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Freebirth's Epic American Roadtrip

Minnesota has always been on my list of places to visit ever since a friend of mine showed me similar pictures from when he lived just outside of Duluth. Thanks for sharing.
 
Minnesota has always been on my list of places to visit ever since a friend of mine showed me similar pictures from when he lived just outside of Duluth. Thanks for sharing.

I would suggest going in early spring or late summer to avoid the worst of the mosquitoes. If you have a canoe, kayak, or boat of some kind, be sure to bring it. You'll not run out of things to do.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
Did you see any of the lake? If so, just imagine it going on like that for just about ever :001_smile I miss the Great Lakes area.
 
This is great. I've been coast to coast in Canada, but have only visited seven states. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!
 
Did you see any of the lake? If so, just imagine it going on like that for just about ever :001_smile I miss the Great Lakes area.

Yeah, luckily we got to enjoy the sunset over Superior in Michigan before hell broke loose. Put out feet in (this June, mind you, just after the last of the ice receded). Coldest water I've ever felt, and that's saying something on this trip.

$LakeSuperiorWeb.jpg

Strikingly beautiful. My favorite of the Great Lakes.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
Yeah, Superior is a cold one. I grew up on Erie, it is so small (well, compared to the other GLs) that it warms up nicely in the summer. The bad news is that it is more susceptible to algae bloom.

on edit: great picture. Until you have seen the Great Lakes you have no idea what a lake is.
 
After driving down dusty dirt roads in beautiful country, we stayed at a wonderful campsite at Hogback Lake with free campsites (and even a vault toilet). The mosquitoes were definitely present, but they seemed to respect our DEET. The fog cleared and we saw and amazing sunset.

$bethCamp.jpg $lakeSunset.jpg

The next day was cloudy and threatening rain, but we decided to do a circuit hike of the lakes in the area anyway. The mosquitoes were laying in wait in the woods. Every step took us further in to a thickening black cloud. We sprayed DEET as we walked, but to no avail. We eventually turned back returned to camp at a trot.

$HogbackClouds.jpg $mosquitoWoods.jpg

The next day we were moving along again. That day would prove to be a very long one...

Since Youtube is allowed on here, I will link to the channel, so you can see some footage of these places. Roades on the Road. I won't link individual videos or anything, so just go to the channel and watch what you want. I'm still sorting through and editing a mountain of footage so it probably won't all be done for a while.
 
The next day we were driving across the state westward. By chance, we happened upon a place called Whiteface Reservoir, a big lake with a nice beach and.... not a single buzzing mosquito. There were a few black flies zipping around, but certainly not an epidemic. We went swimming. We built a fire and cooked some lunch. We relaxed in the shade.

$WhitefaceReservoir.jpg

Saw a bald eagle circling high over head. We felt good.

$Eagle.jpg$lakeRun.jpg

Now, setting a goal of never paying for a nights sleep can get you into trouble. In this case, rather than paying the 20 bucks or so to stay at Whiteface, we decided to head off in search of free accommodation. That took us west toward Paul Bunyan State Forest, to try dispersed camping. We stopped at Leech Lake to take in the sunset and then set off to find a place for the night.

$sunset.jpg

As we pulled to a stop in the waning light, the familiar swarming black shadows swallowed our car. Again we headed toward Itasca State Park, hoping we might find a cheap camp site. What followed was a strange trip through the maze of Itasca's campground in the dark, followed by an omni-present park ranger who reminded me of Andre the Giant. Seemed everywhere we turned, there he was. When we finally found an empty spot, we got out to check the site. Again the mosquitoes greeted us. Well I'm not paying to get eaten when I could do that for free! I thought. So we left again. West and west and west, out of Minnesota. We hit Fargo and then shot south till we couldn't safely drive any longer. We were still in North Dakota, but it was into the wee hours of the morning, so we stopped at our first deluxe free campsite of the trip. Equipped with bathrooms, running water, and even food!

$walmart.jpg

The next day would be better I thought. I think I was right. Continued...
 
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