Duluth, Minnesota

We left Marshall at around 10:30am and headed North and East towards Duluth. We didn't believe our luck with the weather and it was very nice to have found Mike's wedding ring the night before. Once we were passed St. John's in Collegeville, it was new territory for us both. Things get more wooded and tree-lined and less everywhere-you-look-the-land-is-plowed-up-and-farmed.

Needing a break from the road, we stopped in Hinkley for a bicycle ride along the Munger bike trail. This was a fire-escape for the people of Hinkley in the late 1800's and is a paved railroad for cycling on. It is complete with street signs, letting you know where you are and how many miles to the next town. It runs to Duluth (over 60 miles away), but we just rode for an out and back couple of hours.

When we got to Duluth, Joe, his sister Tammy, and her son Zack met us at the bottom of the San Francisco type hill to escort us to the new "Casa de la Bennett's" Wow! They're on top of the Duluthian Hills which overlook Lake Superior. I felt like I was at home in San Francisco, looking out on the Bay, only Lake Superior is bigger---you can't see land when you gaze across it's expanse.

We unloaded our bikes and visited and hugged and caught up with each other for a bit. Put this house in Pacific Heights in San Francisco, and you've got a good picture of the Victorian-like neighborhood. Their home was built in 1914 (the same year my Grandma was born). It's got an interesting past too. Joe said that a prior owner murdered his wife in the front yard and the murder weapon was discovered later inside the house....whew!

At around 6:00pm we headed to the Marina where Joe and Chantal's lovely Yacht lives. Mike learned a little about yachting-verbage and once all 9 1/2 of us (Joe, Chantal, and their two daughters, Sadie and Maggie, Joe's sister Tammy and her two kids, Zack & Alex, Mike and I and of course Sydney)were aboard, we set sail out onto Lake Superior. Calm Waters. Lovely, clear views. You can see the bottom...very clean water. Also very cold (40 degrees) and very deep (400-500 feet) water. We toasted with some California Red Wines and marveled at the lovely sunset and gentle breezes. Our friendship with the Bennett's has grown over the years. Mike and Chantal were in the same graduating class in high-school. I think Joe and I are the same age...I might be older than Joe by a year.

We then stopped for a bite to eat at the "castle" and then headed back to Joe & Chantal's for a grown-up slumber party. All 9 1/2 of us! Their home is three stories, plus a basement and so we all fit in very comfortably and we slept like rock's. The next morning, we said good-bye to the Bennett's and headed even further North...stopping along the way at some of the beautiful, Northern, Minnesota state parks. Minnesota really is a beautiful state....and Northern Minnesota, along the Lake Superior coastline is absolutely fabulous.