TWO PEAS AND THE POD: CHIPPEWA NATIONAL FOREST (MN)

WEDNESDAY - I always like it when I can surprise Tricia with an undisclosed stop along our route. Today was one of those days!

Less than 30-minutes after we began our drive today we entered the city of Bemidji, MN (pop. 15,946). Bemidji lies on the southwest shore of Lake Bemidji, the northernmost lake feeding the Mississippi River. Founded in 1888, it is nicknamed "The First City on the Mississippi". Bemidji is also the self-proclaimed "curling capital" of the U.S. and the alleged birthplace of legendary Paul Bunyan.

Facing the entrance to Downtown Bemidji, if you make a 180° turn, then this will be your view.
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This is Paul Bunyan Park on Lake Bemidji.

Currently a dozen or more statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox exist around the U.S.,
some are larger, some are nicer, but none are older. These are the "original" statues from 1937.

The boat dock leading out into Lake Bemidji from Paul Bunyan Park

Before leaving Bemidji behind we filled up with gasoline and headed out into the Chippewa National Forest in search of our next campsite.

Tricia loves photographing these old barns as we fly by them at 55MPH. I'm amazed how nice they turn out, even though she's shooting through our dirty windshield. This one was even on my side of the highway, not hers.

A short while later we were all set up in our campsite on Clubhouse Lake. There are no utilities on our site, no electricity and no water. There's also no cell signal here, and with the density of the trees around us there's no chance of our Starlink dish grabbing any satellite signal. For the first time in a few months we are totally off grid and I'll have a chance to finish the book I'm currently reading.