Next Stop… Minnesota

We cross the state line into Minnesota around noon hour and a few kilometers into the state we pulled into the tourist information center. This is always a good place to start in order to find out what´s worth seeing.They gave us a good route to Duluth, Minnesota which is on the western tip of Lake Superior.It will take us west around the city of Minneapolis and St Paul, along route 23 which was not a major highway but there was more to see. She pointed out to us, that if we went through Minneapolis and St Paul, we would run into so many places where there was road construction going on. It would be much faster taking route 23.This would also take us to the City of Pipestone. Pipestone, like the name became famous a very long time ago. It has always been and still is considered a very sacred place for all Indian tribes on the North American continent. It is here that once a year, the Indian tribes would meet to "Mine" the stone in this area. For countless generations, American Indians have quarried the red pipestone found at this site.These grounds are sacred to so many people due to the fact that the pipestone which is quarried here, is carved into pipes used for prayer. The Indians believe, that the pipes smoke, carries one´s prayer to the Great Spirit. This special stone can only be found here in Pipestone and is the only type of stone used to make Peace Pipes. The Indians still come here today to dance on the sacred grounds once a year. It is quite fascinating, that tribes from all over North America gather here for this very reason. This attraction, we wanted to see and it was only an hour´s drive from the Information center. The lady from the tourist office also mentioned that if we took the route North of Duluth along the north shore of Lake Superior, it was supposed to be just gorgeous. We decided to pass on that because by this point of our trip, we´ve seen so many gorgeous places. To travel out of our way to see some more of the same, for us was a little pointless. We were also a little pressed for time due to our next excursion. Our next major stop, was to visit my lifelong friend Sherri and her parents whom I´ve known literally all of my life at their cottage in Gravenhurst, Ontario.I´ve always considered them whether they like it or not, as my second family. They´ve always made me feel right at home in their company. We were waiting for an e-mail from Sherri as to whether or not she could trade work days with one of her co-worker's, so she could join us at the cottage. Our fingers, eyes and toes were crossed.With the information we needed, we thanked the lady at the tourist office, finished our coffee and headed out to find route 23 northeast.It was only a stone throw away from here along I-90 at Beaver Creek.We found R-23 without any trouble at all. As we head north, the landscape is pretty flat and seems to be Minnesota´s agricultural center. From what we could see, they farmed two types of crop. Corn was the one we easily recognized but the other gave us a little trouble identifying. We found out later by asking one of the locals, that the crop was soya. Aftera quick stop for gas, we continued along until we reached the town of Pipestone. This too, reminded us of an old cowboy town.It´s a town you wouldn´t mind visiting, but living here, No Thanks. Not much seemed to be happening here. We found the sign for the Pipestone National Monument and headed in that direction. We pass by a small monument of Stone Boulders which is considered the sacred prayer ground similar to a church used by the Indians. We enter the parking lot and find a place to park the bike. As Km puts things away on the bike, I walk over to a man standing by a car, who was without a doubt, Indian or to be politically correct, Native American. I asked him if the center was open because it didn´t seem to be.He assured me it was and pointed me in the direction of the front door and told me if we kept to the right as we walked inside, we would run into Thomas, who would take good care of us. Just as he said this, a man walks out of the door.He says to me…" oh !! there´s Thomas now.He´s probably going for lunch".I thanked the man very much and returned to Km who was still standing by the bike waiting for me.By this time, Thomas walks along the sidewalk in front of the bike when I just can´t help myself by having a little fun with him at his expense.I call out to Thomas…"Hey Thomas !! It´s been a long time. How are you doing "?? He stops up and looks at me and is apparently quite confused. He looks as though he can´t for the world of him, remember who I am… Go Figure ! I asked him if he remembers me! He apologizes, but can´t seem to place my face. I smile at him and explain how I knew his name.He was relieved to hear we never met before, then smiled, wished us a good afternoon and walked away. Then Karen Margrethe smiles as well. She was just as confused as he was as to how I knew anyone in Pipestone, Minnesota. Inside the center, we were welcomed by the center leader, given a map of the Monument area.We started at the first exhibit were you could take a piece of the Pipestone Rock and then saw or file it, just to get an idea of how the stone was shaped into a pipe. Unfortunately there was a sign which read that you were not allowed to remove the stone from the premises. So much for that great idea I had… The rest of the exhibits were just the different types of pipes which were carved on the premises by the different Native American´s employed there. They were there showing how the pipes were carved and then of course how they sell them at the souvenir shop. Yes, I did buy a small peace pipe. There was also a tour of the Sacred Grounds outside which we did start, but due to the heat, we cut the tour short. It was then back on the bike and returned to Route 23 northeast. It was a beautiful afternoon for riding a bike and as we reached Granite Falls, we decided to set the GPS to find a place to sleep for the night. It did find a number of motels along the way but there wasn´t any of them that we felt like staying in for one reason or another. Either they were too run down or the owners thought that they were palaces and set the prices after that. We ended up driving quite far until we finally found a Motel 6 in the city of St. Cloud. Motel 6 after our experience, are clean and very reasonable in price. We checked in and then went into town to shop for dinner.After shopping, we returned back to the bike in the parking lot and it took about 45 minutes before we were able to leave. First there was a man who was very interested to hear about our travels and then there was a young couple we talked with. On our way back to the motel, I spotted an IHOP restaurant which we have seen many times on our journey through the States, but have never stopped to eat there.It was the International House of Pancakes. We decided to check it out tomorrow morning before leaving town. Next morning Tuesday 9th of August, we had a quick cup of coffee, packed the few things we had and then got on the internet to see if my friend Sherri had sent an e-mail to us, to let us know whether or not she was able to change work days with her co-worker.To our disappointment, she was unable to do so but we arranged to meet up at my sister Suzanne´s the following Monday. It was now time to SkypeSherri´s parents, Gail and Burt. Gail picked up the phone and seemed very happy to hear from us until I mentioned that we would love to come a see them at their cottage on Friday. She seemed a little apprehensive about our arrival. She asked what time we would be arriving and what about dinner. I told her not to worry about dinner because we would eat before we arrived. She was okay with that and then said that Charles, their son will be so thrilled to see us. We then said goodbye and I turned off the computer and Km says to me that it didn´t sound as if they were so thrilled to hear that we were coming.I brushed it off as nothing to Km but at the same time couldn´t help going over the conversation in my head. My first thought was that she said that Charles will be thrilled to see us. Great!!, but what about them. I really didn´t want to impose on them, but again, knowing them as I do, I just couldn´t imagine that they would feel like we were. Talk about bewildered.With the last few things packed, we headed on over to IHOP.We were the first ones there and were escorted over to our table by a very cheerful waitress. While reading the menu, we saw in the desert section, Authentic Danish Pancakes. As I´m reading the description of these Authentic Danish Pancakes, I must admit, that the description is nothing that I can recognize.They were definitely not Danish, that's for sure. I happened to mention it to the waitress who seemed to take it a little too personal. Oh well !, can´t please everyone.We did have a very nice breakfast with eggs, pancakes, sausages, bacon, toast and coffee. With our belly´s full once again, my thoughts returned to the conversation I had with Gail. I couldn´t help thinking that we were imposing on them and I didn´t want to do that. Karen Margrethe said that Gail was probably concerned that we arrived before they did and she was more than likely the type that wants things to be prepared before the guests come. Km was hopefully right. I just put it down to that Venus and Mars sort of thing. The things that men and woman will probably never understand about each other. We had a very busy day ahead of us.We were looking for a halfway mark between here and Gravenhurst, Ontario. The farther we got today, the less we would have to travel on Friday. We were looking for a campground where we could chill out for a few days before entering Canada once again. Six hundred or so kilometers would be great.This would take place in the Upper Peninsula in the state of Wisconsin. We continued northeast along highway 23 towards Deluth, Minnesota at the western tip of Lake Superior, which is approximately 300kms from here. This would be our "halfway" mark. As we got closer to Deluth, we hopped on Highway 35 north to save some time. This was a two lane highway which also leads to the city of Deluth. We arrive there at noon and make our decent down to Deluth.It was a beautiful lookout point from up here. We could see the whole city and all the Bridges winding through each other. It looks as though it was an industrial town, very old and very used. We decided to stop when we reached the other side of the bridge which would be in Superior, Wisconsin.We found a little coffee shop, parked the bike and went in.Lunch was to be a bagel with cream cheese and a cup of coffee. In the background was Barach Obama on the flat screen television, giving a speech during the Presidential race. All eyes were glued to the screen. It wasn´t long before we were up on the bike again on a glorious Tuesday afternoon heading eastbound along Highway 2 with the sunshine pushing us along. This stretch of road is very barren in between towns. Just tree´s and tree´s and when the road traveled along the shores of Lake Superior, there was water. Never the less, it was an extremely beautiful stretch of country. It's hard to imagine how huge Lake Superior is. From North to south it is approximately 260kms long and approximately 560kms wide from east to west.We didn´t take any chances when keeping the tank filled with gas. We never knew when the next gas station would show up. We still had quite a ways to travel today. We will attempt to reach the middle of Lake Superior, which we could see from the map, had the last camping place possible in the area. We should, if all goes well, reach there before dinner. It looks as though there is a Lake close by so it could turn out to be a very pleasant place to stay, for a few days of recreation. It is called Lake Michigamme in the state of Michigan. Looks like we´re going to run three states today.We cross state line into Michigan at Ironwood. When we reach Wakefield, we keep to the left and travel east along highway 28 which will eventually takes us straight across the state close to the city of Sault Ste. Marie, the border town between Canada and the US. By 4:30pm, we see a sign for Michegamme Shores campground. We succeeded in reaching our goal for the day. We turn left and follow the road over the railway tracks and enter the campground and park the bike in front of the camp office.I´m kind of hoping that the railway tracks have been out of use for many years.Once again, they can take many things away from me, but they can´t take away my hope. We enter the office and are greeted by the couple who own the campground.The man gives us a number of the campsite where we are to set up our tent but his wife insists on him giving us another which happens to be her favourite campsite. We drive down and check it out. It turns out to be a beautiful spot very close to the washrooms and a short distance from the lake. As we pack our tent out of the bag, it is still quite wet from the last time we used it so we started by hanging up a clothes line and throwing our tent over it. Km found the camping stove and began to make coffee.The weather was as good as you could want it to be and sitting here at the picnic table looking down at the lake, we knew that this was going to be a nice place to spend a couple of days. The tent dried quite quickly and before we knew it, the tent was set up, the air mattresses were in the tent and our sleeping bags were lying on top of them. Km felt that she had driven enough motorcycle for the day so it was up to me to find somewhere to buy something for dinner. The owners of the campground informed us that there wasn´t much to choose from around here as far as shopping was concerned.They said the nearest town was about 20 kms away.With that in mind, I hopped up on the bike, waved goodbye to Km and set out on the hunt for food. The first town I drove through, was more or less a ghost town. There was only one or two house´s which were occupied and at the same time not very well kept up. It looked as though the financial crisis hit hard in this area. Even the post office was closed. Then again, if there are no house´s, what´s the point in having a Post Office.There were a lot of cheap houses for sale here, if you wanted to live in these parts. It was much too far out of the way for my taste.I found a gas station/grocery store about 8 kms on the other side of this town. Filled the tank up so there was one less thing to do when we did depart Michegamme Shores and then went in to do some shopping. Tonight´s menu was baked beans and hotdogs, and a couple of extra large cold ones to make sitting around the campfire, just a little bit more enjoyable.As I´m putting the groceries in the side bags, this older couple began to ask me questions. The first of many questions, was where that license plate comes from. It always has been a great conversation piece we brought with us from Denmark and it definitely brought us a little closer to people over here. It was a good starting point in striking up a conversation with people.This, like so many times before, it was no less than a half hour before I was on my way again with their "God Bless you" and "drive carefully". I headed back into the campground, stopped quickly up at the office and ordered some wood for the campfire which he promised to drive down to us at our site.In the meantime, Km was already busy collecting wood herself.When I reached back to camp, I hear the crackling of branches in the woods and out of nowhere, comes Km out of the brush with a load of wood.It wasn´t long before the owner of the campground also dropped off a bushel of wood. Km took her lighter out of her pocket and before you could read this blog, the fire was a blazing away. We decided to have a game of cribbage before starting on dinner. After dinner we just relaxed by the fire before retiring to our beds.

Next morning we awoke to the sound of birds singing and chipmunks running around. Km got the coffee on and then with that done, it was time to prepare the porridge.It was a glorious day her in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was warm and the sun was shining.After breakfast and following the mornings "just puttering around", I decided to write some more blog. I was getting a little behind.Km put her bikini on and then took her toasted sandwich and a chair over to the picnic table where I was writing our diary. It wasn´t long before the boredom of watching me write our blog set in and she realized that it would be much more fun down by the waterfront, looking for stones. She is the original Stone Collector. After a couple of hours of blog writing and watching Km down by the water, I began to realize how much time I use writing our blog, instead of enjoying the place´s we were at. It was at this time, I decided that I would go over to "Point Form". If I just made small comments on a pad of paper, I could write the blog at another time when I was bored or perhaps like what did happen… now that we´ve come home.I packed up the computer, put it in the saddlebag of our bike and grabbed my chair and joined Km down at the beach. We spent most of the day down there just enjoying the sun and the swimming.I just love swimming in fresh water and especially when there is a sandy bottom. It also was a pleasant surprise for Km who is so used to swimming in the ocean. The fresh water lakes in Denmark and many other places in Europe are often very muddy on the bottom. This was seventh heaven.It was getting close to dinner time and we had not bought anything for supper so we headed up to the tent to prepare for a quick shower, change our clothes and head into the grocery store to do some shopping.This time I had Km with me for moral support. Tonight's menu will be chicken soup with a bag of frozen vegetables thrown in as fill.Never thought I could fill my stomach on soup and vegetables but for some strange reason it seemed to do the trick. We returned to base camp and Km disappeared into the brush again to gather some kindling for the fire.We had a motorcycle grill with us which we had only used once before so it would be put into use today if I can figure out how to put it together.Supper turned out to be a big success and after dinner we more or less prepared as best we could for our departure in the morning. Its Friday tomorrow and we are off to Gravenhurst, Ontario to visit Burt and Gail. The last evening in Michegamme Shores was spent sitting around the campfire and playing a game of cribbage.With all our wood burned up, there was not much else to do then retire to our beds and get a good night sleep. We would be leaving early in the morning.We awoke at 7am to the sounds of chirping birds once again. There is something so peaceful being woken in that way. It took a little while to get Km out of the sleeping bag and into the kitchen to prepare our porridge. I got the water on the burner started so we could make some coffee. With breakfast done and the dishes washed, we once again began to pack.It`s hard to believe that when we reach our destination today, we will be only a two hour drive to my sister Suzanne`s place. It was there where we started, way back in June. The speedometer read 99,306.It looks as though we will round the 100,000 kilometers and turn it back to Zero before we arrive at my sister´s in Keswick.At 9:00am, we were on the bike and motoring for the last time out of Michegamme Shores Campground and heading east along Hwy 28. The weather was once again sunny and warm.I can´t help thinking about how lucky we have been with the weather.Its not that we haven´t had some rain and cloudy days, cause we have.Its just that we really haven´t been bothered by it. We have been in some States where the weather has been tremendous and then from the next Motel in the next State, we can see on the weather channel that a storm has moved in. The weather channel at times did play an important part in where our next move would be. I remember a few years back while camping in Alsace, located at the northeast corner of France, where we had rain for 4 days straight. There was Km already talking about the following year's summer vacation, and it had absolutely nothing to do with a motorcycle. On the fourth day we decided to pack and head south to find some sunshine. As we´re packing, this guy on a motorcycle pulls into the campground and warns us about all the rain where he came from in the south of France. We did get lucky though. Never saw the rain anymore during the rest of that trip.Our first stop along the southern shores of Lake Superior would be in the town of Marquette which is the halfway mark of Superior. We made a quick stop there in the shopping center for aspirin´s for Km´s headache and gas for the bike. We did have one more stop along the way for lunch.It was in the quaint little town of Munising, Michigan. While I was filling up the bike with gas, Km went over to the other side of the street to check out this café. It was called The Rolling Rock Café and Bookstore.She asked me if we should go in and have lunch there.My first thought was… Lunch in a Bookstore???Now I read a book once but never had lunch in a bookstore. I suppose this might be an experience!! It actually turned out to be a real nice experience.The Rolling Rock Café and Bookstore is the most popular cafe´ in Munising. You apparently can become a member and receive your own personalized coffee mug with your name on it, which has its own special place on the many shelves in the store. There were hundreds of mugs on the shelves. When you come in, you can take your cup and fill it with coffee and read a book, play some piano or just talk with some friends.Every Saturday there is a live concert as well with the local talent. After a pleasant lunch and a talk with a local Author and musician, we were on the road again. It was 165 miles to the border crossing at Sault Ste. Marie. We agreed to make a quick stop in… Yes… Wal Mart.We were still on the lookout for that I-phone which Km´s son Martin wanted so badly.This would be our last chance to buy it in the State´s and it had to be a Wal Mart Superstore. Before I go any farther with my story, I just want to make sure you all understand that it takes two to Tango and no doubt about it,I was by no means any better than Karen Margrethe at this point but it is me that is writing the blog , so it must be my version of the story that counts. By mid day, we were approaching Sault Ste. Marie and Wal Mart was locked onto the Gps. There were two stores to choose from. How lucky are we!!One was on the US side and one on the Canadian side. We were about 1km from our destination and it wasn´t long before I could see Wal Mart from the highway. I could see that it wasn´t a Superstore so I continued on passed the exit ramp with the hope that Wal Mart on the Canadian side was a Superstore. Km immediately started asking why we didn´t turn off at the Wal Mart exit ramp.I tried to explain that it wasn´t a Superstore and I hoped that there was a superstore on the other side.To say the least, she was not a happy camper at this point.On the bridge of no return, which is the bridge to the border crossing, Km tells me that she wanted to buy an American Flag and now it was too late.My first thought before our Blow out was, we´ve spent so much time in the States, and not once did I hear about her wish to purchase an American Flag.I tried to tell her that there was a Wal Mart on the Canadian side and was sure that she could buy an American flag there. All of a sudden, it wasn´t the Flag anymore.It was the fact that Wal Mart in the States had a better assortment of things to buy then in Canada.I`m still not quite sure where she had planned to put these assortment of things to buy, on the motorbike.I guess it was here where 3 months of togetherness, night and day got the best of us. I guess I kind of flipped. I remember shouting something about Wal Mart in the F###ing States is the same Wal Mart in F###ing Canada and that the F###ing merchandise in both Wal Marts comes from the same F###ing place. I just can´t believe that we are even discussing this but apparently Karen Margrethe can and she keeps on going on about something that I was by no means interested in hearing anyways. I finally asked if she wanted to stop in at the Canadian Wal Mart or Not,hoping of course to hear NOT.No such luck !!!!It was at this point, a great wall of silence emerged between us. We reached the border crossing, handed over our passports to the Canadian Customs officer, who took a quick look at them and handed them back to us and wished us a pleasant Journey. I gave the Custom´s officer Km´s US travel papers and we were on our way.We wouldn´t be needing them anymore. This was our last Farewell the U.S. of America and of course all the F###ing American Wal Marts !!!! We followed the Gps to the Canadian Wal Mart and parked the bike a short distance from the main entrance.It was not a Superstore, but it was a Wal Mart. It was here where Km decided that she was not going in. You could have heard a pin drop. At least until I flipped out again. She was going in, whether she liked it or not. She didn´t seem to agree with me.It was like she had a mind of her own, but I dared not mention this to her at this time.I thought fine, I went in myself even though it was the last thing in the world that I wanted to do. At least I had someone to watch the bike. She did end up following me in but was still determined not to look around.I tried once again, to explain that Wal Mart in Canada and Wal Mart in the states have the same things.We obviously were going nowhere with this conversation so we hopped on the bike once again and as we left the parking lot. I thought that the best thing to do was to find a coffee shop so we could try and douse the flames in our bodies. Preferably a Starbucks Donut Shop.Km´s favourite!! Great to be back in Ontario, Canada !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!