Saturday 4-22 We made it!!!!

 

I’m so excited

We woke up to another gorgeous day. The sun was shining and the temperature was brisk. Our first stop was in Bemidji at the visitor center, guess what? It was closed. Fortunately they leave some information outside. The visitor center was located in Paul Bunyan Park. It was a great park with an playground. It had a slide where you slid through a log, a swing that was shaped like a raft and a merry-go-round. There were a couple of Indian statues, one was Chief Bemidji. Most important, the original statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox from 1937 are located there. The city has sculptures through out the downtown, some were for sale and others were permanent. We picked up a map of where they were located. We walked around the downtown looking for them and were able to locate most of them. As we were walking we stopped in the Bakery Café, must be good because it was really busy, we decided on some donuts and  a couple of pastries, they were all delicious. While walking back to the park we saw this cute statue of Linus from Peanuts in front of the Security Bank. When we got back we walked around the park, we saw families playing in the playground, walking around and riding bikes.

 

Bemidji welcome sign and Paul Bunyan and Babe statues

 

A couple of the sculptures in downtown Bemidji

I’m sitting on a sculpture and standing with Chief Bemidji

A statue of Linus

Our next stop was Itasca State Park, which is where the Mississippi headwaters are. We stopped at the visitor center where a worker gave us a map and showed us where the headwaters were. Larry asked her what else the park had to offer. She told him that the road through the park is 18 miles longs and there are a lot of hiking trails. We wished we could stay to enjoy the park but the weather is suppose to turn nasty with rain and a little snow. We walked through the museum that explained Itasca State Park was the first Minnesota state park and a lot of it was built by the CCC. It was a nice museum. Then we drove to the area where the headwaters were located. We hiked a short trail to the site. There were rocks you could walk on to cross the Mississippi River or you can walk on a log bridge. I decided to take the log bridge considering it was cold and the water would be freezing. I asked a young boy if the water was cold and he said it was very cold. He had been walking in the river. It was a great experience to be there. When we got back to the Minnie we had lunch and then we drove the rest of the park road. It is a beautiful park with a lot of trees and hike and bike trails.

 

Standing at the Mississippi Headwaters

Walking across the Mississippi River

After four weeks of following the Mississippi River from Baton Rogue, Louisiana we have arrived at where the Mississippi River begins. We have followed the Great River Road through 10 states. When we found something interesting we would stop and see it. We have driven over 3,000 miles. It was been a super adventure.