We had several days of driving to get to our AirBnB in Minnesota.
July 3 - We left Boulder, going north to Greeley and then east to North Platte, NE where we spent the night. (We intentionally avoided Denver, preferring smaller roads to freeways.) Along the way, we stopped at the Pawnee National Grasslands for a few pictures. We had imagined the National Grasslands would have a designated entrance, an information center, and self-guided tours. Unfortunately, there was none of the above. The grasslands were cross-fenced (private enclaves) and were indistinguishable from the surrounding grasses. A disappointment. That said, the drive to North Platte was beautiful with small towns and rolling hills of green fields. The fields of corn, soy, hay, and alfalfa spread farther than the eye could see. We noticed several differences between this day's drive and our trip of 50 years ago: gas and oil wells scattered across the farmland (they were not there in the 1970s), industrial-scale farming had replaced small family farms, and CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations - warehouses for either chickens or pigs and confined lots of cattle) which you smelled before you saw them. On a positive note, we followed the bulging North Platte River almost the whole way and we saw many windmills dotting the landscapes. Driving was easy since the 2- and 4-lane roads were mostly deserted.
The Pawnee Nat'l Grasslands
July 4 - We traveled from North Platte to Norfolk, NE. We took 2-lane Highway 30 paralleling the freeway and the river. It went through a variety of small farm towns including Gothenburg, NE, home to the Pony Express Museum. We were surprised to learn that the Pony Express operated only for a little over a year. Riders changed horses every 10-15 miles and usually covered about 100-150 miles a day (depending on terrain). The "wanted ad" for riders read: "Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred." Today, more industrial agriculture. Now exclusively corn and soybeans. Sadly, the vast majority of these crops do not feed people. Rather they go to ethanol and animal feed. Our driving averages under 300 miles a day, normally about 4 hours, but with the stops to charge and eat, more like 5-½ to 6 hours. No fireworks tonight. Norfolk celebrated on Saturday. That was a good thing since it rained heavily. So glad we are not camping!
July 5 - No rain this morning. We rise early and get on the road to New Ulm, MN. Again, we avoid freeways and find the 2-lane roads are basically car-free. Still corn and soybean fields. But once into Iowa, the land flattens. We had to chuckle at the road sign: Danish Alps. The highest point in Iowa is 1,670 ft. Kathy climbed to the summit!
Danish Alps State Park 
New Ulm, MNJuly 6 - We awoke to a beautiful cool morning with clear skies. As we climbed out of the New Ulm river valley, we were greeted once again by endless fields of corn and soybeans dotted occasionally by farmhouses nestled in the trees. The sameness of the landscape was peaceful and calming.
Okay, we haven't been completely honest with all the details of our trip. The day we left Paonia, CO we hit a huge pothole on the road to Glenwood Springs. We looked at the tire and didn't see a problem. And it drove okay. However, a day or so later, the steering wheel adopted a new position: it had turned 45 degrees to the left when driving straight. We were worried that we had done serious damage--broken axle? Plus we were overdue for our 8,000-mile service (Kia, St. George couldn't fit us in prior to our departure.). So we made an appointment at a Kia dealership in St. Cloud, MN for July 6. We arrived at 10 am hoping we could get in before our 1:45 appointment. They took the car, saying they would work on it as soon as they could. Meanwhile, we walked to Kohls, Costco, and a slew of other stores (got our 10,000 steps in for sure). The car was ready by 3 pm (ugh!). They had realigned the tires and the steering wheel was now straight--no serious damage.
We continued on to Brainerd, MN (our next stop)...an easy drive on 2-lane backroads. We arrived at the Quality Inn in Brainerd which was anything but! We did have a good night's sleep, but there was no ice, the pool and spa are closed...never to be reopened, the business center computer and fax were broken, breakfast was questionable, etc.--the worst motel so far.
July 7 - Roger researched Minnesota to find fun places to see. The Brainerd Lakes area came highly recommended. We expected to see a lively tourist town with lots of visitor attractions. This was not the case. The old downtown had none of the charm of New Ulm. Many empty storefronts and thrift shops along the main street.
Brainerd downtown scenes: You Betcha from the movie Fargo (filmed near here) and Paul Bunyan's Babe, the ox.
We needed to charge the car before heading to Bemidji, so we found a charger 23 miles east in Motley, and headed out. When we got there, the charger was not working. We called the provider who tried to turn it on from her end, but eventually said "Sorry, I'll report it as broken." We did not have enough charge to get to Bemidji (our next stop) so we spent a couple of hours at a slow charger before heading back to the motel (close to the Bates Motel) for the night.
July 8 - The next morning, we headed to Bemidji but had researched several stops along the way to charge a little more. The first was in Pine River (pop. 895) where they were celebrating their 150th anniversary. The charge port happened to be where the parade floats for the celebration were assembling. Since it was also a slow charger, we hooked up the car and walked one mile to town for breakfast. Barclays, a new restaurant, was really hopping. We enjoyed our omelet and then walked around town a little as people lined up along the parade route to enjoy the celebration. When we returned to the car, the floats and celebrity cars were ready to go. It was kind of like getting the "behind the scene tour" of the Rose Parade floats.
Pine River 150th Celebration ParadeSince our car was not yet fully charged, we headed next to Northern Lights Casino for another slow charge. There we found another celebration--some senior citizen festival. We partook of donut holes, coffee, sodas, and souvenirs and Roger played slot machine poker on $1 while our car charged up. The people are so friendly around here. It's amazing! Then we left for Bemidji on the Paul Bunyan Parkway. Paul and Babe are big here (no pun intended). Evidently, he came from Brainerd, but his trail winds its way north to Bemidji and more. Two-lane roads, practically no cars. Cloudy skies developed in the afternoon. We passed through Walker--a busy, busy tourist spot on a lake...perhaps a nice area for a longer stay. The streets were lined with pick-up trucks. People walked along the sidewalks, popping into tourist shops. Crowds on the beach.
Finally, we made it to Bemidji. We couldn't find the fast charger that was near City Hall, so we hooked up to a free slow charger at the Info Center and spent a couple of hours exploring Bemidji on foot. We ended our walk at the packed Lucky Dogs, a gourmet hotdog stand. Basically, you could have anything you wanted on your hot dog or veggie dog--cream cheese, jalapenos, chili, coleslaw, peanut butter, banana slices, garlic, BBQ sauce, bacon, cilantro, celery, buffalo chicken, and more. After lunch, we found the fast charger at City Hall, charged up fully, and moved on to our AirBnb. We were thrilled by the cabin on a lake that we found waiting for us.
It's a rough life!
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