Wednesday, August 20, 2025 Leaving Itasca

 

Wednesday, August 20, 2025  Leaving Itasca

MEOWT!  MEOWT!  I soooo want in those bushes and my humans won’t let me go.  MEOWT!  I will go sit in my favorite place outside.

It was foggy this morning.  As we passed the lake on our morning walk, we couldn’t see it.  We headed to the bike trail.  Spouse walked with me for a while, then I was on my own.  The sun came out and it was quite pleasant.  The trail is shaded by the woods.  I walk for about an hour, contemplating hooking Artie up.  We have the only campsite that is not level.  It actually has small berms at the driveway to make it even more interesting setting up.  I don’t think this would be evident even if we saw it in a photo, but it is there.  This park is filled with locals, so they know which sites to get.  There was a reason why this site was available.  Oh well, we made it work and had a good time…  Now, can we hook up…

We get Artie cleaned up and then Spouse got the truck into position.  He did some super leveling of Artie.  It didn’t take long and we were hooked up.  All that worry for nothing!  YAY!  We pulled a bit forward so we could load the bikes, and so that I could get a few more mosquito bites, then we were on our way.

They advertise all the National Forest areas, and the boondocking you can do.  I think it is a diabolical plot by gazillions of mosquitos to lure unsuspecting campers into their domain, so they can eat you alive!

Since we got a late start, we decided to stay at the Country Campground in Detroit Lakes, where we stayed before coming to Itasca.  When we checked in… freshly made Italian Parmesan bread…  Oh, it is soooooo good!

We have gone as far north and east as we are going.  We contemplated visiting a friend in Canada, but Spouse gets interrogated every time he crosses the border.  He is on some watch list that he can’t find anything about.  So, we will start heading west.  We plan to take a small highway south of I94, across North Dakota, until we hit the Missouri River.  We will turn left then, eventually ending up in the Rapid City area.  We know nothing about this area, so we can be 2 days, or a week going through, who knows!  If I have internet service, I will post my blogs.  Otherwise, they will have to wait till I get internet service, whenever that might be.

Tuesday, August 19, 2025 Hitting the Links (Including sausage...)

 

Tuesday, August 19, 2025 Hitting the Links

MEOWT!  MEOWT!  My human took me outside.  I wanted to go in the bushes, but we only were there for a second, and my human picked me up and ran back home!  Wait!  I wanna explore!

Rudy loves it here.  He really wants to explore.  I took him about 5 feet down a trail and saw my legs were covered with mosquitos.  I shooed them off, grabbed Rudy and ran inside.  I sprayed my legs with bug spray.  I sure hate the smell of that stuff!  Extra Strength Benadryl anti-itch cream is now my new best friend.  I will feel very lucky if I get out of Minnesota without malaria or dengue fever!

Spouse and I headed to Eagle View Golf Course.  It is an executive course (no par 5s) along hwy 71.  Even though the yardage is not long, there are plenty of challenges.  There are some hills, a little water, and some narrow passages to navigate. There were a few blind shots that you just hoped you were using the right club in the right direction.  I was able to use a hand cart, and Spouse rode in a cart.  By the third hole, my feet were pretty wet, squishing as I walked.  Big deal…  With the moisture, you really had to putt hard to get the ball to the hole.  In the fairway, you needed one extra club (oops, until you didn’t…).  The course is in good condition and was lots of fun.  And we were totally on our own till the last hole, when we saw someone playing behind us.  I did par the hole I call Mt. Everest… a par 3 at 139 yards, that had a killer hill.

Time for breakfast!  We headed into Park Rapids and found The Great Northern Café.  This was a charming local hole in the wall with good food.  The waitresses seemed to know everybody, and give them sass when they could.  Lots of cowboy hats, flannel shirts, and plaid shirts adorned the clientele.  We must have looked very Californian in our golf clothes.  This was the picture of middle America at its finest, as far as we were concerned.  Busy, busy, busy! And charming… what a great find!

A stop at the store, and gas station, then we headed back.  The sun is out now, so we put on our wading shoes and headed back to the headwaters of the Mississippi.  There are some stairs you can take down, and wade across the 10 foot span.  The water is refreshing, but not cold in the least.  Up at the boulders, where the water actually passes from Lake Itasca, is great for wading.  Lots of kids were playing and having fun.  I wanted to deck a couple of them…  I behaved.

We are anxiously anticipating hooking Artie up to the truck.  I don’t expect it will be easy…

Monday, August 18, 2025 Flying on the bike trail

 

Monday, August 18, 2025  Biking Itasca

MEOWT!  MEOWT!  I like going outside but there are dogs.  I don’t like that.

Last night, the weather forecast called for an 80% chance of rain.  It did not happen.  They are calling for the same this morning.  I doubt it… It did sprinkle a little, and the cloud cover was thick.  But we got tired of waiting and got the bikes ready to tour the park.  It was cool.  I had long pants and a jacket on and was quite comfortable.

We are in Bear Paw Campground, and the bike trail goes through the woods, and across a really nice wood walkway.  Once at the street, we pick up the bike trail that will take us all around.  Itasca Park is heavily forested.  A variety of pines, oaks, maples, aspens and a whole lot more line every walkway, bike path, and road.  The undergrowth is laden with ferns.  There are a variety of blooming flowers, like asters, black eyed susans, what looks like a liatris, and some yellow daisy types, just to name a few.  Even though it is only mid-august, we do see a few trees here and there that have started their fall colors.  This must be breathtaking in October! 

We cross the not-so-mighty Mississippi, weaving our way past lakes, meadows and creeks.  This looks like it would be Moose country, but apparently, the moose were hunted out of the area a hundred years ago and never returned. Pity.   After a while, the trail merges onto a one way road.  It is quite wide with plenty of room for bikes.  For the entire time we were on this road, only 3 cars passed us.  We stopped at Mary Lake for some cheese and apple.  There was a sign showing a one ton eagles nest on the lake.  I hiked a bit up the trail looking for it… BZT!  BZT!  BZT! I don’t think so… the buzzing of mosquitoes turned me away quickly!  I was quite happy that I was wearing long pants and long sleeves.  I will watch eagles on the webcam…  There are gentle ups and downs, and I have to admit (shhh, don’t tell anybody), that at one point going downhill, I was going 28 mph, and increasing.  I had to hold on to my helmet visor as the force threatened to lift me just like the flying nun!  (For you younger folks, you can Google the Flying Nun…) The speed limit is only 20mph.  OOPS!  WHEEEEEEE!

The loop took us about 2 ½ hours, and was just under 18 miles.  It was a real treat.  The sun started peeking out as we returned.  Back at Artie, we cleaned up.  Spouse wanted to enjoy sitting outside…  I tried… I really tried…  But the Minnesota state pests (flies and mosquitos) were too much for me.  Spouse lit a fire, and the smoke really helped for a while.  I am a magnet for no-see-ums… and for see-ums for that matter.  I will limit my time outside if I am not mobile!  There is a reason everybody has a campfire at 2 in the afternoon.

We let Rudy out, and really check him for ticks when we bring him in.  So far, so good.  And he wants out big time!

Sunday, August 17, 2025 Itasca State Park: The headwaters of the Mississippi

 

Sunday, August 17, 2025  Itasca State Park

I really like it here.  I get to roam and eat grass.  I saw something run up a tree and tried to chase it and pulled right off my leash!  Ha ha!  But whatever it was got away.  Darned leash…

We slept with a lot of the windows open to enjoy the breeze.  It was cold when I woke up, and I had to close some of the windows.  It is windy.  I had to put on an extra set of sleeves when we did our walk. It was a beautiful sunrise.  We walked along the rural road passing a lake.  Cattails grow up to the highway and are swaying in the wind.  There are lots of trees such as pines and aspens.  Only one car passes us.  It is the epitome of pastoral and quite pretty… and quite windy and cool!

When I got back to Artie, I got out of my shorts and into capris.  Hopefully, that will be enough.  I kept the flannel shirt on too. The skies are threatening, and they are calling for rain later in the day.

We readied Artie for her ride to Itasca State Park.  This is where the headwaters of the Mississippi River are.  The scenery is green, lots of trees and so many lakes, creeks and ponds.  We turn up hwy. 71 and more of the same.  We entered the park at the South entrance.  The visitor center said we could have our spot early if it is vacant.  It wasn’t vacant, so we went to the visitor center where the headwaters are.  It is heavily forested, and we crossed over the teensy Mississippi on our way.  It may have been 10 feet wide, if that.

We follow the trail a few hundred feet, and there it is:  Lake Itasca.  And the row of boulders marks where the lake ends, and the river begins.  It is easy crossing the boulders.  They also have some steps you can go down and make the itty bitty crossing.  The water is not cold.  They say when a drop of rain falls on Itasca, it will take 90 days to get to the gulf of Mexico.  Or is it the Gulf of America… The river actually heads north out of Itasca and turns south in about 50 miles or so.  It is quite amazing to see this river in its infancy, knowing the life it brings to our country.

Let’s see if our site is empty.  IT IS!  Yay!  Hmmm…  the site is big enough, but what they don’t tell you on the web site is how level it is.  Yikes, this will be interesting.  Spouse works Artie back and forth.  Not only is she unlevel left to right, back to front is way off too.  It will be hard to disconnect.  Spouse wanted to get as far back as possible since that looked the most level.  Using our new leveling blocks, we got the left to right thing darn close to level.  Spouse was finally able to disconnect.  We have no idea if we will be able to get the truck in the position to connect… but we will worry about that later!

We were so focused on positioning in relation to the electrical box, that we didn’t notice a tree that will not allow us to fully open our slider.  TOO LATE!  We are not hooking up again!  We will just have to live with it about 8 inches short.  And you know… a vodka tonic tastes just as good even when the slider isn’t totally opened!

The skies are threatening so we didn’t want to do too much, but we did tour the park.   We found the Aiton Heights Fire Tower.  It’s about ½ mile hike up the road.  Think about this… it is threatening thunderstorms any minute…  and we are about to climb a 100+ foot metal tower… a tower that dwarfs the tree canopy…   15 flights of 9 steep stairs gets you to the top…  Some incredibile views but, please lightening storm… don’t start now!

There is a great bike trail we will take once the rain passes.  It is about a 17 mile loop.  Part of the trail shares the road with cars, but it is a one way road at 20 mph.  We scouted it out and it looks safe.  Guess we will find out.

The temperature stayed in the 60’s all day.

 

Saturday, August 16, 2025 The Great Blow Job of 2025

 Saturday, August 16, 2025 Another Kind of Blow Job

My humans let me out to roam a little.  I don’t go far… until I do.  I chased the birdie.  I chased a bunny.  Then my human came to get me.  I trotted along the bushes, sniffing.  She followed, I ran… she followed, I ran.  Then I didn’t know where I was so I stopped.  MEOW!  Come get me! 

At 4am, I heard a few raindrops.  I opened the blinds and saw it was windy, and there was lightening.  A few more raindrops.  More wind… and in 10 minutes, it was calm.  When daylight came, the skies were ominous.  I did my morning walk not wandering too far in case it started to rain.  I didn’t want to wear my rain poncho as it was too humid.  It never did rain, so I got most of my steps in.

When I got back, Spouse had Artie ready to roll.  Tanks were empty (we went 6 days without emptying the tanks.  Pretty good tankage!).  Rudy had gotten out.  He normally does not wander far, but I had to hunt him down.  Then he played his little kitty game to run just fast enough to keep out of my reach.  That is until he found himself lost, then he stopped and cried for me to pick him up. 

When we started, Spouse realized he hadn’t attached the trailer brakes, so we stopped, then off we went.  Given the weather, we decided to head up I29 to Fargo, then head east towards Lake Itasca.  Our reservation doesn’t start till tomorrow, but it is quite a ways.  We were going to take all the back roads, but realized it would take more than two days to get there, so I29 will have to do.  It is an easy highway through beautiful farmland.  Corn fields, alfalfa and soybeans stretch as far as the eye can see.  Some of the cornfields are quite artistic as the rows follow the curvature of the hills in varying patterns.  It is green with occasional barns, silos, and farmhouses.  Cattle almost disappear in the tall grasses.  They must really enjoy their grazing grounds.

We stopped for breakfast and I noticed that the tailgate was open.  Spouse…  When he checked the brakes when we left, he did not close the tailgate.  Thus, most of our blocks we use for setting up Artie blew out somewhere on I29…  Thus, the great Blow Job of 2025.  Good thing we chose this route as there is a Camping World in Fargo, right were we turn to go east.  Oh well…

We continue on… into North Dakota.  It looks a lot like South Dakota, only flatter.  We make our stop to replace our stuff lost in the Blow Job, then start east on hwy 10.  It supposedly is a scenic highway, but it looks a whole lot like I29 if you ask me.

Time to look for a place to stay.  Hmm… our GPS shows a Golf/RV resort.  Let’s go!  We turn down the road, which turns to a dirt road.  I see miniature golf… not what I see as a golf resort.  We get to the RV resort…  it isn’t an RV park.  It is a seasonal RV/mobile home spot, and the gate is closed.  And… there is no turnaround.  Ugh.  Spouse had to turn down a dirt road, then back up, and go forward, and back up without going in the ditch.  It was very nerve wracking but he did it.  Whew…

The next place… When we got to the entrance, it was wooded. I got out and walked the quarter mile to make sure it was safe to come in.  They didn’t have a spot for the night, but they called another park, and made arrangements for us.  Totally nice!  So off we go, following the GPS. 

There are a gazillion lakes in the area.  Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes.  And with their short summers, the entire state is spending Saturday night at the lakes.  We find our park, and it is really quite nice.  Then Spouse realized that this is the same park he saw on a YouTube video that he wanted to visit, but he didn’t know where it was!  FOUND IT!  It is nice enough that we might come back after visiting Lake Itasca.  Golf, biking…  this just might work.

            

Friday, August 15, 2025 Another Bike Ride, then Getting Ready to Move on

 

Friday, August 15, 2025 Another Bike Ride

See that little bird out there?  It thinks it owns this area.  Wait until my humans let me out and I will show it who runs this show.  Right after I eat grass and throw up…

It is a lot less humid today.  We decided to do an early bike ride.  We launched in the same place, but went right this time, instead of left.  The trail follows the Big Sioux River through woods, to a park, then heads into the city.  The corridor through the city is adorned with really nice decorative bridges.  It has a low wall that has been built with the local quartzite with stunning caps.  It is clean and very pretty.  We pass the city and come upon the Falls.  It is much easier getting to the Falls on bicycle than a car. 

Continuing beyond the falls, the trail crosses a part of the river that is a spillway.  It seems odd that it runs in this direction, when other pieces of the river seem to run in another direction.  Can’t figure that out.  Anyhow, we  then climb an adorable switchback trail with about 4 or 5 turns.  Through some more woods, then the trail opens up as if on a levee.  The river looks like a canal at this point.  The landscape is no longer wooded, but open.  We pass some factories.  You know, factories are places where things get built. Remember those?  Not sure what these do but there are lots of them.  A mile or two of that then we come upon the airport.  The trail crosses the river again almost putting us on a runway, then we turn into agricultural areas.  Fields of corn and alfalfa surround us.  It feels we are in another world!  We could continue for miles, but we have done close to 7 miles so far, and we decide to turn back.  What a treat these bike trails are!

After a breakfast at the Frying Pan (one step up from Denny’s), we head back to Artie.  We are leaving tomorrow, so we have lots to do.  We move the bikes from the truck to Artie.  Spouse goes to visit Kay, while I get to do laundry.  It has been nice being in one place for a while, with good internet.  But tomorrow… we shall see.

Thursday, August 14, 2025 Is that Rain? oh the humidity...

 

Thursday, August 14, 2025  Is that Rain?

MEOWT!  MEOWT!  I want to go outside and explore.  Finally my humans let me out…  Eeewww, it’s wet.  I think I will go back in.

Some winds woke me up.  I looked outside and saw dark clouds.  I cleaned up and got dressed and did a quickie short walk as it started to rain.  Guess I will just have to sit and enjoy my coffee.  After about an hour, the rain stopped.  It was still threatening, so I put on my rain poncho and headed out for my walk alone with my podcast. 

I hoofed through the area behind the campground.  It is a mobile home community where the homes are on real decent sized lots.  Nobody does anything with the lots, but they are there should someone want to landscape or add a patio.  I weaved in and out of streets, just observing before I headed back. It isn’t raining, but it is HUMID.  We have been spoiled up to this point.

I decided, since the weather was so threatening, to get a pedicure.  I found a salon about a mile away.  It was very tranquil with a beautiful waterfall fountain with plants.  She gave an excellent pedicure, but with all the humidity, it took forever for my nails to dry.  They still might not be dry!  Needless to say, I have a couple of smudges.  I am sure nobody will notice.  I guess I will need to be careful for the next several hours… as if that can happen!

While I was getting pampered, Spouse was cleaning Artie.  Then… he went into reservation hell.  We are going to Itasca State Park, where we have a campsite reserved.  They emailed us to say we still need to get a pass for the car to get into the park.  Really?  Spouse attempted to do this online…  Let’s just say it was not a pleasurable experience!  He had to recover his account a couple of times (one MORE reservation method), he had to talk to a live person… twice.  But finally, he was able to complete the transaction.  The whole experience left him in a crappy mood.

Crappy mood and all, we went to visit Kay… another blizzard…  enough said.

Up until now, we have been able to leave our windows open and a nice breeze has kept Artie quite comfortable.  We came back today… AIR CONDITIONING  right NOW! A little warmer but not horrible as long as there is cloud cover.  A little breeze, and a WHOLE lot of humidity.  My nails are not totally dry…