In the Footsteps of the Corp of Discovery

  So many times on my trip I pass something and have to do a U-Turn.   I feel sorry for those people that think they can’t do U-turns.   That seems to be the best time to discover things that you might have missed, by driving by way to fast. In this case it was Rapid River Knife Works.    A walk through the doors reviewed more than just knives.   This place was full of animal mounts.   The owner is an avid hunter and many of the mounts were animals he hunted.   Some of the mounts were purchased from an older gentleman that wanted them to have a good home. Look how big this guy is! This Mountain Lion was hunted in Idaho by the owner There were all sizes and shapes of knives.   I made fast friends with the owners Mom, Margaret.   She told me that her son, Kris, started making knives when he was in college.   One thing led to another and now they have six full time knife makers.   I looked through the selection and found a p...

  Spent the night at Bemidji State Park on the shores of Lake Bemidji.   Woke up early and went downtown to get photos of Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox. Paul Bunyon was a larger than life legend in the founding of the area.   He was a wood cutter that cleared the woods and found Babe during the winter of Blue snow.   Babe measured 42 axe handles long and a plug of tobacco between her horns.   Love Babe's Butt I remember seeing the statue when I was a little girl visiting with my parents.   I swear that Paul was over two stories high then, but as a little girl he probably did look that tall.   I love the legend and love the statues. The source of the Mississippi River is only a few miles away at Lake Itasca.   It flow into Lake Bemidji and then exits town flowing south.   Downtown Bemidji has a Sculpture Walk that had some very unique pieces of work. Around lunch time we arrived at Duluth Minnesota.   Here the St Louis river ...