Detroit Lakes

It was a little surreal to be walking past sandy beaches in Minnesota.

Our first stop in Minnesota was an overnighter in Detroit Lakes. One of our business customers graciously offered to take us out lake fishing and show us the ropes. We had a wonderful time fishing, although as Erin realized that we were using live bait (leeches and worms), she refused to touch anything, including the fish she caught!

As our host dropped us off for the evening, he recommended a local food place to eat: Zorbaz (on Detroit Lakez). We had pizza, tacoz and beerz and left ztuffed. However, Julie forgot her cell phone there, so Tor and Jules had to go back for another beerz.

Cloquet

Frank Lloyd Wright had grand plans for a utopian city called “Broadacre City” – foreseeing the automobile as a means of personal freedom for future Americans. While the city was never built, his planned gas station was finally erected in Cloquet, Minnesota. This gas station has an enclosed observation deck so that attendants can keep an eye out for cars in comfort.

Bemidji

Our stop in Bemidji was actually because we were trying to hunt down the Paul Bunyan statue from the movie Fargo. It turns out that one only existed for the movie, and was dismantled shortly after. However, given that we were astonished we could find a parking spot that could accommodate our RV, we popped out and did the tourist thing. Turns out Bemidji is also the Curling Capital of the USA AND the headwaters of the Mississippi!

Bemidji – also the Curling Capital of the USA

Voyageurs

We took enough photos at Voyageurs to warrant is own post.

Rochester

After Voyageurs, our next planned stopover point was Rochester, MN. Rochester is close to Trygstad Motorsports and the Trygstad Airport, and we were on the hunt for Trygstad mementos!

Well, our initial welcome to Rochester was this:

Trygstad Motorsports – while the website made it look like a store, the address was in fact a house down a long, uninviting driveway. And Trygstad Airport… a private driveway with no sign or anything 🙁

Having been a total bust so far, we had to get creative to find something of interest. Rochester is known as the founding location for the Mayo Clinic, so we took a driving tour of the city.