GrandForks ND To Marcel MN To TwinLakes WI

No time yet to reflect just moving closer to getting back to Indiana. My evening stop was Grand Forks ND. It was a Best Western and I asked if they had rooms and the rate. To my surprise it was $60, I said are you sure. Yes that's one of our best value rates of the trip. I had a great meal at Gabzapi's that was perfect Italian food and off to bed. Getting out of Grand Forks was just quick as I could be. I knew if I sniffed around I would fine some interesting things. I did hear that the entire downtown was flooded to the debth of 4 feet when the river created a couple of years ago. That had not ever happened in the history of the town's past. I lot of damage was done but things were looking better now and back to normal. Only some memories of the flood are remaining as far as I could tell. I confirmed with my friend Ken Jazyk that he was at his cottage in northern Minnesota and about when I would arrive.                   Zipping off I went and no stops at any tourist or visitors centers. Grain elevators were along route 2 for the last several days. This is what keeps this area alive, the brave hard working farmers. This is the land of farms in the midst of harvest

This is Spider Lake Road into the area where Ken and 11 other cottages are all to themselves. I have been lucky to follow good weather and fall color all the way on this trip from Anchorage to Minnesota. I have to give a speial thanks to God for blessing we with this good fortune.

I looked forward to seeing Ken and having a easy nite at his cottage and telling  him what a trip he missed. He had expressed how much he wanted to go but spent the entire summer fixing up his newly purchased cottage and was in no position to leave his project. He had been coming up to this cottage for decades and it was his dream it would be his someday. He greeted me at his newly stained deck with a big smile. The property is just perfect and meticulously maintained. He has all the toys, boats, 4-wheelers, Sheds and lounge chairs. A real get Away that anyone would enjoy. Soon after his neighbor Jim stopped by for a chat and we shared some scotch I got at the border a few days earlier. He enjoyed the scotch he invited us to steak dinner and he went right home to tell his wife (of course I needed to bring the scotch).
Dinner was great, his wife Audrey was a special person and looked after Jim with fond affection that only soul mates do. Jim's heroes of the west were Lewis &  Clark. He was sharp on both his history and his geology. I plan to read the boon on  Lewis & Clark that Jim recommended when I gat back and settled.  Ken and I left early and finished the evening with a camp fire in Ken's back yard. But as we were walking back down the drive in the dark we could not see a thing but the stars. It was as dark as I have ever been in.
 Ken and I spent Thursday together but early Friday 4am was his departure time. Riding his 4 wheelers down the road to the mailbox and selecting some trees along the roadway to replant his property were some of our tasks for Thursday. We got to bed early and got off to a fresh start Friday morning.
 I drove a full day to get to Emil's house. 

Emil Mravec harvesting corn in his 30 year old (well maintained) combine.

He was a gracious host and gave me a ride in his combine while he harvested some corn and then took me tho his neighbors farm to do some soy beans with him.



Emil was off to a 50 year class reunion and his friend Doug was assigned to take me out to dinner. We talked about "compost" projects and thanked me for the "Compost" book about Fletcher Sims by Charles Walters, I lent him and told me of his own ventures in the area. The day is over and I am going to bed tired. Thanks