In February my friend David’s wife reached out to see if I could make it up to the Fargo and Moorhead area to surprise him for his 40th birthday. In a twist of fate both he and his wife had been secretly planning surprise parties for each other at the same time. The confusion among their friends sadly spoiled the surprise element for both of them but surprise or not I said yes without hesitation. What started as a long weekend turned into a six day road trip covering nearly 2,200 miles.
Winston and I headed out together, stopping first in Kansas City where he would spend the rest of the trip being spoiled by his aunt Trish with pup cups and all the attention he deserved. From there I continued north, arriving in Moorhead Friday afternoon. Friday evening and Saturday were spent catching up with old friends and celebrating David in the way a 40th birthday deserves.
This was my first time in this part of Minnesota and my first time setting foot in North Dakota. I am counting it as a visit but not enough to check either state fully off my list. That will require a proper return trip.
Sunday morning I was back on the road, this time heading east across Minnesota to Duluth to visit my friend Mike. We met online years ago and have managed to turn that into real world adventures and visits more than once. This was another first, both visiting Duluth and this side of the state entirely.
The drive across Minnesota surprised me. After days of the flat open landscape I had been driving through, the roads into Duluth wound through dense forests and up and over hills I was not expecting at all. I also passed through Chippewa National Forest which stopped me in my tracks. It is one of those places I need to go back to and spend real time in, camping and exploring properly.
Mike showed me around the city and we made a full day of it. Brunch was at the Duluth Grill, which set the tone for the rest of the day. From there we worked our way through Bent Paddle Brewing, Ursa Minor Brewing, and Castle Danger Brewery before finishing the evening with dinner at Green Mill. The city has a genuine character to it and I can see how it draws serious crowds in the summer. I need to go back and spend more time there.
The highlight of the tour was seeing Lake Superior for the first time. I knew going in that it was a lake and not the ocean but nothing fully prepares your midwestern brain for the actual scale of it. Standing there looking out at water that stretches to the horizon with no other shore in sight is genuinely disorienting in the best way. The fact that it connects to an entire system of lakes that massive is something I am still processing.
Monday morning I pointed the truck south toward Kansas City with a stop in central Iowa to visit my mom and drop off a collection of family photo albums I had spent the winter scanning and digitizing. It was a quick stop but the kind that matters.
Nearly 2,200 miles in six days. A lot of seat time as they say, but every mile was worth it.
