STORIES FROM A RECENT 3-month USA TRIP (shipped bike over from Australia)
After leaving Siprit Lake it was a welcome stopover in a great Town called Mankato. How cool and arty is this place. We hung out with the locals and really felt at home here. Mankato , Minnesota is soybean crushing capital of the world. Minnesota Stone is native to the area and used around the world.
Then it was onto Stillwater, where we caught the first day of the Indian Bike week Rally.. a quick catch up in this lovely town meeting again amazing people. The lumber industry made Stillwater famous. One of the largest lumber markets in the world with Stillwater Lumber Company as one of the largest lumber mills in the country.
We spent a couple of well needed nights here and caught up with The Indian Bike week folk at Wolf Creek for a lunch on our way out and onto the next destination. A lovely green lush ride after many days with the heat. This day we copped a slight bit of rain. But it was welcome. Our body temps were still high from the previous days heat wave conditions. Indian Bike week is a 10 day event and while we couldn’t make the times work, we still managed to catch a few on the first day.
Ending up in a sleepy little town called Ironwood. Ironwood, Michigan is home to the Upper Peninsula’s finest recreation and adventure. Recently named as one of the “9 Best Cross-country Ski Destinations” in the World”. We christened this place Ironweed, due to the fact that all we could smell was pot and just about everything was closed when we were there.
What a surprise to see the largest ever statue of Hiawatha in this town. Hiawatha, World's Largest Native American statue. We didn’t know this so a terrific surprise to see.
Hiawatha, (Ojibwa: “He Makes Rivers”), a legendary chief (c. 1450) of the Onondaga tribe of North American Indians, to whom Indian tradition attributes the formation of what became known as the Iroquois Confederacy. In his miraculous character, Hiawatha was the incarnation of human progress and civilization.
After here we start riding the edge of Lake Superior as we make our way back into Canada.
Until next time…. Thanks for joining me.
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