G.A.S.P.

(Great Adventures to Scenic Places)

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ June 1 ] [ June 2 ] [ June 3 ] [ June 4 ] [ June 5 ] [ June 6 ] [ June 7 ] [ June 8, 9 ] [ June 10 ] [ June 11 ] [ June 12 ] [ June 13 ] [ June 14 ] [ June 15 ] [ June 16 ] [ June 17 ] [ June 18 ] [ June 19 ] [ June 20 ] [ June 21 ] [ June 22 ] [ June 23 ] [ June 24 ] [ June 25 ] [ June 26 ] [ June 27 ] [ June 28 ] [ June 29 ] [ June 30 ]

June 8, 9 1999

On June 8, I rode to Bemidji State Park near the city of Bemidji. The park borders on a large lake. Along the way, I saw several deer cross the highway in front of me. One in particular was fascinated by my bicycle. She had crossed the road quite a ways in front of me, but was still by the roadside when I approached. She bounded off to the edge of the trees, stood behind a small tree and stared around the tree at me as I rode by.

I noticed as I rode along US 71 that the big logging trucks drop lots of small pieces of wood. I noticed this because they mostly end up on the shoulder. It occurred to me that if someone "adopted" a portion of this highway (for litter), they could probably find enough free wood to heat a home all winter.

Click on thumbnail to see full photograph

I loved some of the little towns I passed through the last couple of days – Littlefork, Northome and Blackduck. They all have about 700 population, each boast a couple of restaurants, a couple of gas stations, an IGA store, a Mom and Pop type motel (or two), a hardware store and a bank. The town of Blackduck even had a very small movie theater.