TIME TO HEAD NORTH

May 2021

Heading out of Ohio we’re on our way to International Falls, Minnesota, on the next leg of our journey started so long ago. Along the way we’ll visit National Parks and Monuments, State and City Parks, friends, cool places, the usual and the unusual and weird. However, it was more than tough realizing that it’d be awhile before we’d be together with our children and grandchildren again – Thanksgiving seems so very far away.

It was pretty easy to decide which way to go travelling from Mid-Ohio to the very northern tip of Minnesota. With Lake Huron and Lake Michigan sorta kinda in the way of a direct northern path, we had to go west far enough to go north – along the way we’d mosey through Northwest Indiana, cut through Chicagoland and Northwest Illinois, into Wisconsin and then into Minnesota.

Coming through Indiana Brian would have preferred avoiding the mishegas of maneuvering Aimee the last 20 miles or so of I-65 and I-94 in Northwest Indiana, and the southern suburbs of Chicago, but that just couldn’t be avoided. Then there was the question of going through Chicago itself. Should using the costly but efficient I-90 Skyway and then battling it out on the I-94 roadways (the Dan Ryan and Kennedy or Eisenhower or Edens Expressways) -or- just staying on I-94 for the long loop around Lake Michigan and then north through Chicago be a better way to travel? We couldn’t go east and then north to head west – the Canadian border is still covid closed, and that direction would add about 1,000 miles to our journey. And going further west would involve some pretty serious backtracking. Oh well…

Keeping to our preferred 250 miles give or take between stops, we finalized the plan. It was obvious, unfortunate and unavoidable to travel through (!) the Windy City to a stop in Baraboo, Wisconsin then northwest to a campground in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, then halfway to International Falls camping in Duluth (and a visit with old, old friends from Pennsylvania, Tom and Landa who were workcamping in Isle, MN) before pulling into International Falls for our exploration of Voyageurs National Park.

Why Cannon Falls? Well, part of our journey North would be to stop and visit Mesa friends and Rochester, Minnesota natives Tom and Karen, and then a stop to hang-out with Minneapolis/St. Paul natives, Mesa friends and Roesner Mob Members Mark, Lisa, Angie, Don and Carol, affiliate gangsters Russ and Lisa and maybe Jay and Kathy. Cannon Falls was pretty much halfway between Rochester and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

But along the way…

Brian’s known Paul since the early 1980’s. They both shared an affection for developing and administering community-based group programs that were alternatives to inpatient care for the mentally ill; Paul working more with adults, Brian with children and adolescents. They served on State and National Trade Association Boards together, frequently roomed together, and became steadfast friends. Barbara and Paul have also become friends over the years. Paul and the love of his life Michelle live in Indianapolis, and when in the neighborhood we enjoy spending some great time together. It was a short, but delightful detour to pull into Indianapolis and have brunch with Paul and Michelle. They knocked themselves out as the ultimate and gracious hosts…brunch was restaurant quality!

Brian has known Steve since the 2 of them moved their families to Michigan City, Indiana in 1979. They both served as Board Members of the local synagogue for a lot of years, watched each others’ children grow-up, suffered tragedies and celebrated successes, provided each other emotional support, and were inseparable through life’s ups and downs…brothers neither of them ever had. Steve’s had rough go of it the last 10 years or so, but a heart condition and cancer has never altered his upbeat positive attitude, having a good word for everyone, and his love of life. Steve has for years given so much to the Jewish Community, and has always, always been a shoulder to lean on for friends. He’s the definition of a mensch.

On the way to Minnesota our first overnight stop was in Rensselaer, Indiana – a short trip from there into Michigan City and a good long visit with Steve.

Did we mention that Brian was dreading the drive through Chicago? Having learned to drive there in the 60s he knew his way around IN A CAR and still does, but driving Aimee through the City would be another thing all together. After much agonizing Brian decided using the I-90 Skyway would be easier and save 25-30 miles of city traffic; so the first question of the route was solved – hop onto I-65 out of Rensselaer, and follow the roadway until I-65 dead-ends onto the Indiana tollway, which connects to the Skyway ($35 toll!), to the I-94 Dan Ryan Expressway south of The Chicago Loop which turns into the Kennedy Expressway north of The Chicago Loop and finally northwest using the I-90 Jane Adams Memorial Illinois tollway before turning north into Wisconsin. While the traffic was heavy driving into and through the City, and the ubiquitous road construction slowed everybody down, there were few, if any, white knuckle times getting Aimee through Chicago. Whew!

Next stop Baraboo, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Dells is a family summer vacation mecca; merchants earn the majority of their living from Memorial Day through Labor Day when Baraboo and surrounding communities are jam-packed with vacationers. In mid-to-late May the weather in the Midwest can range from snow and cold to a sunny 70 degrees. Weekends in Baraboo in May can be busy depending on the weather. We arrived the week before Memorial Day, pulled into our campground and had a couple of days to explore before the weekend crowd arrived – yeah-the weekend weather was perfect.

It was 1884 when the 7 Ringling Brothers and natives of Baraboo turned a small touring troop of entertainers and their acts into a coordinated performing circus. 35 years later, in 1919, the Ringling Brothers Circus merged with the Barnum and Baily Circus to form “The Greatest Show On Earth.” For those of us whose fathers introduced them to THE CIRCUS it was a sad day in 2017 when the doors shut for good. Brian remembers attending his first Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus at Madison Square Garden in NYC – the sideshow was in the lower level of the Garden, the 3-ring circus on the main stage. Barbara remembers seeing the performance with her dad in Colorado Springs at The City Auditorium, and loving the artistry of the trapeze acrobats.

Ever wonder what can be done with cast aside scrap metal, various other metal objects and factory parts and cast-off parts from electrical generating plants, some welding equipment and a “bizarrely and slightly dementedly” creative mind? It’s not easy finding Dr. Evermore’s Sculpture Garden, but we found it well worth the time and effort.

Walking into Dr. Evermore’s Sculpture Garden begins with viewing the Forevertron® machine – in our minds a true Rube Goldberg gadget. The Forevertron® is the largest scrap metal sculpture in the world, standing 50 ft. high and 120 ft. wide and weighing 300 tons. It was designed and then constructed to launch Dr. Evermore “into the heavens on a magnetic lightning force beam”. Not sure if the gadget was up to the task; unfortunately Dr. Evermore died before the launch.

There’s lots more to see in the Garden including Barbara’s favorites…

…an orchestra and conductor…

…and other assorted sculptures…

Man Mound is a National Historic Landmark located just east of Baraboo. It is a “prehistoric humanoid earthwork constructed during the Late Woodland period (AD 900 until 1650). The mound is the only surviving anthropomorphic effigy mound in North America, depicting a horned humanoid figure, and may have held religious or ceremonial significance to its builders.” We could make out both ankles and feet across the road from the overgrown mound that prohibited viewing of the upper leg, torso, and head.

World-wide there are 15 crane species and The International Crane Foundation was established and actively works around the world to “conserve cranes and the ecosystems, watersheds, and flyways on which they depend.” The 300-acre global headquarters in Baraboo hosts a captive flock of approximately 100 cranes, including the only complete collection of all 15 species in the world. What a treat!

Our last adventure in Baraboo found us at Devil’s Lake, one of the area’s iconic recreational venues. We easily found the East Bluff Trail Trailhead – our goal was to follow the Trail to reach Balanced Rock and a beautiful overlook. The hike follows along the east rim of the Lake at times ducking into the forest, and is a moderately difficult 1.7 mile loop.

Most of the trail is paved, and handicapped accessible. It was nice to see families, oldsters like us, and young couples in love holding hands and walking along the trail. There is a more challenging and difficult unpaved 3.8 mile trail that dips down from the East Bluff Trail to the water’s edge and rambles along eventually demanding a substantial uphill test in order to find Balanced Rock, but that adventure was not part of our dance card.

Once at Balanced Rock Brian sent a text to his friend Neil to see if he might be able to guess where we were. The two of them have played this “where in the world” game for quite awhile now. Brian knew that Neil had grown up near Milwaukee, but figured he had been long enough away that this would be a stumper. Not a minute passed before Neil nailed it!

Can’t count the number of great views on the way back…

We had the great fortune to find and visit some incredible activities and sights during our brief stay in Baraboo. If we hadn’t been into our plan and heading up north into Minnesota we might have just rambled around in Wisconsin for a couple of weeks or longer. Brian had spent time previously in Milwaukee, Madison and Oconomowoc but not as a tourist…and this was Barbara’s first trip into America’s Dairyland.

Barbara and Brian