Dipping Into Minnesota

June 18, 2013

I never knew I had a cousin Sally in Minnesota until so advised by her California sister, Linette, a follower of my blog. When seeing my itinerary leads across Minnesota, Linette highly recommended I stop and meet Sally whose town of Alexandria isn’t far below my westward path. And so, my day’s destination is Alexandria, Minnesota.

Yesterday’s storm gone, I was blessed with a beautiful day for travel, though a little brisk. Thankfully, the 39 degrees reported on the motel weather channel was 43 by the time I left Ashland, Wisconsin at 9:30 a.m.

The angled morning sun shone brightly from behind and onto the road ahead, highlighting rich green grass recently mown from the shoulders back to a forest of conifers spotted with white-trunked aspen. Not far out of town a deer ran across the road far enough ahead not to be of concern, though it did cause me to slow a little and become more vigilant, especially when the next deer I saw was road kill.

Somewhere near Superior, Wisconsin I saw standing on the highway shoulder, far ahead, a large black dog. It was so large I figured it for one of those Newfoundlands. But why was it alone, far from civilization?

Having experienced dog encounters before, I braced for the unexpected and checked my surroundings for dodging options, all the while getting closer to the increasingly larger dog. Not that I was thinking of it, but it was too late to turn on my camera when I eventually realized it was no dog at all but a BEAR! It was the blackest black bear I've ever seen.  The sheen of its coat glimmered in the sun. Its muzzle was tan. Beautiful! That’s all I could study in the approximate 5 second glance as I passed within 50 feet of the bear. At that moment, it wheeled on its hind-quarters and I caught another glimpse in my mirror of its rolling gait toward the trees. It was then I thought about the camera. It figures. The only wildlife on the whole trip and I failed to get it on film. Well, not film, but the digital equivalent. Above all I was thankful the bear chose a path of retreat rather than going ahead with its apparent plan to cross the highway.

The city of Superior, Wisconsin is a good-sized town on the edge of the lake of the same name. It never ended before it was Duluth, Minnesota. I had planned to stop for a photo of the “Welcome to Minnesota” sign but the maze of roads, some adorned with teeth-rattling cracks and potholes, required my utmost attention to negotiate, especially after crossing the bay into Duluth. Happy to not have to deal with rush hour traffic (a nightmare I was spared), I made the various merges with minimal effort and was soon sailing south on Interstate 35.

By and by, I veered off the freeway onto two-lane Route 23, which leads through the small towns of Mora and Ogilvie and eventually to Saint Cloud where I encountered some mild congestion before merging westbound on Interstate 94 for the remainder of today's ride.

I checked into a Days Inn near the freeway interchange at Alexandria. Cousin Sally was expecting my call. We agreed to meet at the nearby Perkins Restaurant at 6 p.m. Meanwhile, I had plenty of blog and video work to keep me occupied.

I stood at the restaurant door and, right on schedule, noticed Sally’s described car roll into the parking lot. For being virtual strangers we had no trouble making the connection and were able to keep a good conversation going at least an hour after dinner, which Sally insisted on paying for. (Thanks again, Sally.)

Our common bond (and focus of conversation) is our Bernard ancestry, which dates back to 1720 Virginia. Our Bernards were in Logan County, Kentucky in the early 1800’s and after a short stay in Quincy, Illinois were in Texas by 1846, settling near present day Lancaster, just south of Dallas. Though most of the Bernards stayed in Texas our mutual great grandparents moved north to Oklahoma in 1889, known then as “Indian Territory”. It was there our grandfathers, brothers Frank and Rex Bernard, were raised. The next generation of Bernards ended up in California where Sally and I grew up. Wanderlust took me to Oregon. Marriage took Sally to Minnesota.

Sally and I bid one another farewell and I now set my sights on tomorrow’s long and possibly boring ride across North Dakota. I hope to get to Mandan before the predicted afternoon thunderstorms hit.

(Posted below are parts one and two of today's ride from Ashland, Wisconsin to Alexandria, Minnesota.)






 

Ashland, WI To Alexandria, MN 278 Miles