105 Trip: (Fri 05-Sep) Day 13 - Bemidji MN - 3707 miles

Not that many miles today - but they were cold and somewhat wet miles.

Left Thunder Bay later in the morning. Must have been 9:15 or so. I got up a little late - I think it was 7:00 or so! Then did some work, checked email, facebook, etc. Finally grabbed a few hard boiled eggs and a cup of coffee and headed out. It was cold, but for the most part sunny - just a few puffy blue clouds. So the hope was I'd beat the storm out of Canada and get to Bemidji before it rained.

Made it to the border, its not that far, and took a quick shot of the Canada sign and then some more shots of "Welcome to the US" while waiting in line. The line was moving pretty slow - but just sat there taking pics and enjoying the warm.

[Side note - if you are on facebook you've already seen all these pictures that are linked - but for those that aren't on facebook I'm including the links.]

Entered Minnesota, the North Shore of Superior and No Helmet Law!

As I was heading south I could see clouds building to the west "inland." I kept hoping they'd disappear the further south I got... but they didn't.

Got to Silver Bay and stopped for Gas at a little store. Waited to pay and ask the cashier about best routes, while she finished up a phone conversation.

No. I don't know if A won or not. The B squad lost though. I'm not sure about the A squad. I think they lost but we left before the game was over. 38 Special was playing in front of the casino. They were awesome! Awesome! They should play winterfest!

All in a MN accent of course. I love listening to "local" chatter. :)

Anyway - I asked her the best way to get to Bemidji (after asking her how to pronouce it... its Ba-mid-gee) and she told me that my map didn't have a new road they just built. "11,15,16 They are all the same thing!". Well its really Forest 11, County 15 and another County 16. "It will cut 45 minutes off your trip vs going to Duluth."

Well the sun south was calling - but I decided to make the shorter trip, turn away from the lake and head inland. The forest road was awesome: brand new, wide, and nobody but me on it. Curvy but not twisting - keeping the speed up the entire time so making good progress. Then I hit a detour, then the "Detour End" sign - and I'm on the little back road. Still paved - and still Hwy 16 - but not that great of a road and out in the middle of nowhere. At first I just had on the dew rag, then I added the beanie, then finally put a bandanna over my face. Yeah, it was getting colder all the time! And then it starts to rain and my goggles are fogging up and I can't see - so I push them up and I'm glancing over the top of them. I have NO idea where I am - other than I'm heading west - hopefully towards Hibbing. I finally see a sign "Welcome to Hibbing"... but there is nothing here. I'm on a country road with a few houses here and there. Great.

So this old guy is pulling his trash can in and I stop and ask him:

M: How do I get to the town?
OG: What town?
M: Hibbing
OG: Oh - just turn around and turn left and its right there!
M: Is there a gas station?
OG: No - for that you should go straight, then turn for a mile then go two miles and you'll hit 167 and Walmart is right there!

So I try and wipe the goggles off and head on my way - and all of a sudden there is this big Walmart and I pull in and gas up... and put on the full face.

This other older guy says "Kind of cold day for a ride!" and we talk and he asks where I'm coming from. "Silver Bay" - "Oh... you must have drove right by my place on 37." I tell him I was trying for 37, but ended up on the 16 detour and he's just grinning and nodding the whole time - like 'yeah, everyone does that.' He then tells me how to get to Grand Rapids and then Bemidji and I head out.

But its not raining *that hard* so I don't put the suit on - just the helmet.

Well I end up not making it to the "little patch of blue" and the rain is getting more steady, so I pull into this little Used car lot / gas station with the Open sign flashing but a sign on the door saying "Went to tow a car. Back later." But they have the pumps under a roof (like most stations) and I pull under there and start getting the rain suit out and situating everything.

Now I'm wearing 2 pairs of pants, chaps and rain pants; plus 3 shirts, leather jacket and rain jacket. I'm not cold. :)

Rain isn't coming down too hard and I'm pretty used to driving in it, so I just head on my way.

Finally make it into Bemidji and its no longer raining - although it looks like it could at any point. I end up driving around and getting a few more pics - one of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox! and then going for dinner.

Ate at the Peppercorn. Had salad, the Peppercorn NY Steak (best peppercorn sauce I ever had), a Honey Weiss beer (good), and bread pudding for dessert. Yeah... probably the last dessert I should get. It was great, but I'm not supposed to be eating that much sugar and I was pretty stuffed after. It just looked really good. Thumbs up on the restaurant... if you are ever in Bemidji!

Got to bed at a decent hour.

And now its 7:00 AM - I've updated facebook with pics and this blog - so time to get around and hit the road!

Today its off to Bismarck ND! I'm going to stop in Hazleton on the way. Well its not "on the way" but its not far out of my way. We lived there for several years. The town was 400 when we were there, and as of the 2000 census it was down to 207 with a wikipedia note of "To combat population loss, city leaders of Hazelton have offered free land and start up money for people to move there."

They also have a note in the discussion that says, "It is requested that a photograph or photographs be included in this article to improve its quality, if possible."

So hey... I'll be uploading some pics to wikipedia later tonight! :)

Well.. really should get around - looking out the window it is cloudy but not raining. Forecast calls for rain - but later in the day all the way to Bismark. Its another short day - only 325 miles or so - about 6 hours. So plenty of time to hit Hazleton and still get into a hotel early. And its supposed to be sunny which would be very nice!

Later...

105 Trip: (Thur 04-Sep) Day 12 - Thunder Bay, ON - 3362 miles

Sunrise, as seen in this picture, was awesome. Was cold - around 54. Then hit a detour and through a small town and the bank said it was 48!

Going across the bridge was cool and I stopped and took a few pics of the island, then continued north. Got to Sault Ste Marie w/o incident and hit the border crossing.

• First guy asked me where I was going, what I was doing, and what I did for a living. Wrote some stuff down, handed me a yellow piece of paper and said "Pull forward, park and take that inside and show them your papers."
  
• Second guy - cop looking: "Where are you heading?" - "OK... take your papers inside" - didn't seem to friendly.
  
• Third guy - young guy at the far end; waves to me, and took my papers. Asked me the same questions, how long was I going to be there, etc. Gave me everything back and said "OK - have a nice visit."
  
• Second guy - waiting by the bike still. "Did he keep the yellow paper?" - "Yes" - "OK. Be on your way." Yikes!

Then I had to pull over to get a Canada picture... figuring he'd be right after me, but it was all good. Took some shots going over the bridge - cool - right over the locks - and then headed north.

The rest of the day was spent trying to make small towns. The third guy said I could make it to the "Canadian Carver" trading post and gas up there - that I didn't have to make it all the way to Wawa. So I stopped there and bought some stuff for Kian and Jaimer. Then on to Wawa. Ate lunch there at the 17th place (its in the pics I uploaded to facebook). Service wasn't that great, but the food was hearty and good. Excellent since I was cold. Then heading north again.

ON is BEAUTIFUL. I loved it. Kind of a mix between Montana/Colorado mountains, but with tons of mountain lakes and rivers... and a great lake! I'd be riding along in the mountains, and come around a corner and drop down to the lake. Crashing waves along the rocking coast line; then back up into the mountains, by a mountain lake, then back down to the coast again. Excellent bike riding - not too twisty, didn't drop speed too much, but windy and great roads (at least most of the way).

Finally made it into Thunder Bay - cold and a little damp, and there was a bike in front of me. Followed it here and there (when I was in the same lane) and then he got ready to turn and it was my turn too. I saw the Best Western so headed towards it - and the Harley dealer was across the street! So I pulled in, and there was the guy I had been following.

We chatted for a bit "Where ya from? Where you going." With a few "eh?"s thrown in there. :) It was a good talk. Then asked him where I might find a good local place to eat. He said, "Well right behind that building is Naxos. Its Greek, not local, but the food is really good.

So I went back to the Hotel; got settled in, and then tried it. It was EXCELLENT. Had,

• A pink spread for an appetizer. I had it before in DC - I think it was the same stuff. Made with carp eggs if I remember right. Yeah, its great.
  
• Avgolemond - a lemon rice soup
  
• Mousaka - I've had it once before in DC, and this was better. The tomato sauce / meat mixture was very meaty and had a rich taste. The eggplant was great. And the Béchamel was awesome. While the dish is tall enough that you might be tempted to eat some of the eggplant/tomato w/o the Béchamel... don't! Part of the overall taste is the rich tomato (almost like a spaghetti sauce) mixture along with the baked Béchamel that is on top. Eat them together and its a great taste!
  
• The Mythos Greek beer!
  
• Baklava - dense phillo with lots of honey, cinnamon and nuts, and finally
  
• A Baileys Coffee! Just the thing to take the chill off and finish off the meal

Did I mention it was awesome! Perfect end to the day!

The Coz

Jaime and I hate a Daddy/Daughter day today. We went to Jack Quinn's for lunch. It was really good. Had Guinness and Corn Beef & Cabbage. Yum. Then we went to the Pikes Peak Center and saw Bill Cosby. He was awesome. And we had 4th row seats so that was very cool too. It was like sitting around with a grandpa and listening to really funny stories.

It was fun to get downtown early, walk somewhere for lunch and then catch a great show. We are going to a number of other shows as we got tickets to Broadway in Colorado Springs. We'll see how much I like Musicals... but I have great hopes. I think it will be a fun time with Jaimer.

Road Food, Restaurant or both?

As I've said before, I like the whole "label" concept that Blogger uses. I use it quite a bit. Today I mentioned Sauce in a post, and I didn't want to label it "Road Food" so created a new label for "Restaurant" and then went back and relabeled a few of my past entries.

So what's the difference? They are both places to eat, and a place to eat is a restaurant. Well to me, road food is a bit more like a diner. Some place regional, not too fancy. Not sure burgers and fries, but maybe Mexican as well - as different locations have their own "road food". Whereas a place listed as a Restaurant might not be so "colorful" or "local". Not a place you might just pull in off the road and grab a bite.

So that's the difference - perhaps not always obvious, but some distinction in my mind. :)

Yeah, that was me being chivalarous

Yesterday Tina wanted some pizza from Sauce so she called it in and I went and picked it up. As an aside, Sauce is a Fox Restaurant Concept's restaurant, very good. And they have one in Denver. We'll have to check it out!

Anyway, I'm walking out of the place carrying four pizza boxes and a bag with two salads, so yeah, my hands are totally full. I get to the door and I'm trying to push it open with my arm and not drop anything - and these two 20 something (young) girls walk up towards the door. "Cool", I think, "they'll probably hold it open for me." But no, they just kind of stand there and I open it with my arm and then slowly spin around as I'm walking into it, holding it with my back so it doesn't slam against me and knock the pizza to the ground; at which point the girls totally misread the situation and seeing the door open with me apparently "holding" it for *them*, say, "Oh wow, thanks" and whisk into the restaurant; leaving me still balancing the pizza and trying to know it down. I just look after them...

Sure no problem - glad I could be of assistance. :-S LOL

Spanish Tapas

Ate at the Washington DC La Tasca while I was out there last week on business. Its a Spanish Tapas restaurant. Very cool food. I had the:

• Berenjenas fritas con queso cabrales,Fired eggplant with a cabrales cheese dip
  
• Selecion de embutidosA selection of Spanish cured meats
  
• Vieiras gratinadas, Scapplos sauted with garlic, onions and peppers.
  
• Gambas al Ajillo, Shrim sauteed in olive oil, garlic and "Guindilla" peppers.

I liked the eggplant the best, as it was different from anything I've had before. Sliced pretty thin and deepfried, almost like a chip. And the cheese dip was very good. But all of it was good and it was a nice atmosphere. It was Monday night and they had a special for $25 get 4 Tapas and 2 Sangrea. If you are in the DC/Maryland area, check it out.

Turns out there is a Tapas restaurant in Denver - the 9th Door. I'll have to check it out some time!

Good Pizza!

Went to Oregano's Pizza Bistro last night with the kids. Yum! Nice atmosphere - casual and big band maybe? Swing music, early 60's black and white TV shows. Comfortable. They have an extensive menu! We got some UFOs for appetizer:

These hand-made Unidentified Frying Objects are lightly seasoned, breaded artichokes filled with an out-of-this-world cheese!

And then I got a Chicago Stuff Pizza for dinner. The Numero ONE-O:

This ain't no wimpy pizza! A traditional combo of homemade sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions & green peppers makes one incredible pizza!

Yum... and since I got it on a whole-wheat crust, I didn't feel so bad about having pizza. Its at least an inch thick (of ingredients, not crust) and packed full. Very much the pizza taste I was craving, w/ no "white flour" issues. Or very little. Tina got a "made to order" thin crust pizza and the kids got a huge salad and a pasta dish. We all brought some home.

While this isn't a "local" eatery - they have 8 restaurants across AZ - it had a local feel to me. So - if you are in the mood for some slightly different (or even traditional) Italian food - especially Chicago Style pizza - check it out!