Duluth

Duluth is a beautiful city. Somewhere I would choose to live for the outlook it seems to have. It sits on a hill, which overlooks the western edge of Lake Superior. Yes, there’s a lot of industry spoiling the shoreline, but the downtown has brick lined streets with cool shops, restaurants and views unlike anywhere else.

When we arrived at the campsite last night we saw the same little camper in a spot next to us that had been next to us the night before in St. Ignace. This morning, on my way to the bathroom, I stopped to talk to them. Their names are Leroy and Carol, they’re bikers on a Harley pulling a tiny BF Specialties trailer behind them that pops up and forms a tent and a bed.

They’re taking Route 2 all the way across to Washington State. I told them I would have done the same thing, except that we wanted to see Theodore Roosevelt National Park on the way, so we have to head south for a while. Leroy said he gets much better gas mileage when going on secondary roads at 60 mph than he does on the highway. I’ve noticed the same thing; I get almost 30% better mileage at 55-60 mph than I do at 70 mph.

Carol and Leroy are also headed to Glacier and they told me that St. Mary’s, the entrance on the eastern edge, where we are staying for two nights, was reopened. I had no idea it was closed, but they told me that forest fires have been a big problem up there this summer and they were about to evacuate the entire town. I guess I better pay more attention to the news. They also said that bears problems are worse than usual because it’s so dry (they’re looking for water?).

We had our first incident this morning. The kids were screwing around in the tent, taking 2 hours to pack everything up. Wrestling, fighting, laughing, then daughter comes out with a bloody nose said brother hit her with a pillow. Sigh…

Next Fargo—can’t wait.