Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Day 3 - Cable - East Grand Forks

Had a great time last night chatting about rides and motorcycles, had a good sleep and today had the best breakfast so far on this trip, but I have a place to go and there's no wasting time. Nancy prepared a breakfast for a king, had eggs, bacon, toast, melon and wild rice pancakes with juice, wow, thanks Nancy.

We had just finished breakfast when out the back window I spot a fox in the backyard.  I quickly grabbed my camera from the bike and snapped a few shots while Nancy threw cakes out the back sliding door to the little fox, apparently they like Nancy's cakes too.





Four of Nancy's cats, all very friendly, they actually came to me and let me pet them.




Erik was a good host but it's time to head out.  I will use Erik's photo (without his permission but I suspect he won't mind).



I left Cable, Wisconsin and headed north into the Chequamegon national Forest taking County Hwy N towards County Road 27 and eventually Highway 2 towards Duluth.  The forest roads were beautiful and I encountered no traffic on the road.



Passed Duluth without stopping but pulled over a little later, now in Minnesota when this big fighter jet caught my eye.  It was a monument dedicated to two pilots who died on the crash of the F-101.  I have always wanted to be a fighter jet pilot but life didn't turn out that way, now I ride motorcycles, you get the same freedom as flying but only in two dimensions.



Right next to the fighter was this gigantic locomotive, I think it's appropriate to park one locomotive next to another, mine only has two wheels though.


My next stop was at the first dam of the mighty Mississippi River.  The river starts just a few miles further up but it was out of my way and I decided not to visit the lake where the Mississippi begins it's journey to the Gulf coast.



I continued west on Highway 2 and saw lots of this on the Chippewa National Forest,


and a few threatening clouds but didn't run into rain until much later,


and a really big fish, now this trip is starting to get weird, pink elephants, huge fish, what next?


After a while I felt like stopping to take a break and found this secluded place where I could park my bike on the railroad, why? Because I could, there was no one around and I could hear a train coming for miles if there was one but I never saw one.




Further down the road I pulled into the town of Bemidji when I saw a sign for Paul Bunyan.  I had encountered another giant Paul Bunyan and Babe out in California in 2010.  I walked around and saw the poor Indian guy hiding behind the trees, maybe he is hiding from Paul, he is actually facing Paul on the opposite side of the street.


A little later I saw this dilapidated church and a few rusting old cars next to it, I couldn't resist and turned around to take a picture with the old cars.



I continued west but after running through a rain storm I decided to call it quits and found a nice camp site in East Grand Forks.  I setup the tent, put a few things away and proceeded to walk across the bridge to Grand Forks where I could hear music playing.




The Red river separates Minnesota from North Dakota, Grand Forks is on the Dakota side. This is looking into East Grand Forks.


And this is the Bridge I walked to get to the music on the other side, not a lot of traffic in these little towns.




There was a Blues Concert going on and the place by the water was packed, I stayed listening to the music and then wondered around town admiring the old but still magnificent buildings.





This place caught my eye, thought about my wife, I'm sure I could find something she would like but the place was closed, damn it.


Found a railway track going right through the middle of town, decided to have some fun and take pictures, seemed like there would be no trains coming through.





This building was built in 1891 and looks brand new.


Walked back across the river, it was time to leave the music and return to camp, I still had to eat something and get ready to hit the bed.





A slower way of traveling if you willing to pedal, a beautiful yellow and black Schwinn.



East Grand Forks is a cute little town with a few restaurants by the water.  Saw lots of these animal statues along the water front.






I return to the campsite, take a quick shower and go straight to bed, it was late and I want to get up early and cover some mileage tomorrow across North Dakota.  I will leave you with some nice pictures of the sunset I saw over the Red River.






334 miles for the day, not a very long day, had time to do some sight seeing and smell the roses.
Map:

To be continued.....

14 comments:

  1. Some beautiful pictures and quiet roads. Nice to get off of the Interstates. Plus you don't want to square off those new tires. Any side trips planned off of the main highway before Whitehorse? I just noticed a road to Yellowknife branching north from Grande Prairie and rejoining the Alaska Hwy just north of Fort Nelson.

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    1. I'm in Hinton, Alberta tonight and tomorrow will take hwy 40 north, supposed to be an amazing road.

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  2. George:

    those railway tracks scare me. WHAT IF: the train was rolling on electric power, or the batteries in your hearing aid were dead . . .

    You are lucky to find those BIG statues. We don't have anything like that around here. I like the BIG FISH. I would have stood in the mouth and pretended to keep them open.

    that looks like a nice town, and nice sunset too

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

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    1. Too many if's, I don't think about that, I just do it... :-)

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  3. Cool pictures, of some strange things.

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    1. That's what I love about America, you never know what you going to find

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  4. Those are some pretty cool pictures. I like to try and stop and get a picture or two of roadside attractions. We should have stopped in Hayward for a picture of the Fishing Hall of Fame. The building is a giant Musky. I'll try and get a picture of it next time I go to town.

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  5. George,

    That's a lot of nice scenery, and I'll bet your weather is a damned sight better than what a lot of the country is suffering right now. (Not like I'm complaining, what's 103?) I rode Hwy 2 a couple of years ago. It's kind of a strange place to ride, quiet, long, straight, lots of trees all of that.

    And don't listen to these other people, as a Minnesota native, there's nothing wrong with a huge statue of an oversized lumberjack with discolored cattle.

    Brady
    Behind Bars - Motorcycles and Life

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    1. Ha ha, yea, they seem to be everywhere. North Dakota, was fun, flat and windy as hell, I had to stop and buy a scarf, I guess that was not on my list. The scarf really helped with the wind.

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    2. George, I don't know what kind of scarf you bought, but I'm picturing you with a white aviator scarf slung around you once, the rest blowing back in the breeze. You've got some style.

      Brady
      Behind Bars - Motorcycles and Life

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  6. Awesome pictures George. Those sunsets are gorgeous and what's not to love about finding a giant fish?

    I think it was your day for finding deserted railroad tracks. Nicely done.

    Oh and it sounds like Nancy spoiled you a little with that breakfast. There sure are good people out there in the blogosphere.

    Looking forward to the next report.

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  7. Looks like you had a fantastic day! Look forward to the up coming days.

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  8. Thanks guys, camped last night and internet access not good. Will post when I have some time.

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