The Mississippi Just Keeps Rollin Along

WHERE ARE WE? Bemidji, Minnesota

We spent the night here in Bemidji which is a nice little city known as being the starting place of the Mississippi.  I know, I know it actually starts at Deluth but don't tell anyone around here that. 

 

First stop this morning was a very important stop for me at the beginning of our Mississippi journey.  Paul Bunyan is definitely an important folklore character around these parts.  Paul Bunyan stories are plentiful.  It is said that he cleared forests with one swing of his axe, and along with his trusty bovine, Babe the Blue Ox, they dug the Great Lakes to quench the thirst of his fellow loggers.  He also is know for creating the Mississippi Rivers by dragging his axe behind him as he wandered south.  Now I don't know if the stories are true or not, but I am not in a position to prove or disprove them.  I only want to shut my eyes and imagine whatever it is that people love to talk about around here.  And I have photo proof!!!

  So off we went on our journey which will last for a couple weeks or more.  We want to follow as close to the river, on as local of roads as we can, and this part of the country promises to offer us some beautiful scenery on some meandering roads.

The supposed start of the Mississippi

Of course there are some other things along the way to see.  A 65 ft. Muskie along the road at Bena.  Pretty tacky but worth a quick stop!!!

And across the street were some cabins to rent.  This one might need a little TLC.

Lots of neat things to see today, but Archie wasn't that enthused.  It was just another day for him!!!

We drove beside and crossed over the river a few times today.  It grew quickly from a small little creek like flow to a pretty big river today.  If it grows this fast all the way, it will be huge when it meets the Gulf of Mexico.

Sue got a shot of me standing looking south down the river and guess what I was thinking about?  Ice Cream you say?  Nope although a nice Caramel Praline cone would be good.  I was thinking about whether the water I was looking at here and now would beat me to the Gulf of Mexico?  Maybe one day I will put a GPS tracker in a container and set it loose on the river to see how fast it would travel.  

We have been on the road for 6 days now and have driven 1000 kms.  Actually if you take out all the wiggling we did the last couple days chasing that winding river, it is only 800 kms.

  

Lots of wiggles

I figure we will add an extra 1000 kms wiggling and waggling along one of the mightiest rivers in North America.  Here's where we went today.

Sue took the wheel for a while today and I just looked out the window until we got to a nice little parking lot just outside Brainard Minnesota which will be home for the night.  Good Nite!!!