Rugby, ND to Duluth, MN

Hi all,

Well it is my last night in a hotel for a while and this one has wireless!!!! Friday morning I got up early and was on the road by 6:30am for the longest drive of the trip. The sunrise was really beautiful and I enjoyed watching the colors change in the horizon. For those who are following this trip on a map, I headed north on North Dakota 3 to North Dakota 5 in Dunseith and I headed East. I traveled through the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation and the northeast corner of North Dakota. Once I hit the state of Minnesota, there was a loud Yee-Haa in the car!!!!! I followed Minnesota 175 East to 59 South to Minnesota 11 East.

I traveled through Roseau, Warroad, and Baudette until I reached International Falls. I crossed the border there to get to Fort Francis, Ontario where I had a hotel room for Friday night. I don't think it was worth the hassle to cross the border for one night. I think I had to wait about 40 to 45 minutes on a bridge to get across. Coming from the Twin Cities, I did not really want to be sitting on a bridge! But I made it across and will admit once I got to the hotel I did not leave my room! After an 8 hour ride, I really had no desire to do anything or go anywhere so I read a book and enjoyed a very comfortable bed.

I got up this morning and headed back across the border about 8:30 am. I stopped and did some shopping before heading south on 53 towards Duluth. At Eveleth I stopped and toured the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. For someone who does not watch Hockey it was still interesting. There was a large focus on the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. One game I remember watching parts of :). So that was a nice break from the drive.

I got to Duluth and had some lunch before heading down to Canal Street. I walked along the shore on the boardwalk and watched the lift bridge go up and down a couple of times. I did some window shopping and then headed up to check into the hotel. I have to admit I was not prepared for the steep streets here in Duluth! I can not even imagine what they do in the winter here. After I checked in to the hotel, I went into my room and read for a while. I brought 11 books on this trip and have read 5 and am in the middle of number 6. So that is one good thing about the trip :)

Tomorrow I head for home. I am really looking forward to being home and in my own bed. I must admit until I arrived in Duluth I almost just cancelled this room and headed home, but one more night will be fine. And really I did not want to make the whole drive today.

I will post some pictures in a separate post!
Paula