Along the border and all the way home

Antler, North Dakota

Above is a photograph of the very small town of Antler, North Dakota. The town is less than two miles from the Canadian border and once was home to a customs house. These days, there is less than thirty people living here, leaving what amounts to a ghost town huddled around the abandoned customs house in a circle. It's a bit eerie.

I've been home a few days, but I wanted to leave a quick blog entry that's as much for my own memory as for anyone following along. I left Minot on Sunday headed north, then made my way along the border, through the Green Mountains, and then south through Devils Lake to Fargo. On Monday, I took a short trip into far western Minnesota on U.S. Highway 75 before battling high winds all the way home down Interstate 29.

Also visited:  Minot, Ruthville, Antler, Westhope, Roth, Souris, Carbury, Strawberry Lake, Dunseith, Belcourt, Rolla, Rocklake, Clyde, Munich, Starkweather, Garske, Webster, Devils Lake, Hamar, McHenry, Glenfield, Courtenay, Wimbledon, Leal and Rogers, North Dakota. Moorhead, Comstock, Wolverton, Kent, Breckenridge, Doran, Wheaton, Dumont, Graceville, Barry, Beardsley and Browns Valley, Minnesota. Sisseton, South Dakota.

Southern Minnesota

I have explored Minnesota once before, three years ago. That trip took me through the North Woods with its giant Paul Bunyan statues and Lake Superior shoreline. This one was less ambitious and closer to home, a drive across southwest Minnesota following the Minnesota River for much of the way.

Outside of the area around the Minnesota River (and its tributaries like the Redwood), this part of Minnesota is not at all unlike its neighboring state to the south. There are miles and miles of virtually flat farmland dotted with small towns that all have a large grain elevator of some sort towering over the surrounding landscape. Of course, as stated in Minnesota's tagline, there are small lakes seemingly everywhere a person looks.

Tyson Lake near Wood Lake, Minnesota

Fairmont, Minnesota

Blue Earth, Minnesota

Also visited: Winnebago, Truman, Lewisville, Madelia, New Ulm, Fairfax, Franklin, Redwood Falls, Echo, Vesta, Russell, Ruthton, Holland and Pipestone, Minnesota.

Day 4: Duluth

Due to nagging stomach trouble, I ended up holed up in my hotel in Duluth for most of the day today. I ventured out an hour or so before sunset and the entire city had been covered by this very thick fog. It was quite beautiful.

Day 3: Minnesota's North Shore

Driving down Highway 61 while listening to Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited seems out of place. The real highway is open and gorgeous, winding its way along the shore of Lake Superior from Duluth to the Canadian border. Dylan's 61 is far more threatening and obtuse.

Today was rainy and cold, the temperature hovering around the 45 degree mark throughout the day. It feels more like March than mid-June. The rivers that feed into Lake Superior are all swollen and rushed. It appears that any more rainfall will cause the rivers to overtake the highway, washing it away in many places.

The Grand Portage area is awesome, definitely worth the drive up there. The image above is from one of the many scenic overlooks in that area.

Places visited: Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Lutsen, Grand Marais and Grand Portage, MN. Grand Portage National Monument. Cascade River and Tettegouche State Park.

Day 2: Fargo to Duluth

Day two was spent mostly on Minnesota Highways 34 and 200 through the North Woods, passing by a whole lot of small lakes and this enormous Paul Bunyan statue in Akeley.

I'm really intrigued by Duluth with its 45 degree sloped downtown streets and towering bridges linking to Superior, Wisconsin. The entire city literally overlooks Lake Superior thanks to the huge hills that tower over the lakeshore. Tomorrow I'll be heading up the north shore towards Ontario.

Places visited: Hawley, Detroit Lakes, Park Rapids, Nevis, Akeley, Walker, Remer, Jacobson and Duluth, MN. Superior, WI. Height Of Land and Leech Lakes. Chippewa National Forest.