Thought from Wednesday the 13th at the office:
"Ahh! I can't take it anymore! Must leave work NOW and hit the road! I wish my boss would stop calling me! I gotta get out of here!"
At 1pm I had to leave even though I was supposed to stay till 3. Once home, there were a few last minute calls from the boss and finally it was done. Steph arrived at 330pm and we loaded my stuff into the trunk and both our road bikes into the back seat of the Sunfire, which I quickly dubbed Funfire for the trip. At 410pm we were rolling out of Bozangeles, a mere 10 min. behind schedule!
In the gold Funfire we blasted east on I-90 at 80mph with AC cranked and the tunes cranked from the ipod and ye olde I-trip. The plan was to get to Bismarck ND before midnight and sleep in our reserved hotel room and then hit International Falls, MN the next day around 2pm. I suggested 2 hour shifts at the wheel to break the monotony of Eastern Montana and NoDak interstate droning. It worked well and was a very tolerable interval.
After about 8 hours we made it to Bismarck around midnight and promptly drove right through it past all two exits!!! I thought it was bigger and we were a bit tired and confused. After a quick recon of the mornings route about 15 miles down the highway, we turned around in the Authorized Vehicle Only turnout and went back, found the hotel, and went to bed.
Now, imagine flashing strobe lights and an insanely loud siren. Okay. Next, imagine almost going into cardiac arrest as these two phenomenon erupted simultaneously from the fire alarm on the wall above your bed at 3 am causing you to sit bolt upright believing that the world was ending! This is what happened to us in the middle of "i am really tired from driving for 8 hours" type of sleep.
It was bad.
After a few minutes of this sensory armageddon, someone turned it off and apparently it was a false alarm. Probably some idiot smoking in their room or something....
Back to sleep a bit shaken up. I got up at 6ish and began preparing for leg two of the journey. We were on the road again I think around 7 after loading up plates of free breakfast goodies in the hotel lobby. Just keep the car moving when you can is my philosophy. So over english muffins and peanut butter we continued East in the trusty Funfire.
After navigating through NoDak to Fargo, we crossed into Minnesota which was exciting as it was our Destination State. We still had a lot of hours left though. We headed northeast towards Bemidji and finally there were trees and little hills and lots of lakes and ponds. It actually looked a lot like parts of Maine, and I got excited with the similarity. We were also off the interstate which yielded much more interesting driving.
In Bemidji we found a Village Foods supermarket, and stumbled upon perhaps the best grocery store deli section I have ever seen! We were trying to eat well on the road, with a Subway stop for dinner the night before. After finding good wraps and some other tasty treats the Funfire was steered northward for the last leg of the driving. Bemidji to Int'l Falls was almost totally straight through flat terrain with lots of fields and forests. All young forests mind you, most trees being pretty small around on average. There was evidence of major logging in the past and minor logging at present, with pulp trucks and sawmills every now and then.
Finally at around 2 or 3pm we hit IF with great joy! The funfire stopped at the liquor store (no alcohol sold elsewhere) for some beverages. Steph had told me she knew everyone in town, and after both young men at counter said "Hey Steph!" I realized she was serious! We headed straight for Rainy Lake at this point, driving through International Falls which was very much small town America. Older stores, a Main Street area of a few blocks, and the gigantic Boise Cascade paper mill looming behind it. I think the mill is as big as the town! We drove out of town and down the road to the lake. After a turn down small road, I was reminded intensely of backwoods Maine. Small little roads, trees right to the edge, it was really great. We rolled up to a funny old yellow log cabin type house on the lakeshore, with a houseboat parked nearby, a few cars in the grass, and a dock setup for about a dozen boats. "We're here!" proclaimed Steph with a big smile. We unloaded the car into a Gardenway cart and wheeled it down the dock to the SS Johnson, a 16' Lund Adventurer with a shiny new Suzuki outboard, a trolling motor on the bow and 3 swivel chairs down the middle. There were similar boats docked nearby.
Steph was just about bursting with excitement by this point, running around all smiles and cheery comments about the lake and the whole situation, as she stowed everything on board and got us ready to cast off. She fired up the motor, and we untied and I hopped in. Pulling away from the dock area we came out of a small cove surrounded by rock ledge rolling into the water topped with spiky pine and fir trees. It looked so much like Maine coastline and Maine lakeshores I was astonished. Steph soon cracked the throttle and we zoomed out into the lake along some big islands. There were lake houses along the shore, and other boats here and there. All the other boaters waved, and we waved back as we passed, the same as motorcyclists often do. It was 80 degrees, clear skies, light breeze, and us cruising along the water going what I felt was really fast! I was super happy already. After a few minutes, we came around another island and turned in towards a cove with a long weathered dock and little red house type building on the dock. There was a long low red building hiding in the trees up from the water's edge. This was it! The Amidon family cabin on Stop Island in Rainy Lake Minnesota. And it was ours for the next 3 wonderful days!
The shot below illustrated the Maine-ness of the area. It was quite comforting for me.
After a good round of swimming and sunning on the dock, we geared up and hopped in the boat for a trip to Sha-Sha Resort, which was about 20 min. away. Sha-Sha is pronounced SHAY-SHAY by the way. It was a funny touristy place with a bar and food and huge decks on the waterfront. It was fun pulling up in the boat for dinner! We met up with a whole tableful of Stephs girlfriends who were all having a pretty good time already. I wasn't too talkative as I was pretty tired from travelling still. After lots of trading of stories and a huge burger and some locally important potent drink called a "tea" we got back in the boat and cruised home as the sun was setting.
Going to sleep was wonderful, with almost total silence apart from the lapping of the water at the shore. ...
