July 12-13

Corn, canola, and cows – oh my!

With the winds at our backs we continue riding east on Hwy 2 all day – destination for the night – Bemidji MN. By winds I do mean WIND; it was constant blowing west to east with the occasional 20-35mph gust from the south just to keep us alert. The scenery was corn, canola, beets and cows all day – clearly the Breadbasket of America. The weather is still unsettled with storm clouds following us beginning midway through the afternoon. A check of radar shows we’re in for another fairly large storm later tonight and rain is forecast all day tomorrow. We decide to spend an extra day to weather the storm (pun is intentional) should the room be available.

Quick! What’s the geographic center of the United States?

Cue the buzzer – time’s up.

It’s Rugby North Dakota and we’ve got the pictures to prove it.  

 

 

We stopped in at the Bemidji MN Tourist Information Center run by two sweet local ladies of the Chamber who told us all about the history of the area. Bemidji, it turns out, was the first city on the Mississippi River and is the birthplace of the legendary Paul Bunyan, the superman and woodsman of early logging days.

It took five large storks, working overtime, to deliver Paul to his parents. Northern Minnesota was the center of his mighty exploits and this area was Paul’s playground. Every time Paul sneezed he blew the roof off the bunkhouse. Paul is said to have dug and built Niagara Falls for a shower bath and he dug Lake Superior as a watering trough for Babe.

 

 

 

Babe, the Blue Ox, was Paul’s faithful companion. Legend has it that Babe stamped around so much that his hoof prints filled up with rainwater and made Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes. When Babe died he was buried in South Dakota. His burial mound formed what is now known as the Black Hills.

I could go on and on with these stories – the ladies at the center certainly did! They reminded me of an old Vaudeville Act; very practiced.

The Fireplace of States was built in 1934 and originally stood in the Bunyan House. It was moved into the new Tourist Info Center in 1995. The fireplace contains stones from all U. S. States and most Canadian Provinces.

Bemidji itself is situated in the northern part of the Chippewa National Forest, which was the first National Forest established east of the Mississippi River in 1908. Originally known as the Minnesota national Forest, the name was changed in 1928 to honor the original inhabitants – the Chippewa Indians. This area is quite the outdoor playground; 1,300 lakes, 925 miles of streams, and 400,000 acres of wetlands, 298 miles of non-motorized trails and 315 motorized trails. Water oriented recreation such as fishing, canoeing, camping, water-skiing and swimming are popular in the forest. There are 21 developed campgrounds plus a smattering of resorts.

What a jewel of a town Bemidji turned out to be. We spent Wednesday morning walking around the older downtown section of Bemidji and got a personal tour the back rooms of the Bemidji Woolen Factory.

Even though the factory is no longer a mass producer of woolen goods anymore they still fill smaller custom orders like the costumes for the movie Monsters Inc. and letter sweaters for several universities in the surrounding states. Plus they do still make wool batting for quilts and pillows that are shipped all over the U.S. And yes, I did make a yarn purchase. J

Pics of downtown Bemidji – binge on!

Niemi the Indian

me hang'n with Humpty Dumpty

bike rack

bike rental sponsored by Blue Cross/Blue Shield MN

wall art on building

binding machine in woolen mill is 100 yrs old

After lunch the next wave of thunderstorms began to roll through the area just as predicted so we opted for the movie theatre (The Secret Life of Pets) to wait it out.  With any luck it will clear up long enough for us to walk to dinner later this evening.