It is relaxing to finally be in Minnesota after travelling for the third day. Day two and day three are blended together, as there was not much difference between them. The meals were good, and the hotels were very cheap because they were not boxes with chain names attached to them. We Americans are so conditioned to use a chain anything, I wonder how independents manage to make a living running their own busines. At least any business that applies itself to the tourist trade must have a difficult time competing.

I did not see a lot of flooding, but I did see a lot of wet fields that won’t be planted for the summer season, or at least planted with a normal cash crop. Coming from a city it is always refreshing to see so much farm land and so few homes. It makes me wonder how our government can function with so many different interests in our country. There are the farmers, fisherman, lumberman, miners, on and on and on. I think that is why so much pork ends up in otherwise good bills. The pork is added to get the votes so the bill can pass. The pork project is probably something some Senator or Representative needs to keep his area back home in jobs.

Lake Superior is HUGE! It always surprises just how big the Duluth and Superior harbor is. The harbor as big as it is is dwarfed by Lake Superior. We drove along the Skyline parkway in Duluth to Enger Tower. Years ago when I lived here in Duluth, Enger tower was not a big tourist spot, having more broken liquor bottles and used condoms than tourists on any given day. About the only time it was talked about was when a teenager trying to climb on the roof did not make it, or someone decided jumping from the tower was a way to end their current life on earth.

Enger Tower yesterday was a completely new experience. There are many types of flowers and shrubs in bloom, manicured flower beds, trails, picnic tables and short walking paths so no matter how many people are there, there is room for everyone. After Enger Tower I drove over one of the bridges to Superior so the kids could add another state to the states they have driven through on the way here and back. We stopped and had lunch at a Hardey’s. Hardeys’s is a burger place, and was entrenched here before the burger chains invaded. Because they make such giid burgers for a fair price, they are still around and thriving.

I enjoyed dinner at my Aunt and Uncles house, as always it was very good. After dinner and catching up and trading stories three days of driving caught up with me and bed looked like a great option. I was out voted, andany  it was off to the mall. It was late and the mall was would be closing soon, so I never made it any farther than a book store. It was a borg store, but much larger than any I have been to in New Mexico. I forgot how much passion people here in Minnesota have for reading. Five months of cold weather a year probably adds to that passion, but that is another story in itself.

I was woken in the middle of the night by the resident dog, and upon checking the outside temperature I saw it was a frosty forty-two degrees. Seeing I have experienced forty two degrees in a number of months and the fact the dog needed out, I opened the door to make sure the thermometer was correct. If it was not forty-two, it was a good imitation. The dog did his thing, I let him back inside the house, turned up the heat to a warmer sixty-five and went back to bed for a few more hours sleep.

Woke up this morning to light rain, perhaps drizzle. It has been so long since I have been anywhere where the rain last for more than twenty or so minutes, it was a pleasant change to my morning. It has been a lazy morning with the overcast weather and being tired from the trip, I am not moving very fast. I will probably drive us to the mall and maybe see the rest of the mall too.