Another new state – number 42 on the list for us – but only just ! And the last, or first, of Old Muddy !
Can’t say that I will be rushing back to International Falls ! One thing though, we got an early start this morning after the guys upstairs started thumping around at 4.15am and steadily from then on ! So we had also had breakfast and were gone by 8.15 as a result !
For the first 10 miles or so out of town, we followed the river so we could literally “see” Canada as we drove along. But we then turned south.
The majority of the day we spent crossing the north-western section of Minnesota and we have only just snuck into North Dakota, crossing over the boundary of Red River for our stop tonight at Grand Forks.
A little bit about North Dakota – It was the 39th state of the Union, established 2 November 1889. Milk is the official state beverage ! It grows more sunflowers than any other state, produces nearly half of the nation’s spring wheat, and is also a top producer of durum wheat, barley, oats, canola, flaxseed, lentils and edible beans. (This last-named one begs the question—which state is tops in producing the “inedible” kind ? 😂)
The roads were very quiet being Sunday morning and some sections of the road we drove between towns without seeing another car in either direction. And some of the sections were straight as an arrow with barely a curve to be found. The weather was also very grey and we had patches of misty rain here and there.
Straight as far as the eye can see !
Our first bit of excitement for the day came in the town of Blackduck, where there was the “Worlds Largest Black Duck” competition ! Well, not really a competition, but they have squeezed the life out of blackduck monuments around the town. There is the “original” black duck which is in the main street. Then there is the “fancy” black duck donated by the Rotary Club. And finally there is the hotel trying its best, the appropriately named “Drake Hotel” – see what they did there !
Original 
Fancy 
Rip-off
I have already mentioned the famous woodsman Paul Bunyan and the statues of he and his trusty side-kick, Babe the Blue Ox. Well, the town of Bemidgi has one dating back to 1937 – the “original” according to them but at least 9 other towns across the mid-west also claim the “original” ! Anyway, Bemidji’s version is pretty impressive and has pride of place in a park near the Chamber of Commerce. The poor old American Indian statue is across the road behind a tree !
Across our tours, we have intersected with the Mississippi River in many states along the way. It has lived up to its “Big Muddy” nickname. However it has to start somewhere and that is in Itasca State Park, not far from Bemidji. The Mississippi Headwaters are from Lake Itasca and here it’s size is a far cry from what we have seen before. In fact, as we drove toward the state park, we crossed the river 3 or 4 times over small, almost drain like, rivulets. So now we have seen it at it’s start and it’s finish ! We decided not to get our feet wet and took the easy way across !
From Bemidji to Grand Forks, the scenery changed dramatically from the lakes and forests we had been used to for the past few days back to the vast expanses of agricultural lands. And, of course ………
Corn fields ! Who’d have guessed !
It was a bit unfortunate that we were driving through this region on a Sunday as there was no activity in the fields. But it was clear the harvest was in full swing in the area as many fields were partly harvested and the tractors and machinery stood ready to continue from where they last stopped – it will be a hive of activity tomorrow !
And there were still a few towns along the way vying for “Worlds Largest” monikers – the northern pike in Erskine and the ox-cart in Crookston.
Northern Pike 
Ox Cart
With our early start we arrived in Grand Forks mid afternoon and Adrienne managed to find the local mall to take advantage of any Labor Day sales on offer. We hadn’t found a JC Penney store previously on this trip and it didn’t let us down as we picked up a number of bargains !
For dinner we went to Olive Garden, an Italian restaurant chain we have tried before. We had a lovely meal of seafood stuffed mushrooms, Shrimp and Chicken carbonara and Shrimp Scampi.
Our tour heads west across North Dakota tomorrow, toward the center – but the center of where ?
Today’s Tour Trivia – The town of Rutland North Dakota made the worlds largest hamburger in 1982 – between 8 and 10,000 people ate the burger weighing 1,628 kg – the previous record holder was Towner – also in North Dakota ! What does that say about North Dakota ? 🤔