Eveleth, Minnesota

The ride to Eveleth was uneventful and beautiful. The roads were quiet, even deserted for most of the way, and the air is perfectly cool. We stopped at one of the most gorgeous rest areas I've ever seen that had a glimmering lake behind it, and an expanse of trees spanning beyond. A lady there had the most adorable baby Beagle, which made up for all the roadkill we saw, especially the dead wolf on the road. *Sadness* Hopefully we'll get a chance to see a live wolf (and maybe bears, moose and giant pelicans!) once we get to the Grey Wolf Lodge, but for sure we will see live wolves at the International Wolf Center! Whoohoo!

We came upon the Wellstone Memorial Crash Site rather abruptly, and I made a *bit* of a careening turn onto the road. It was a beautiful site, a lovely, wild and living tribute to those who died that day with loads of huge trees, and the most unusual red and white mushrooms everywhere (and no, we didn't sample them to see if they were magic mushrooms!) Lots of people had left little memorial trinkets on each of the stone markers. I didn't want to leave anything environmentally unsafe, so I found a little sprig of pine that I left on Paul & Sheila Wellstone's marker. I wasn't expecting to become emotional, but every time we visit a memorial, the appropriate sadness and empathy finds its way to the surface. We loved Wellstone. He was just a very genuine person who didn't bullshit about his stance on things. While I may not have agreed with everything he did or said, he epitomized what I think a politician should be. Sometimes you need to stand hard on things that aren't popular, and it takes a commitment to change and compromise with people to make things work with so many opinions and complicating political, economic and social factors. I admired and respected him for his tenacity and spirit. He was always that strong oak tree that you could always depend on to keep you dry. He is still greatly missed in this democratic household.

We sat on the stones and shared a picnic together as the wind whistled in the trees. It was an eerily beautiful sound, fitting for the mood of the place. We left and made our way to Eveleth and checked into the Super 8 to loaf a bit with some coffee and Twins watching before heading off to the US Hockey Hall of Fame, which is across the street. The building is a bit neglected, but the inside is packed with fun hockey memorabilia, pictures, videos and even places to practice your slapshot!! There's tons of stuff about Herb Brooks and the 1980 Olympic team, they have a video running constantly with the highlights of that game that we checked out. I think I may actually remember watching that game with Mum!! We had fun practicing our slapshots in the real net and stick area they had set up, and one net was set up with a radar gun! My shots went in twice at a whopping 17 mph (one simply rolled into the net on it's side), but John clocked at 30 mph!! We didn't realize that the documentary they had was an hour long, so we ended up missing out on it, but the nice little ladies at the register gave us a slip to get in for free if we wanted to stop back and see it on Saturday as we leave town. Minnesota Nice in action :)

We stopped for dinner at a little drive-in (the K & B Drive-In) that had the most incredible pulled pork and brisket sandwiches, then drove back to the hotel with the dark rain clouds behind us. Our first night down, and we are ready to check out the wildlife at the Wolf & Bear Centers in Ely!! YAY!!!
More to come, love to all :)
R&J