Separate Ways

Day 14:

Today marks our last day at the lodge as well as our last day in Minnesota. The half of our party that joined us in Coeur D'Alene will be leaving us for Chicago, while we embark on our longest driving day: over 500 miles to the Black Hills of South Dakota. At least we get an hour back when we cross into Mountain Time.

With this being our last day, I had my heart set on getting up early in order to find some pictures to take then head into New London to wash the van and get an espresso. I had partial success on all three fronts. The pictures weren't what I had in mind when I started out, but I'm happy with them. The van was so dirty that it came off in sheets when I hit it with water. Sadly, the grime from the road work didn't come off the front and I'm still carrying bug carcasses from who-knows-where. It must have been too early for the local coffee klatch - the place was empty when I got there.

Around 11, we took a quick trip into Willmar, a short half-hour ride to the south. We stopped at a humongous steam train on the outskirts then headed into downtown to walk around. Once there, we parked on a sparsely filled street to take a walking tour of the small downtown. We passed by the old building where the kids' great-grandfather used to work, kitty-corner from a shop with a bunch of men out front in traditional Somali attire. It had been mentioned to us earlier that Willmar HS had gone to the state finals in track because of the Somali distance runners.

We spent quite a bit of time in a gift store filled with Swedish and Norwegian keepsakes. You could get any manner of gifts with national flags, colloquialisms ("uff da") and food. My favorite was a dog dish that said "wuff da" but I managed a little self-control and walked out of the store.

Afterwards, we walked by the house where great-grandma used to live. It's currently a non-descript two-unit apartment building, but the gentleman passing by made mention that it used to be a hospital. Apparently nobody got sick back then. Either that or they just went from healthy straight to the sizeable mortuary around the corner. Next was the site of grandma's former house. I have to use words like "site" and "former" because it's now a parking lot. Aside from the gift store, there wasn't much to see there. The town really begged for a 50's style diner and soda fountain but my mother-in-law assured me there was nothing that fit the bill. Too bad.

I'll be sad to leave Minnesota. Everything here has been great - the lodge, the weather, the people.

Highlights:
1. Another item checked off my list: I had a walleye sandwich.
2. I got to see an ice-fishing house. Pretty cool.

Quirks:
1. I pulled into a Caribou Coffee drive-through after lunch. When I ordered their small espresso, the girl made sure that I knew that I would be getting *just* espresso. I thanked her for her concern but assured her that I was a trained professional and that I *had* tried this at home.