When we last left our weary travelers—wait, it was only Day 1… they couldn't have been weary already, could they?—they had just landed in Duluth, where they stayed for two lovely nights and enjoyed all that the fine fresh water port city had to offer…
(I have to switch to non-third person narrator mode, or it's going to get too weird, too quickly.)
I present yet another big bird somewhere out of Duluth:
No, I won't tell you what Dan actually said when he saw this thing, but you can fill in the blanks. (It rhymes with 'rock'): There's your big ______, babe.
Next up, Pierre the Pantsless Voyageur in Two Harbors:
Just where I've always wanted to really be…
Next stop: Gooseberry Falls State Park.
Is it just me, or does this shot of me and Cole have a titch too much Awkward Family to it? Something about the way he's leaning desperately and uncomfortably away from me.
Here's a cute girl:
And here's a cute but stuck-on-a-ledge Dad, processed using the Pioneer Woman's Seventies action:
Then it was onto the Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors. Gorgeous views of both Lake Superior and the lighthouse itself.
Inside the Visitor's Center, we were forced to stop for an "Insert Head's Here" shot. Unfortunately, there was no one handy to shoot all four of us:
And that, my friends, is why Photoshop can be the traveler's best friend:
Then it was time to point our compass due West as we left the coast and headed directly into the heart of the Iron Range. Our first point of interest: Rocky Taconite.
Welcome to the land of iron ore and tall trees, weary travelers!
Side note: This was my first visit to Minnesota's Iron Range. In my mind, I pictured a bleak, vast wasteland, the color of, well, iron. I was shocked at the lushness and stunning beauty of my adopted home state. Honestly, the topography is so different from the southern part of the state where we live. It was absolutely gorgeous. The drive along the National Forest Highway 11 was one I would do again in a heartbeat.
Our final stop for this leg: Eveleth, Minn., home of the US Hockey Hall of Fame:
And home to the world's largest hockey stick and puck:
Whew…all this travel has got me tuckered out. Tune in again for more tales from the Road Trip that Will Provide Endless Possibilities for Blog Fodder for All of Eternity.
Coming tomorrow: mining pits, Bob Dylan, the Greyhound Bus Museum and Judy Garland, just to name a few.
