Team 242: Day One

Day One.  US/Canada border to Silver Bay, Minnesota.  101.58 miles.

Some not so very connected thoughts:

Matty J's alarm was Eagle Eye Cherry's Save Tonight.  We were unable to fight the break of dawn.

While waiting for breakfast, I took a walk through the casino that was connected to (a part of) our hotel.  Unlike the previous night, the casino air was not covered in a haze of cigarette smoke and I was able to make an accurate count of the morning gamblers.  Nine.  Last night there were so many gamblers it was tough to connect to the individuals involved (just a mass of smoking people sitting at machines), but with only nine it was easy to pick up on the overwhelming sadness in the space.

Or maybe I just felt sadness because the music playing in the casino was New Kids On The Block - I'll Be Loving You (Forever).  (I'd still have my NKOTB cassette but I only purchased it so David Saltzman and I could burn it as part of a video we made for a high school English class.  I think that's the first time I smelled burning plastic.)

The group made a left turn after arriving in Canada and despite my lack of French fluency, the red signs they passed clearly meant: wrong way.  I imagined the Mounted Police were getting ready to mount up and make a charge so I turned right and stopped at the check-point.  The Canadian Border Officer was not as friendly as I expected, but he warmed up once he determined my bike was not equipped with weapons or explosives. (TSA take note: I was able to keep the water in my water bottles.)

The No Potatoes In Canada! sign from 10 years ago was not found.

Minnesota's Highway 61 along Lake Superior is beautiful.  Since I've ridden my bicycle on it before, I suppose I could claim Highway 61 Revisted.

The monument from the Grand Portage Monument that Matty J and I could not find yesterday is the entire space and not one specific object.  "Where is the monument?" is a trick question.

Ranger Alex was wearing an outstanding period outfit as he informed us about the Grand Portage Monument and warned us the "It's not a good day for swimming." meant E Coli.  Ranger Alex is also an environmental design major at North Dakota State.  He knows his stuff.  If he's not there when you visit the Monument, you'll miss out.  We missed out on the rhubarb cobbler.

I joked that my butt would fall off on Tuesday.  It fell off today at Mile 57.  I'm still numb with pain.

Somebody applied white out to the Cook County 69 sign making it look like ______________ (mature audiences only).

The news reports claiming this part of the country received a lot of rain last week were not exaggerated.  Today we passed a lot of debris and tomorrow we will pass washed out roads and bridges.

Herring Gulls outnumbered deer in terms of roadkill.

And on the subject of birds, alive birds, I had a lifer today.  Gray Jay.

Gas station hot dogs are now 2 for $2.50.  Let's hope this is just Minnesota and the rest of the country is still selling them at 2 for $2 (242).

Today's Track 11 from shuffling my iPod: The Cure - Pictures Of You.  If only I'd thought of the right words, I wouldn't be breaking apart all my pictures of you.

Today was a great day.