Northern Trip

31 August 2005 - Wednesday


0 Miles - Left Bismarck North Dakota

Woke up before sunrise again and headed east on I-94. More straight highway across the plains. Though things were getting greener and you might even see a few trees now and then (including those in the well-marked "living snowfences").

We saw from the highway the world's largest buffalo in Jamestown ND:
Largest Buffalo

We crossed the continental divide again, this time from the Atlantic to the Arctic near Eckelson ND. Here the divide amounts to just a slight hill, not the dramatic mountains of the West.

We also passed near the KVLY-TV tower, the world's tallest structure, but we didn't see it, or at least we couldn't tell which of the many towers in the distance it was.

We next drove through Fargo, ND. The AAA Book amused us by talking about how the local zoo had a "Domestic Animal Contact Area" (which we can only suppose is the same as a petting zoo).

194 Miles - Arrive Minnesota

Upon entering Minnesota we drove much further to the south than Kristina wanted. She wanted to be efficient, I had a certain destination in mind that I thought was worth going out of the way for. More on that later.

So we continued south on I-94. We stopped in Alexandria MN to see the Runestone Museum, which got a gem in the AAA book. We were the first visitors of the morning so they had to unlock it for us (it was attached to the chamber of commerce) and run the greeting DVD ourselves.

The runestone was a stone with Viking Runes on it found by a Swedish Immigrant over 100 years ago. At the time everyone thought it was a fake, and he was harassed for years. A son committed suicide and a daughter fled town due to the taunting.

But recent analysis makes it sound plausible that the stone may be genuine. The Vikings in 1362 would have sailed down the Hudson Bay, through Lake Winnepeg, and down as far as Alexandria. And other Viking implements were found in the area.

My picture of the runestone didn't turn out, so you'll have to go to the webpage to see what it looks like. There was also a nice museum attached that showcased local history. And outside there was a giant statue of a Viking that the town had sent along with the stone to the 1965 World's Fair (note one of Minnesota's 10,000 Lakes in the Background):
Alexandria Viking Statue

We then got back on the highway and pressed further south. We got off of I-94 and made a few wrong turns, but finally we arrived in Darwin MN, the home of The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota (made famous by the Weird Al Song).

Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota

While taking pictures, a nice man (who you can see looking out the door in the above picture) came out and opened the door so we could see the twine ball up close and personal:
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota

We then went inside and bought souvenirs, including (I kid you not) souvenir miniature balls of twine and a postcard: "Greetings From The Twine Ball, Wish You Were Here". That one got sent to my brother Kevin, a big Weird Al fan.

We missed the annual Twine Ball Days festival which had been a few weeks before. Someone had apparently lit a bunch of flags on fire then, and while we were there the caretaker was talking to the sheriff about offering a reward for info because "the twine ball could have caught fire".

The twine ball is not the largest in the world, but is the largest made by one man. This same man also had a talent for carving giant pairs of pliers out of wood (fully functional and without any pins). They had one on display that was huge and the handle itself was made out of many smaller pliers.

Also nearby was the Twine Ball Inn:
Twine Ball Inn

So that was a lot of fun, and I am glad we stopped even though Kristina thought I was being silly.

We then eventually found our way through the farmland and lakes. It was so nice being somewhere green with deciduous trees again. We drove through St. Cloud where we crossed the Mississippi (after which the radio stations all started with W again):
Mississippi

We traveled north on Minnesota 23 and then I-35 until we got to our destination, Duluth MN. We were amused to be staying there due to a stupid joke in a John Bellairs book (no, it's not funny. "Does this bus go to Duluth? No, it goes beep-beep").

We stayed at the Motel 6 there, which was in a questionable part of town. We had finally made it to the start of the Great Lakes!

589 Miles - Arrived Duluth Minnesota
Day 5 - 589 Miles Traveled, 2698 Miles Total

On to the next day!


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