Day 24 August 28, 2024
We had about a 250 mile drive to our caravan meeting point in Bemidji MN and we had to get through Minneapolis so we departed at 8:30. As it was when we came through Minneapolis in 2015 returning from Alaska there was road construction but not as much as in 2015. We got through town quicker than we expected considering the road construction and morning rush hour. About 40 miles out of the city the traffic calmed down to typical interstate traffic.
We exited interstate I-94 and got into a more rural route, stopped for fuel and continued on our way. The terrain changed from mostly flat open land to more wooded and hay pastures and a few cattle. The last 100 miles or so was two lane roads but they were wide lanes and not too many big trucks so it was a pleasant drive.
We arrived at Royal Oaks RV Park 10 minutes after my predicted time of 1 PM, checked in and set up in site 60. The young lady that checked me in and gave me the site map, gave me the wrong directions to take to our site but we made it work.
The Tailgunners came and put our Caravan number on the front and rear of the motorhome and a Fantasy Emblem on the rear of the car. Each rig in the group gets an assigned number. The Wagonmaster is #1 and the Tailgunner is #2, then the other numbers are assigned alphabetical so we are #4. This is our third Fantasy Caravan and we have been #5 and #6 and now we are #4.
The temperature is 70 degrees which sure is nice after the 90’s we have had but the sun is hot. We had a chance to set outside for a while for a change.
Our friends Gregg and Judi got here about 3PM. They came over later. Gregg was eating Frosted Flakes and broke a piece off one of his crowns. After getting here and setting up he called 8 dentists in Bemidji and none of them would help him any time soon. They offered him an appointment months in the future but that sure didn’t help.
Day 25 Thursday August 29, 2024
We had a good nights sleep and didn’t get up until 8am. Then it rained for about an hour or so while we had breakfast but that actually was good because it helped wash off the bugs on the windshield. I got out my equipment and gave the windshield and front end a good cleaning. Would like to wash the entire motorhome but that is not allowed in the RV Park which is the norm for most RV Parks/Campgrounds.
Then we drove the 5 miles to Walmart for some hen fruit and pig strips (eggs and bacon).
We went to the Rec room to register and get our Trip Book, name tags, Fantasy caps, photo taken for the sheet that will be given to everyone to help us learn everyone’s name/faces and some information handouts.
After lunch we drove down to the Visitor Center beside Lake Bemidji to do a little exploring. Paul Bunyan and Babe The Blue Ox status stand beside the Visitor Center.
An interesting piece of information about the fireplace inside the Visitor Center. The Fireplace of States is made from stones from every Minnesota county, every state in the Union, every province in Canada and from Mexico and other countries. Plus petrified dinosaur bones and other exotic pieces.
It is rumored that Babe The Blue Ox stamped around so much that his hoof prints filled up with rainwater and made Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes.
Bemidji is much larger than we had envisioned. Our walking got cut short by rain. It has rained off and on about all day. So we returned to the motorhome and made a couple of Lattes and had our last Amish cinnamon bun.
We have noticed many signs along the road about Wild Rice in this area so after doing a little research we have discovered Wild Rice is not actually a “rice” but a grass. It grows wild here in wet marshlands and streams. It is also cultivated and has been used as food for centuries. Minnesota is one of two states, California being the other, that grows the most wild rice. The non cultivated ripe wild rice can only be harvested from August 15 to September 30. It has been the official state grain since 1977.
Day 26 Friday August 30, 2024
It was 55 degrees at 7:30 this morning when we got up.
Well today is the first OFFICIAL day of our 34 day Mississippi River Road Caravan from Bemidji MN to New Orleans LA. We got here on Wednesday the 28th as did about half of the group. Several more got here yesterday and I think the last two are due in today. Counting the Wagonmaster and Tailgunner there is supposed to be 22 RVs. 24 is the maximum that Fantasy has on a caravan.
We like to plan on arriving two days before the official first day in case we have some kind of issue that would delay us. Don’t want to get left behind if possible.
Lena and I haven’t been to a coffee shop since August 15th while in Marion NC. We are not counting the bad experience at Dunkin Donuts at the Mall of America because that was NOT a coffee shop. So we decided to try Cantabria Coffee Company in Bemidji this morning. Lena asked them to serve it in a ceramic mug. It was really good.
We went to the Beltrami County Historical Center, which is the old brick train station. We got there just as they were opening at 10am. The lady gave us a brief talk about some of the history of the building and then we toured the building.
The historic part of town has several sculptures along the sidewalks and a few murals so we did some walking around town to photograph them. Our friends Gregg and Judi were also there walking around looking at the sculptures and looking for a cafe to get some soup for lunch.
We had our first group get together this afternoon so everyone could introduce themselves and the Wagonmasters and Tailgunners could go over some things and answer questions from the group. We have people from 15 different states in the group. And they are all old farts like us.
At 5:30 the group all met at Ruttgers Birchmont Lodge for dinner. This is one of the many meals that is part of our paid package. Lena and I had Prime Rib. Several days ago we had to choose between Walleye (a local cold water fish), Prime Rib or Vegetarian Pasta. Dessert was Flourless Chocolate Torte.
Day 27 Saturday August 31, 2024
We boarded a bus this morning at 8AM to start a tour around the Bemidji area. Our first stop was downtown by the Visitor Center along Lake Bemidji where the statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe The Blue Ox is located. We came here on our own Thursday. The bus driver Gregory took a group photo of all of the group.
Then it was onto the Bemidji Woolen Factory just a few blocks away. They have been in business since 1920 and the current owner is the fourth generation owner. They have a large selection of clothing products but most were made in China and other countries. Some were made in the USA. It gets rather cold and snowy (upwards of 48”) in Bemidji and they had the heavy duty clothing, gloves, hats and boots to keep you warm. Bemidji is only 100 miles from the Canadian border.
We broke up into two groups for the tour of the room where all the sewing machines were located. The owner, Bill Bratchelder, knew how to repair and use all the machines. The ladies that sewed in the group really liked the machine that would cut and make the button holes in clothing. He demonstrated one machine that was made in 1921 and still runs just like new. It takes thread from four spools and uses 48 needles to weave a strip of material about two inches wide. Bill said that all the factories in the USA that make the wool material they use has closed down. He is buying some from England and other places.
Then it was about a 45 minute drive to The Headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park. Gregory played the movie Yogi Bear on the screens in the bus on the way. The cafe at the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center had a box lunch ready for us when we got there. After we had our lunch Connie, a Naturalist, came and told us a lot of facts about the Mississippi River and the history of it and about Itasca Park. One odd thing about the river is it flows North before it starts flowing South to the Gulf of Mexico.
Then she took us down the path to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It is just a small stream about 20’ across and about a foot deep where it feeds out of Lake Itasca. Since it was Saturday there were lots of people there. Lots in our group either took their shoes off or put on some shoes they didn’t mind getting wet and walked across the river and back. I walked across a flat log to the opposite bank first and then decided to take my shoes and shoes off and walk across through the water to say I had walked across the Mississippi River. One man in our group slipped on a rock and fell in the water and got wet from his waist down.
Then we boarded the bus to go to the Jacob V. Brower Visitor Center with a stop at Preacher’s Grove. Connie said some of the old growth pine trees are several hundred years old. And some of them still had scars on the trunks from a fire in the 1700’s.
This was our last stop before boarding the bus for the return trip to the RV Park. We watched the remainder of the movie on the way back.
At 4:30 we had our first of many Drivers Meetings to go over the route we will take to the next campground and to answer any questions about our journey. We are provided a trip book that has a detailed route planned out giving the mileage to each turn.
When we leave the campground and checkout with the Tailgunners we set our trip meter to zero, then our trip meter will match or almost match to the mileage for each turn in the trip book. On our prior two caravan trips with Fantasy we could set our GPS to the destination campground address and it would normally be the same route as the trip book but in the Maritimes in Canada and our Alaska trip there was basically only one major road to follow. Here our GPS will want to route us to the Interstate highway or another major road but we will be mostly following The Great River Road that basically follows the Mississippi River.
One man was recognized for having a birthday today and one couple was recognized for their 55 wedding anniversary a couple of days ago.
I think everyone had a good day but was probably like us, tired.
Day 28 Sunday September 1, 2024
We had no group planned activities today so we slept in and then decided to go back to Cantabria Coffee House. The Lattes were not as good today, not as hot as they should have been and no foam on top. Different Barista - different Latte. Yuk!
We have been seeing signs for Menards and there is one here so we decided to see what kind of store it was. It is big. The best I can describe it is, take a Lowe’s , a Walmart (without most of the perishable food) and a Harbor Freight and mix it all together and you have a Menards. They are somewhat like a Canadian Tire in Canada but have more food items and furniture.
We returned to the campground and I did some maintenance items on the Jeep and motorhome in preparation for leaving here tomorrow.
Gregg and Judi came over for a while so I could show Gregg something I had discovered that will make it easier to install our DEF Simulator if we ever need to. Diesel engines after late 2010 are required to use DEF to reduce emissions and the DEF heads are know to be defective. I have had one replaced and Gregg has replaced two. some smart people came up with a simple electronic device that can be installed if the DEF fails until you can get to a Cummins Diesel facility. I built Gregg and myself one just in case we are traveling and have a head failure.
Then one of the couple in our group put out a notice that they would have their Karaoke machine in the recreation room at 7PM for some fun so us and Gregg and Judi and most of our group went and some were brave enough to get up and sing but not us. It was fun to listen to those that did. My brother,Roy, calls it Scaryaoke.
Day 29 Monday September 2, 2024
Today is travel day. Our first travel day as part of the Caravan. We are headed back to the Minneapolis area via mostly less traveled roads than Interstate highways. Most of today’s route will be on The Great River Road. We aren’t riding along side the Mississippi River, which would be nice, but in the general area. We did cross the Mississippi River twice. Minnesota is called the state with 10,000 lakes. We probably saw close to 100 of them today on our trip. This sure is a good place to have a boat, kayak or a jet ski. Since it was a holiday there were lots of boats on the lakes and being pulled down the highways.
From what we have been told the lakes freeze thick enough in the Winter that people ice fish on the lakes. They have little huts out on the lake and drill a hole in the ice and set in the hut and fish. If you have seen the first Grummy Old Men movie then you know what ice fishing is.
We got to Minneapolis SW KOA campground about 1:30 and setup in site 78.
Lena prepared some leftover ribs for lunch. Then we went to a woodturning demonstration here in the campground that Fantasy had arranged for us. I was familiar with one of the turners, Linda Ferber. She retired as an employee the America Association of Woodturners of which I am a member. She is also a friend with a lady in my local woodturning club based in Wilmington. Small world.
This campground has lots of very large shade trees so it was nice to set outside and relax plus it is only 72 degrees. It was 51 when we got up this morning in Bemidji.
Day 30 Tuesday September 3, 2024
We had a very busy day today. The group boarded our black chariot driven by Jeff at 8AM so we had to roll out of bed early to get breakfast and coffee before leaving.
Jeff took us to the parking lot at Mall of America to pick up our local guide Doug. From there we headed to Minnehaha Falls which is the tallest at 58’ of any waterfall in a city per Doug. He told us the mythical story about Minnehaha and her husband Hiawatha. They were each from a different Indian tribe and were forbidden to marry. While he was taking I saw a white squirrel run up a tree near where we were all standing.
I have failed to mention that there are several different bands of Indians in this part of Minnesota and several reservations.
Doug told us a true story from 1964 when Lyndon Johnson was running for election for President and came to town and wanted to see Minnehaha Falls. Well the area was going through a drought and the only water going over the falls was just an occasional drip. So the town parks department and fire department got involved and built a temporary dam to hold back what little bit of water there was feeding the falls and then opened up fire hydrants and then released the water just before LBJ got to the falls and supposedly he never knew the difference.
Then we took a downtown city tour with our big chariot. Jeff is a good driver to get that big thing down those city streets with all that traffic. I guess it was not his first rodeo. I sure would not have wanted to try the route he took in our motorhome. Doug pointed out numerous points of interest. He has a wealth of knowledge about Minneapolis. One thing that was really interesting to us was the Sky Walks above the streets. Doug said there are 10 miles of Sky Walks in the city. The 60,000 people that live in the apartments downtown and work in the business downtown can travel from building to building without having to walk down the sidewalks beside the streets. Several years ago the town required the developers of the tall apartment buildings to provide grocery stores on the ground floor in several of the buildings. Now there are 5 major top of the line grocery stores downtown where the 60,000 people live.
We went down Summit Street where some very nice old late 1800’s early 1900”s houses are built. Nothing but Churches, schools and houses are allowed to be built on this street. No changes can be made to the outside of the houses. The owners can change the inside but not the outside. The house the Governor lives in is also on this street. The family that owned the house donated it to the state after their parents that built it passed away. Also James J. Hill had a 32,000 sq ft house on this street and his son also had a house on this street. James J. Hill was a Railroad Magnate and had several other business interests. By today standards he was worth $1,745,000,000 dollars. The railroad station we toured in Bemidji was the last one he designed and built just before his death.
Just across the street next street from James J. Hill’s house was the St Paul’s Catholic Cathedral. It was finally finished in the 1950’s and many many years of construction. They built parts of it as the fund were available. The bus stop there and we were allowed to go in and browse all around the building except the private offices, etc., and take all the photos we desired since no service was being held.
Then we were dropped out right beside two nice eateries downtown for lunch. Lena and I and about half of the group went to Cosetta, an Italian Cafeteria style restaurant. The others went across the street to a Pub style restaurant. I got the best Lasagna and Rigatoni I have ever had and Lena got some really good pizza. She had to help me finish mine the serving was so large. It was full of really good meat. They had about any kind of Italian food you could want available.
The tables were all on the second floor. We finished our meal and went downstairs to check out their grocery store where they had numerous selections of cheese, fresh meats, sausages etc. Then we stepped into another room….big mistake….there was about any kind of dessert you could imagine plus Italian gelato and they could make any kind of specialty coffee so we each got a Latte and shared a chocolate eclair. Some kind of good.
We waddled back to the bus and Jeff took us to Wabasha Street Sandstone Caves. Doug our city guide left us when we got to the restaurant. Before he departed he took us inside Cosetta to orient us to the facility.
“John Dillinger”, the notorious gangster met us at the Sandstone caves. This is the location of the last remaining Gangster Era location. In the late 1800’s the caves were created when the sandstone was mined for silica. Later the mines used for growing mushrooms and also for curing cheese. Then it was developed as a restaurant, casino and gangster hotspot. Part of the cave corridors have plaster on the walls and ceiling to make them look better and to protect the sandstone. If the sandstone is disturbed it will wear away so the plaster protects the surface and also hides the electrical wiring for lights etc.
During the 1920’s during prohibition there was a lot of gangsters in and around the St Paul Minnesota area and this was a hotspot for them. One night three of them were murdered in the restaurant/casino. Supposedly their bodies went missing but our guide “John Dillinger” aka Brett, said he knows they are buried in the caves. The caves have been voted the most haunted place in Minnesota. Our guide said he has spent numerous hours in the caves with paranormal investigators and they have recorded some really strange events inside the caves. One of the corridors was rather dark and he told us to try and capture what the paranormal investigators call “Orbs” on our cameras. One lady in our group did a short video on her cellphone and she had two “Orbs” in her video. Brett showed us a photo that was sent to him by a prior tour participant that had an image of a man in a black suit in one of the corridors. There was not a man in that tour wearing a black suit per Brett.
Not only do they do tours of the caves like we were doing, they hosts weddings, special occasions, parties and 30’s style dance lessons with 30’s style bands.
We all boarded the bus with our gangster guide Brett for a tour of several locations in St Paul where gangsters lived. He showed us where Ma Barker and her sons lived, where the real John Dillinger and his girlfriend lived, and where some of the shootouts between the gangsters and the FBI took place and where some of the gangsters favorite restaurants were. Brett was quite an interesting guide and played his “John Dillinger“ part well.
Jeff dropped him off back at the caves and then he took us back to the campground. It has been a great tour day but everyone was probably tired like us.
Day 31 Wednesday September 4, 2024
Well happy Birthday to Lena Mae Foster Brown. She is still 7 days behind me on birthdays. She just can’t seem to catch me.
Our group met this morning at 8:30 in the campground activities room for a light breakfast of a variety of muffins and fruit and whatever beverage a person brought with them. Lena was recognized for her birthday and got a small cake covered in sprinkles and a real nice handmade birthday card and then everyone sang Happy Birthday to her.
Then we had our Drivers Meeting for our departure from here on Friday. We have a “free day” tomorrow with no organized group activities. The Wagonmasters are trying to not have our drivers meetings on our free day.
Then at 10:00 we boarded our Black Chariot with our driver Jeff again (same bus and driver as yesterday) for our trip back to St Paul to take a two hour boat cruise down the Mississippi River. About half way of the trip we were served a nice lunch of pulled pork, BBQ chicken, potato salad, roll and corn bread and cookies.
We passed under a couple of bridges and one train track. They had to swing the train track bridge for us to pass because the boat was too high to clear the overhead track. The swing bridge was built in 1915 and was Mississippi River Bridge #15. We saw several people fishing from the shore. It was a nice relaxing river cruise.
I wonder how far North did Mark Twain travel up the Mississippi River. I think he worked on river boats on the Mississippi River for 5 years or so.
We have learned there are 29 locks and dams on the Mississippi River. Not sure if we are going to actually get to see any of them.
Then Jeff took us into the city for a stop at the Landmark Center. The building is the restored Federal Courts Building and also the Post Office was located in the building. It was originally conceived as a post office, custom house and courthouse. It eventually became headquarters for all federal offices in the Upper Midwest. It was vacated in 1967 and was scheduled for demolition but a campaign by determined citizens saved the building after several years of red tape.
The building is very ornate inside and has marble columns, tile floors, a glass roof, stain glass windows in some rooms and some very ornate wood carvings. From the ground floor the center of the building is open all the way to the glass roof. It was completed in 1902 at a cost of 2.5 million dollars including furnishings.
I mentioned to our first guide that the building reminded me of the Old Post Office building in Washington D.C. He said it is just like it only smaller. This building would set inside the one in D.C.
The one in D.C. is the one Donald Trump purchased and converted to a Hotel.
Our group split into three groups to tour the building. Our first guide took us to the court rooms on the 4th floor and told us about what type of court proceedings were held in the different court rooms. He said his father had a grocery store just down the street and he said when court was in session for violators of Prohibition in the 1930’s, the line ran from the court room, down the hall, down four flights of stairs, out the door and clear around the building. The same judge would hear over a hundred cases a day. The judge complained about the workload but was ignored by his superiors and one day after going home from another exhausting day he committed suicide. Some of the periods most infamous gangsters were tried in this courthouse including Ma Barkers son Doc, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis and John Dillinger’s gal Evelyn Frechette.
The next tour was of The Schubert Club Music Museum. They had some really old musical instruments similar to today’s pianos. They had recording of some of them being played. Some were very fragile and probably irreplaceable. The last room held a beautiful black Steinway piano that people were allowed to play. There was a man playing while we were on the tour. I suppose you have to prove you could play a piano before you were given permission to play it. It looked very expensive.
Then the last tour was of American Association of Woodturners showroom of which I am a member. The guide explained the old lathes and some of the history of Woodturning. There were several pieces on display of famous Woodturners. None of my pieces were on display (That was a joke). I was familiar with several of the names and have taken a Clinic with one of the turners that had a piece in their collection. This turner sadly passed away from cancer a few years ago. He was an amazing artist with wood. He was a Vietnamese refugee with an amazing life story.
Then we returned to the campground after another good day and again I expect everyone was tired. The weather was about as perfect as could be today.
Day 32 Wednesday September 5, 2024
We got some light rain this morning starting about 4:30. But it was just enough to make spots in the dust on our Jeep.
We had no group activities scheduled today so we slept in a while then went to CTC (Coffee Ta Cream) coffee shop for our Latte fix. We got there just after they opened at 9. Finally a coffee shop that knows how to make a Latte.
Our next stop was Hocokata Ti’s Public Exhibit and Cultural Center. This is a 3,805 square foot public exhibit to enhance knowledge and understanding of the Mdewakanton Dakota people and their history.
The booklet we were given as we exited the facility states:
Hocokata Ti is the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) cultural center and gathering space that is used to interpret and encourage traditional Mdewakanton Dakota cultural heritage, language and history by sustaining this inherent knowledge for SMSC Members through exhibitions, preservation and education. The Shakopee Mdewakanton SMSC is a federally recognized, sovereign Dakota tribal government located southwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul.
There was a short film that depicted their belief on the beginning of life as their ancestors believed it. Not totally different than what Christians believe about the beginning of time.
The exhibits were very well done and showed how they lived before the white man invaded their world. And then how their way of life was drastically altered. How their ancestral homeland was stolen from them by war, theft, lies and trickery.
Some of the facility was off limits to visitors, only for members of the SMSC.
Our next stop was the Worlds Largest Candy Store a few miles from our campground. It had a Genius Book record assembled jigsaw puzzle out front. They also claimed to have the largest Porta Potties in Minnesota inside. Actually it was large restrooms with Porta Potty entry doors on them.
But we think they did have about every kind of candy, snack, chips, soda know to mankind. They also had a variety of pies made onsite in their bakery, a large variety of apples, all kinds of puzzles, etc. The ends of the very long building looked like very large grain bins connected by a high ceiling building. They had all kinds of Disney characters, scenes painted on the ceiling and different characters hanging from the ceilings. We got a few items.
On the way back to the campground we stopped for fuel and ran the very dirty Jeep through a car wash. By that time we were hungry so stopped at a pizza restaurant across the road from the fuel stop and when we walked in our friends Gregg and Judi was sitting there waiting for their pizza so they invited us to set with them. We both had a very good pizza and had leftovers for when we get to our next campground tomorrow. Then we returned to the campground to do laundry and get ready to travel tomorrow.
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