A Grand Tour Complete

I woke up promptly at O-Dark-Thirty in my motel in Bemidji.  That translates to “way before 6 am” in my book, and yet I smiled just a little.  My alarm for the day was a work truck parked outside my window.  I smiled because I didn’t have to go to work.  Today, I was able to get the last two photos I needed to complete this year’s Grand Tour of Minnesota motorcycling event.  Here are a few photos and thoughts from today’s ride.

The temp was a cool 56 degrees when I set out, and there were an abundance of heavy bottomed clouds filling the sky.  Despite rain being absent from the radar app on my phone, I found myself zig-zagging through and around showers between Bemidji and Garrison.  Here, I stopped to put a rain jacket on because there was a downpour occurring up the road a piece.  Of course, in the time it took me to dig the rain jacket out and put it on, the rain had moved on.  Later, when I decided to take the rain jacket off, it rained on me.  Such is riding a motorcycle.  People often ask me, “What do you do when it rains?”.  My answer is always, “Get wet”.  It’s part of the adventure.

Remer Minnesota, the alleged home of Bigfoot.  Unbeknownst to the powers-that-be in Remer, it is/was one of the 20 locations we Grand Tour of MN riders had to visit and get a photo of their wooden Bigfoot carving at their town sign.  If they had known dozens of motorcyclists would visit their town for this sign, they may have asked a city employee to spend about 30 minutes to fix the broken frame that held their town mascot upright.  Alas, they didn’t.  

Pro traveler tip for those who apparently don’t know:  That little trough on the wall of every porta-potty you’ll ever encounter is not, I repeat, NOT a shelf to set things, such as hand sanitizer, in. It’s also not a good idea to set your purse, keys, or anything that you may touch, in there.  But it’s especially not for a bottle of hand sanitizer.  You’re welcome.

During my travels, I usually look for a sticker to add to my sticker boards in my garage to commemorate my rides.  Remer didn’t fail to disappoint me here either.  I was hoping to find any kind of sticker that said “Remer” and had some sort of depiction of the town mascot.  I thought for sure I’d find one at the local store/gas station, which had signs all over the exterior advertising just about anything a guy would want: Pizza, pop, beer, gas, gifts, souvenirs, etc.  Got any stickers?  Nope.  “Lot’s of people asking for them though”.  Turns out, their bathrooms were out of order too, hence my visit to the porta-potty in the parking lot.  Free hand sanitizer though.  Anyways, so I stopped into this place, the Remer Trading Post.  I chatted with the guys working inside, and they gave me a sticker they usually put on coolers and such that are bought there. It made my day. Part of the adventure.

The Log Cabin Bar in Emily Minnesota.  I think this is the bar my Dad has told me about from back in the Before-Me way back days, when my parents and grandparents, and maybe an uncle & aunt or two, would stay at cabins, fish Emily Lake, and have a beer or two at this local tavern.

My final Grand Tour photo, the walleye in Garrison.  

This mural, found on the side of a building in Crosby Minnesota, depicts USAF major David Simmons who, in 1957, rode a balloon 101,516 feet into the sky as part of the Project Man High II mission to research the effect of sending a human into space.  The mission lasted 32 hours.  The research is said to have benefited space travel as we know it today.  The balloon is said to have been about the same thickness as a produce bag in our grocery stores today.  That’s a long time, and a long ways above the ground, to be dependent on a balloon the thickness of a plastic bag, in my humble opinion.

Thanks for sharing my adventure!

On The Road Again

Recently, I fired up my Suzuki V-Strom and set off into our great State looking to collect the remaining 6 locations I must photograph to successfully finish the Grand Tour of Minnesota motorcycle challenge I’m participating in this year.  My first stop was Little Falls where Charles Lindbergh’s boyhood home still stands, nestled along the banks of the Mississippi River.  What you don’t see in this picture are the swarms of ravenous mosquitoes that descended upon me in search of my sweet, sweet type “O” nectar.  Despite my wearing a full riding suit, full faced helmet, and having a neck gaiter pulled up over my nose, three of the blood-thirsty platelet thieves got inside of my helmet and found the only sliver of flesh available: around my right eye.

The scene of the attack

The aftermath.  Yes, I tend to react badly to mosquito bites.  I wouldn’t survive 5 minutes in the Boundary Waters.

As I was riding to my next stop, I rode past this church.  It just looked so… picturesque, that I had to turn around and take this photo.  

Our Lady of The Hills statue.  Located in Ottertail County, near Inspiration Peak, the second highest point in Minnesota.  (Eagle Mountain, a destination I visited last month, is the highest point in Minnesota).

The sculptor, Bill Danelke, was diagnosed with cancer in a gland under his jawbone as a child.  His mother told him he could get help if he prayed to the Virgin Mary.  He did, and his surgery was successful.  Bill promised to thank the Virgin Mary by building a statue on Leaf Mountain.  50 years later, his vow became a reality. 

Disregard the finger in this photo.  My hand was probably still swollen, and about as worthless as a club, because of a mosquito bite.

Inspiration Peak - The second highest point in Minnesota.

Nyberg Park - A collection of sculptures by Ken Nyberg are scattered around the town of Vining.  The park is located just off the parking lot of Big Foot Gas and Grocery, where they had no stickers for my sticker boards at home, but they had a pretty decent two-piece broasted chicken with mashed potatoes and corn special.

They don’t have to make sense to be interesting.

Mac the Knife takes a shine to the silver spoon.  The fork is forever not famous.

They have a yearly watermelon festival out here, and it’s kind of a big deal, hence his motivation for this sculpture.

Full disclosure:  One of my Grand Tour of MN locations is the Bigfoot thing in Remer MN, the alleged home of Bigfoot.  This is not Bigfoot.  This is Big Foot.  There is a difference.  Another sculpture by Ken Nyberg in Vining.

Self portrait sculpture of Ken Nyberg by Ken Nyberg.

Ken Nyberg’s daughter was an actual astronaut.

The broasted chicken special I mentioned previously.  Would I ride over 200 miles again solely for this?  Probably not.  But honestly, it wasn’t bad.

When you ride into Ottertail, it is required that you visit the Otter.  

When you ride where friends live, its nice to reconnect with a friend you haven’t seen in years.  It’s just good for the soul.

Collecting another location for the Grand Tour of MN.  One of the popcorn showers caught up with me here, and gave me a good soaking as I walked back to the bike.

More storm showers blooming all around me.

Sometimes it’s okay to stop and let a downpour blow across the road a half mile or so in front of you.  Better to appreciate from a distance than to experience from within. 

If you’re looking for pizza in Bemidji, look no further than Dave’s. Been serving good pizza since 1958.

This is why I can’t sleep tonight.

Thanks for looking!