Homeward Bound Day 8 - Grand Forks ND to Marquette MI 09/30

 Depart Grand Forks ND 8:20am

Arrive Marquette MI 7:50pm

Miles Traveled 520

Weather: Thick fog this morning.  Overcast all day. Occasional showers. Lightening as we arrived in Marquette.  Temps in the 60s.

The focus of this trip is getting back to Bristol.  We aren't deviating much from our route to sightsee.  However we  took a 10 minute detour  today to visit the Hiawatha Statue in Ironwood, MI. It claims to be the World's Largest Native American Statue.  The Statue is 52 feet tall and weighs 9 tons. Another biggest item to add to our list.

Ironwood is about 80 miles north of Rhinelander where cousins Peggy and Charlie live.  We hated not detouring for a quick visit.  This decision influenced by a long driving day plus a temperamental cat.  We talk about a trip this summer to come back and visit the cousins and nearby cranberry farms.

We stop at Culver's in Superior, WI for ButterBurgers, fries and cheese curds.  It is drizzly. Instead of a picnic in a park by Lake Superior we eat in the car.

Our drive started in the fog.

Fall colors showed up this afternoon.  We have left the prairie and have trees again.

No large wildlife sightings today.  We do see two turkeys.  And several Vs of geese flying south.

We use IHeart radio to listen to our favorite country music station, KASH 107.5 out of Anchorage.  We are grateful to Cousin Kate for introducing us to the National Parks After Dark podcast.  We've been listening to one or two each day.

The headwaters of the Mississippi River are located in Itasca State Park near Bemidji, MN. We cross over the Mississippi near Bemidji and it is 18 or 20 feet wide.

Sal