8/7/2014 Woodenfrog State Forest
Campground, Minnesota
There is a bird
whose call sounds almost like the Mockingjay from Hunger Games. Almost, but not
all the way there. I think I’ve heard some loons too. It’s nice up here on
Kabetogama Lake, by Voyageurs National Park. The night is cool, the day is hot.
There is a breeze rustling different parts of the woods. I sat out on a rock
and watched the sunset, and studied the ripples of the water as they crossed
one another; combining into a supple grid of parallel lines under and on top of
each other.
After two nights
of car sleeping, it was good to stretch out in my tent. And the camping was
onlt $14! With no out of state fees or day camping fee. It’s been many states
since it was that cheap. Michigan almost got there, but the day camping fee
brought it up.
Today I’m going
to take a hike or two in Voyageurs by the lakeside. Most of the park is only
accessibly by boat, but it’s still lovely to look at. Then I’ll see if I feel
like driving to Bemidji or cutting due south and doing some more camping and
then Bemidji tomorrow. There isn’t anything of much interest for me in Bemidji,
except for a few photo ops. But it’s sort of my “once I’m here, I’m going to
North Dakota next” point of reference. North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska. I
have to drive over the majority of one of them and it is going to be North
Dakota, because their National Park is way on the west side of the state. Right
now I am cross referencing the going ons in South Dakota, to see where those
various places are.
And having just
done that, it looks like the monument of American Manifest Destiny that is Corn
Palace is getting the axe. Mt Rushmore, Wall Drug, Badlands NP, and Wind Cave
NP are all in relatively the same area of South Dakota, but Corn Palace is too
far over to detour. So yes, driving over North Dakota, down into South Dakota
for some of those sweet, sweet National Parks, and then Nebraska for… Carhenge.
Then it is Wyoming time! I’ll get to Yellowstone and Grand Teton on the way out
into Montana…but there is also Rocky Mountain NP in Colorado….it’s just a
little bit south. I’ll see how I feel when I get to Nebraska, but I’ve at least
resolved the Dakota Descent.
So, The House on
the Rock was surreal, amazing, eclectic, overwhelming, and beyond any
expectation. The rooms didn’t seem like they ought to be so big, because the
structure itself doesn’t seem that big, but then again I never really got a
good look at the building. Going up into the mountains, it’s all obscured by
hills and trees, and you enter from the top and go down these walkways. There
is never a moment of standing below something huge and approaching it. I paid
to visit all three sections. If I had to pick a section after visiting all
three, I would say the second is the one to put money on. The first one is the
house, which is lovely. It is low ceilinged, with plenty of Tiffany lamps and
retro and antique styling. It’s a little bit of a maze, but that just adds to
the intrigue. It’s dark and warm and not practical, which is why it is so
great. The second section is the automatons and the nautical exhibit and the
street of yesterday. I wish I had more tokens for the automatons. If you hung
around long enough, someone else was sure to put in tokens to activate it. The
tokens cost money, not much, and it is smart to have it set up that way because
if it was “push a button to activate” then everything would be playing at once
and it would be such a cacophony. As it was, you would hear a player piano one
room over, or a large music box tinkling away in the corner for a minute. I
spent my tokens on a music box, a clown that called me a sour puss, a fortune
reader (which gave me a very on point fortune), the Red Room which played the
sugar plum waltz, I think, another orchestra automaton, and a magician
automaton. I think the Red Room was my favorite, but oh if I could have
listened to The Mikado or The Blue Danube. The Street of Tomorrow had jugs and
drums. Automaton being an automated contraption. Some were little tricks, some
were full orchestras with violins and drums and pianos. They were themed and
stuffed with decorations, and lit to spur the imagination but not for clarity.
Few exhibits and collections were labeled, which added to the mystery of the
object, but it also allowed the collections to not be divided into “eras” or
“make” or just general museum type guidelines. But I’m getting ahead of myself,
that is section 3.
Section 2 had a
nautical room with model ships and objects and pamphlets from various cruises,
and it had a three story sculpture of a made up whale eating a boat, while a
squid attacked the whale. After the nautical room, which has a name that I
can’t recall (which comes after The Street of Yesterday, which is an old
recreated street with facades), was a little food court. I bought some ice
cream. There was a car covered in tile, Burma Shave signs, hot air balloons,
and other things. The gateway to the third section is the carousel. The.
Carousel. 200+ mounts spinning around with chandeliers and lights and peacocks
atop. And not a one of the mounts was a horse. There were centaurs, nymphs, a
bull dog. Mermaids, monsters, dragons. The horses were on the walls, stacked
high and wide. There were angels crowding the rafters, and music played continually.
No one could ride the carousel, but oh to watch it spin! It is a narrow hallway
to get into the room, and you just see spinning and red and lights and my jaw
dropped.
I stood for a
long while, watching it spin. There is apparently now a “The House on the Rock”
style of painting carousel animals. Something about going dark to light, and
not as bright as others.
Dazed I
continued on to the third section. The collection section. Circus figures,
automated toys, a giant orchestra that played up this two story circus …
caboose? I think is the only way I can put it. Doll houses and dolls. Little
doll scenes in bell jars, that struck me as sad. A gun collection. Antique
guns, art object guns that were never meant to be fired, and the highlight: a
prosthetic leg with a built in holster. There was a reproduction of the crown
jewels, and armor, and a diorama of knights with one on an elephant, because
why not? The third section was also home to a winding room of structured
things. Horsemen of the apocalypse, a tree made of cheese drums, organs and
organ music, mannequins on a bridge, winding staircases to nowhere, up and down
and all around and way too dark to really get a hang of any one thing.
A good five
hours I spent in there. I’ll have to go back some day, and drop a tenner on
tokens just to listen to everything. And the instruments had several songs, so
even everything wouldn’t be it all.
Overwhelmed I
returned to my car and set about driving for hours back across Wisconsin and up
into Minnesota. I hung a right at St. Paul (I have no interest in the Mall of
America) and camped at a rest stop on i35. A nice one that clearly allowed
people to sleep. I managed to sleep in even, and got into Duluth at around
noon, where I got a haircut. It was a quick trim and I’ll have to work on my
bangs a bit, but oh I feel so much better having clean hair, and less hair too.
I had about 4 inches removed and it is much lighter. My split ends were getting
scratchy and uncomfortable. Onwards north on 53 to Voyageurs National Park. Got
in at around 3:30, got one of my NP stamps, and went on to Woodenfrog
Campground, unsure if I would camp or continue on. But at $14, I obviously was
going to camp. So I saturated myself with bug spray, set up the tent, went to
the swimming hole and read, then went back to my campsite and sat on a rock by
the lake and watched the sunset. I retired to my tent, intending to read
further, but I instead just went to sleep. Rest while I can in case I end up in
my car for a few more nights.
There are no
showers here, but with my hair clean I feel much better as a whole. And I’m not
sweating like I was a few states ago. I’m leaving humidity behind, and the
nights are cool. The space around me is changing. Nature and location. The
oceans are far away from me now. Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake
Michigan, Lake Superior. I’ve seen them, touched a few of them, and now there
will be smaller lakes and then no lakes and then those blessed mountains.
8:45 pm a rest stop on I94 in North
Dakota
Well, I decided
not to camp another night in Minnesota. I got really bug bitten for one when I
went hiking, even though I put on bug spray, and for two the first camp site I
got to was way expensive and it didn’t have showers so I was like “feh!” and
decided to start the journey across North Dakota. Knock out a bit of it
tonight, so that tomorrow I won’t have far to go to the National Park, and then
I can camp for a bit!
I did a little
hike at Kabetogama, but like I said I got bug bitten so it was cut short. I
drove up to International Falls, swung by Menard’s (pronounced apparently
muhNARDS and not MAYnards as my mind kept pronouncing) and got more bug spray
(mine is almost out) and oil for the car. It’s due for a change soon, but
figured I’d put more in and then I can get it changed a little bit later. Not
much later!
I drove to
Bemidji and it was a very repetitive drive. The trees were nice but they were
not all close in. I guess with winter, you don’t want trees close to roads. So
while scenic, it wasn’t spectacular. I got the campsite tip at the visitors
center and scenic drove some more, and then after I decided I didn’t feel like
camping, I went west on 200 and then down into Fargo, and finally got onto 94.
I’m going to get
a small peppy bevvie and set Bismark as the goal, and then camp at a rest stop…unless
they don’t allow over nighters then I’ll find a Walmart in Bismark. This rest
stop doesn’t allow them, so I’ll drive through the next few and see if they
keep with that custom.
Catch you on the
flipside! Flipside being Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
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