Mahtowa, Minnesota

Mahtowah was a thriving community back in 1900 although it wasn't big enough to have its own newspaper like Barnum, Moose Lake and Carlton. Driving down I-35 from Duluth, you'll probably notice the billboard for TJ's Country Store - You never sausage a place!  Well, here is TJ's.


Sunday, there was a farmers market at TJ's and there seemed to be quite a few people in town.  This is a surprising meat market with a large processing facility attached and what a variety of sausages!  I stopped on the way back and picked up a package of Cajun Brats.  Ummmmmm, gooood!  We had some for dinner that night.  Worth getting off the highway to just pick up some meat.


And right next to TJ's you can find a used book store, Twice Told Tales.  Not open on Sunday but here are the hours.


I saw the steeple of a church from the trail and took a detour to investigate.


The church has a large, but cracked, bell mounted out in front.  If you read the inscription on the bell you might be puzzled by its meaning, but a nearby bronze plaque explains it all.




Well, maybe not all.  What about that "SW." in the inscription on the bell?  Swedish Evangelical Lutheran!  The Swedes, Norwegians and Germans all had their own idea of a proper Lutheran church back in 1900.

On the Munger Trail

Linda has been bicycling regularly at our lake cabin in an attempt to pedal 2000 miles during 2012.  I suggested that we drive over to Minnesota this weekend and get in a little mileage on the Munger Trail.  She was enthusiastic about the idea.  We covered about ten or twelve miles of it last year from Barnum down to Sturgeon Lake.

So this time we started at Barnum and headed north toward Duluth.


The Munger trail covers seventy miles between Hickley and Duluth.


It is paved and lies on the roadbed of the old Skally Line railroad that first connected St. Paul and Duluth back in about 1871.  It is generally a nice flat ride from Hinckley to Carlton.


We left the trail parking lot in Barnum and found lots of markers along the route.


The first town we encountered was Matowah and that deserves its own blog post.  Linda pressed on well beyond Carlton completing 42 miles on her round trip.  I prefer to stop and smell the roses so I only got in 26 miles.


Well, they weren't actually roses, this week, but some very pretty yellow flowers.  I have always wondered how Gold Finches survive when they are so visible at our home feeder.  When I saw one dart into these yellow flowers along the trail, the bird completely disappeared and I understood how they fit into the big picture.


In addition to Mahtowa. I only traveled far enough on the trail to see one other town, Atkinson.  It isn't very big compared to the thriving Mahtowa but the sign and a former church along the road make a nice picture.

Small Critters - Gordon, Wisconsin

In the past month we've seen a few new characters around the former Pagac's Pines Resort near Gordon.

This moth spent the better part of one evening trying to come inside and reach the ceiling light.  I had no idea they were so cute until I looked at the picture the next day.


This might be the same fellow resting on a plant during the daylight hours.


Whatever did we do before we had the Internet and Google?  I saw this spider crawling on a part of our hummingbird feeder.  Linda Googled "white spider with red markings" on her iPad and soon came up with Goldenrod Crab Spider as the likely suspect. (They can be yellow or white depending on their habitat.)


There are always lot of dragonflies around the lake in June.  These three seemed to think that the arm of the Adirondak chair was sort of an aircraft carrier for insects.


You don't have to go far to find the interesting critters.  Just looking down in the grass will locate some cute bugs.


Most people are more kindly disposed toward butterflies than other bugs, so here are a couple of pictures of the friendly ones that stopped by to spend a few moments on Linda's arm.

Wisconsin Election Update

I blogged about the Wisconsin Governor's Recall Election back at this post.  That was after the recall primary but before the election.  At the time, the roadsides in Douglas County sported only Walker and Anti-Walker signs.


But shortly thereafter, the Anti-Walker signs were replaced with Barrett signs.  They came in a couple of flavors.


The election day arrived and people turned out to vote.  Here is the polling place in Gordon.  Remember, this was White Pine territory!



The final results showed Walker retained his seat.


It took 45 minutes from the time the polls closed to announce this.  Some say the results were ready much earlier but drama was needed.


The anti-Walker folks did supply plenty of drama.  This one complained  (skip to about 1:24 if you don't want to watch the whole thing.)  This one cried.  These looked appalled. 

Apparently, Walker's victory is a minor record worthy of note.  There have been three recall elections of sitting governors.  This is the first one that the incumbent won.

Governor Walker Moves Forward

With that out of the way, the Governor could once again take on major issues in the state and he wasted no time proclaiming June 12th as Jack Link's Beef Jerkey Day.

Now how could anyone challenge a governor willing to do that?  Seriously, University of Wisconsin law professor, Ann Althouse, covered the election like a blanket.  One of her most serious concerns was wasting $18 million on a special election.  But, the election really did produced a split opinion.  Washburn county, home to Minong and Jack Link's jerkey empire produced a 57%-42% vote favoring Walker, as was the case in most rural counties.  My nearby Douglas county went 64%-35% for Barrett!  Well, they have a university.  Perhaps someone should analyze it in university versus non-university terms.

And how did it go in the 3 local townships?  Definitely a split opinion.

    

Township	Walker	Barrett	Trivedi
Gordon	169	199	3
Wascott	226	207	1
Minong	231	200	3

An election every 60 days for more than a year?  I usually complain about the fact that a half-million people pay Wisconsin property taxes with no voice in how our tax money is spent - say didn't somebody fight a war about taxation without representation?  But maybe it would just be an issue of fairness to balance the University influence with some taxpayer influence.

Airplane on a Stick - Duluth, MN

After watching Grandma's Marathon in Duluth this weekend, we met our Marathoners and Linda's family at the house they were renting just south of downtown.  On the way there, I spotted an "airplane on a stick."  This one is a T-33 trainer in the parking lot of the American Legion Post 71 on Grand.  You might be able to spot it from I-35 heading South at exit 251B.  The address is 5814 Grand Ave., Duluth, MN.


If you stop to visit, be sure to go inside the post and then look back toward the outside, up above the entrance.  There is an excellent description of the plane.


There is a plaque at the base of the plane with additional information too.


The T-33 is actually a variation of the P-80/F-80 in which the fuselage was lengthened and a second seat and set of controls were added to make it into a trainer.  A lot of air force pilots flew this plane as their first jet aircraft.

Notice that this plaque claims the plane flew 143 days after design began.  I'll bet you can't get a contract signed with the Air Force in 143 days now.


Here's another view.


Click on the "Airplane on a Stick" label at the bottom of this post to see other planes I have in this collection.

Grandma's Marathon - Duluth, MN

(Note: As always, click on any photo for a larger image)

Saturday was the 36th running of Grandma's Marathon in Duluth.  Linda's niece and sister-in-law were both running so we drove the 40 miles from our cabin in Gordon, Wisconsin to Duluth to cheer them on.

The marathon is named for Grandma's Restaurant, the only business in town that would step forward to sponsor the race back in 1977.


We parked high on the hill above Duluth by Cascade Park and had a scenic view of the harbor, downtown buildings and the Aerial Lift Bridge as we descended to the race route on Superior Street.


The "average" marathoners were just coming up the last hill on Superior Street and had about a mile and a half to go as they approached the downtown Welcome sign before turning toward the finish line at Canal Park.



As at many other marathons, Cowbells are the instrument of choice for cheering the runners.  Here a runner checks their pace as a viewer anxiously watches for their runner.  If you aren't familiar with the phrase "More Cowbell," the history of it can be found here.


This race is about as multicultural as things get in Duluth.  After an initial few wins by Minnesota's pale-skinned Scandinavian runners, the Africans now regularly win the race (including this year) but are cheered on by the local belly dance club who stand and cheer in front of the local Indian restaurant.



The race passes by the famed Aerial Lift Bridge just before the finish line.  If you are not in tip-top condition, you would be better off just having a beer and watching from a pontoon boat in the harbor.


Otherwise, you risk ending up on the ground writhing in considerable pain and agony.


I am pretty sure that fellow was just suffering cramps and not the wrath of God, but you never know.  These ladies in Canal Park might suspect otherwise.


There are lots of good places from which you can photograph the race, but the commercial photographers do have an inside track.  You can check out their work here.


Did I mention that the temperatures were cool?  We left Gordon, Wisconsin, with a temperature of 78 and thirty five miles later, the reading was 57.  Good for runners, but for photographers, not warm enough.  Seeing pictures of someone like this on June 16th is probably what  makes my California relatives wonder if the snow ever melts in Minnesota.



Well, cool or not, Duluth really is a pretty port town.  Just dress for San Francisco type of weather.  And don't be surprised if the weather changes several times during your stay.

Canal Park is the highlight of most people's trip.  Enjoy it - and maybe you should even stop in at Grandma's.