Damp in Duluth

Planting rice this year?

We suddenly realized that we were about half way home, and had used up about 2/3rds of our available time, so it was time for a push. We left Jamestown, intending to stay in Brainerd, after taking a photo of Paul Bunyan. Unfortunately, we never did find his statue, so we moved on and planned a long driving day, ending up in Cloquet, MN for a DDD dinner. No such luck. As we approached the highway turnoff, we were stopped by the police, who told us the road was closed due to flooding and re-routed about 35 miles north. So off we went, on one of Prince’s specialties – the unplanned detour. 35 miles later, we turned east and were expecting to make it to Duluth but we were stopped again, and told we had to go another 30 miles South because of flooding. The highway person strongly recommended that we stop for the night at the Blackbear Casino, since there was no way anyone was going to Duluth last night. There was a LOT of water everywhere and all the side roads were closed. So, Prince got his wish and we camped in a parking lot with the generator running. And we didn’t gamble! Good thing we stopped because the road ahead was washed out and some people died. Today we made it past Duluth and drove into Michigan, where it is a lot drier. We stopped just outside of Marquette and finished our hunt for sapphires and garnets. Still have amethysts to sift through. We’re on schedule and may even make it back a day early. How’s that for planning?

Sapphires, Garnets and assorted pretty rocks