what the locals call “lake people.” I was called-out in Church on our first Sunday here by not dressing like “lake people” dress. I made sure that never happened again! Flip flops for church! WooHoo!
| | We had the opportunity to kayak on the lake a couple times. On our first day out we got into some waves that were tossing us up and down about four feet. On another morning we paddled over to some cliffs where we had been told some Bald Eagles were nesting. They must have thought the sound of our paddles were fish jumping – as we got close they stood right up in their nests to check us out. We also got to see them in flight. Cool. |
| Though the area is primarily known for the Lake (and there are a lot of tourists to prove that point), there is also Ha Ha Tonka State Park and Lake of the Ozarks State Park in the area. We did some hiking in both parks. Ha Ha Tonka features one of the state’s many natural springs, a rock bridge, and the remains of a "castle” built by a wealthy magnate from Kansas City in the very early 1900’s. At Lake of the Ozark State Park we were joined by my brother, Geoff, who “just happened to be passing by.” We toured Ozark Caverns together. | |
We also played a "scenic" round of putt-putt at Pirates Cove, one of the many distinguished courses in the region (Geoff won).
One weekend we drove into a Mennonite community about thirty miles to the south and west. We enjoyed watching a farm auction of the most beautiful giant vegetables you have ever seen. The cabbage was basketball-sized and was sold by the crate of 8. Who can eat eight large cabbages? You could get twenty pounds of potatoes for $1.99. As good as the deal is, who can use twenty pounds of potatoes? We also visited a couple of the community’s country stores, and a wonderful bakery. We had lunch in the area at a little restaurant with oil lamps on the wall and a large ceiling fan powered by kerosene. A fully functioning restaurant with no electricity -- I’ve never seen anything like it. Deb bought a basket.
| | While Geoff was in town, we had appetizers at a restaurant that overlooks a scenic bend in the Lake. The docks below attract million-dollar (+/-) yachts, the sizes of which you would expect to see on The Great Lakes. It is fascinating to watch such large watercraft negotiate the narrow, crowded channels in order to dock at the restaurant pier. "No Shoes, No Shirts, No Service" is just a faded decal on the door since half of the patrons of this establishment arrive by boat. We were over-dressed by wearing flip-flops. |
We drove north to the town of Jacobs Cave one day. There was a very large swap meet advertised and we had been tipped-off that it would be a great place to people watch. The exact word that was used to describe the event was “Ozarkian.” And yes, it was. I would characterize it as a large flea market with wider-than-normal lanes between booths, up and down and criss-crossing the rolling hills of tiny Jacobs Cave.
| This was the first flea market we had been to where goats, chickens, and rabbits for sale were as common as “antique” bowls, used cassette players, handmade "art," and rusty garden tools. There was also a pretty unusual display of firearms at the meet – some were homemade, I think. And backwoods craft options. And lots of pre-tested tires for mud-bogging. And foot long corn dogs. And a peacock. Deb bought a basket. | |
Yep, I learned that day what “Ozarkian” meant. We quickly learned that the wide “lanes” were not so much for the sizable crowd, but for all of the golf carts and ATVs that the locals use to navigate these kinds of meets. The fee to enter was based on the vehicle, and not on the number of people in/on the vehicle. It did not take long to credit the creativity in bolting auxiliary seating on/around these ATVs to the basis for the entry fee. There were lawn chairs duct-taped on ATVs, there were camping chairs clamped-on golf carts, and there were trailers of all sorts of contraptions used to lift and prop and haul grandma behind. Swap meets are family events in the Ozarks.
| | We made a few side-trips, as well. One was to OZARKLAND, a must-see local "TT." I bought some fudge; it was a requirement. We also found a souvenir stand trapped in time. DAVIS BASKETS still had all of the same tacky souvenirs for sale that it did in 1960. Even the cars in the parking lot were five decades old. It was a memory-jarring flashback for me. Deb bought a basket. |
it always Feels great to be riding |  |
