Off we go down backroads and side streets where the original alignment is different than today and we run into some very pretty views with the light fog that's present over the area. The fog clears and we make it to a McDonalds that we stop at because we need to get tickets to enter Glacier National Park on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We get everyone setup on different devices and computers, logged into my recreation.gov account and start refreshing the ticket page when the time got near. Finally it looked like we could pick up the tickets and the made dash in the van began. For some reason my Chrome tab with the page up just disappears so I attempt to get back and start getting 403 errors. Crap. I hear everyone else attempting to add to the cart but getting error messages that they cannot complete the transaction. I decide, since Chrome died on me, I'll try to use the app on the phone. After having Court and the kids watch the count of tickets go to zero and none of us getting anything we sadly put away our devices and move on.
A lot more driving and passes from the current alignment onto some of the original alignments today. Some of the original alignments you could tell had not been travelled for some time with the plant life encroaching on the road and the decorative sides of the bridges over the small streams crumbling. Still it was nice to have the road to ourselves again for a while and for me at least there's something nice about knowing that you are travelling an older route. There are a couple of places where Abigail and Court insist people go to either get murdered or dispose of bodies but we find no direct evidence of this so I move on.
Nearing the end of the day we stop by the World's Largest Ball of Twine. I forget now what the exact weight of it was but I seem to recall something like 12 tons. This thing is in the middle of no where. No signs point the way and nothing really indicates where you are there as it's just in a carport on the side of the property. We miss it the first time and come back by when Eagle-eye Abby spots it and we pull over. Interestingly enough, there's already a family here from Minnesota looking at the ball. The man who has been working on it is there as well and greets us. He's an interesting gentleman but I suppose you would have to be to pull soemthing like this off. He was born on Groundhog's Day so he keeps repeating that he's the only groundhog you can talk to that will talk back. We sign a little guest book that he had, take some pictures, give him a little donation and move on.
We decide it's time for an oil change, or rather Alice reminds us that it's time to get her oil changed, so we find a Valvoline oil change place in Superior, WI and head there since we are near the hotel but still not quite time for dinner. We pull in, have the kids get their electronics and items that they want to entertain themselves ready, wait for our turn and they have us pull in the car. We expect to be ushered out to a waiting area but instead are left in the van while they do the oil change. It's actually kind of nice compared to how I expected things to go with attempting to get everything we needed or just didn't want to leave in the van while someone else was driving it out and then put it all back in. I would recommend the experience. While here Court finds a place for dinner, Pickwick. Supposedly people come here specficially for the onion rings and Abby and Court LOVE onion rings so it's a match made in heaven. We get a reservation and head out from Valvoline to check in at the hotel.
Time for our reservation rolls around and we head out into Duluth. There is so much road construction and road closures. We cannot seem to find a way to where we want to go but we did find a free public parking garage that looked to be one block or so from the joint so we parked there. Walking to this place from there was definitely the right choice as we were able to walk around the side of the contruction and it was very close although on our way there was an interesting woman shifting through some straw in a planter like she was looking for something. We get in and this place has a very classic look to it I will say. It looks like an eatery you would see mafiaso in in those cheesy mafia movies. Regardless there's a nice view of Lake Superior and the onion rings we get as an app are delicious although a huge portion. We also order the stuffed mushrooms since that's one of Court's favorites. In contradiction to the size of the onion ring order, this is just five smallish mushrooms but are great as well. In the spirit of this road trip and trying new things, I order the walleye. I wasn't overly impressed. It was kind of bland although it was better with the tartar sauce. Oh well, not everything can be a winner.