Chippewa Falls, WI to Federal Dam, MN

Sunday we were going to spend with Greg and Lynn. Greg called early would we come to their home so he could work......he needed to finish some reports for the office. We arrived about noontime and Lynn made us a wonderful lunch. Later in the day we all went to the Woeltje home (Lynn's parents) for a birthday celebration for her two sisters. It was great to see the Woeltje clan and catch up with them.

Monday started out overcast and the prediction was for a rainy day. Oh well, that would not bother us as we were going to be on the road. We left the campground early and headed west before we could head north. By the time we arrived in Rockford, IL northbound), the clouds had cleared and the day turned out to be sunny, HOT and humid. We found a great little (?) campground in Chippewa Falls, WI. We planned on staying there a day before we headed out again for Minnesota. Tuesday was a veg day, maybe a little shopping and any other things we might want to do.

Wednesday morning arrived and we were off to Minnesota. We left Chippewa Falls and headed north again.....we took the road less traveled by going to Superior, WI then into Duluth, MN.

When we left Wisconsin and started across the bridge to Duluth we were in a mess of road construction. I mean the road was really narrow........like it felt like it was only 9 foot wide!!!!! Thank heaven Tom was still driving. We finally wound our way out of that mess and Tom found a place to pull off the road so we can switch drivers. When I took over I just hoped that we didn't run into any more construction sites. I hate to drive through those.

We were excited when we crossed a small stream and discovered it was the Mississippi! We did not take a photo there ...... Our map told us we would see the Mighty River many more times.

We arrived at the Corp of Engineers campground on Leech Lake. Wow, this is a really really nice campground. We set up our campsite, got the bikes down and actually rode around the park. We explored and found this campground is really large, set amongst the tall pine trees. Our campsite is almost right on Leech Lake it is a very pretty setting.

Thursday, August 12th, started out drizzling. The TV weatherman said today would be our best day for touring. We awoke to find crappy weather, rain, cold and damp. decided the reason we even came this far north in Minn-e-so-ta was to go to the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca..... drizzle or not. After debating what we should do we decided to head out for our destination......the great headwaters of the Mississippi River.

The ride further North and further West was a bit dismal as the drizzle turned to rain. The headwaters are located in Itasca State Park South of Bemidji, MN. We arrived about lunchtime so we did the gift shop first. I like to purchase copies of National Parks books and I was hoping that the state park had something like that for the Mississippi....... No such luck!!!!! Next we grabbed a bite to eat, then it was off to the headwaters. The path is well marked and easy to walk (800'). After a short walk we were there.

Imagine our surprise, with such a yucky day, there were many more tourists than you would think. We took pictures so you all can see how narrow and shallow the river is. Many little children (ages 4-10) were actually wading in the river. We took a different route thru the woods back to the car then headed into Bemidji to shop before heading home.

Almost all day we were in the rain. We took Charley with us, but we did not want a wet, stinky dog....so she just got to go for the ride. Maybe tomorrow will be better and she will get to participate in our excursion.