Another travel day today but with three planned stops: 1. The headwater of the Mississippi river (the start of it), 2. another Paul Bunyan statue and 3. a building that looks like a fish. I know you're jealous, it's ok, I'll share pictures. On our way to the headwater park, we have lots of little old side roads of Route 2 which are terrifying and exhiliarating. Will the road turn to gravel? Will the road just end? Will we see a bear? Will we be shot by those people in the house that says "We don't call 911 here"? (I had to ask Adam what that meant. He said it means they shoot first and ask questions later. I speed up). Still we all love the side roads and the simple beauty associated with them. We pick out the houses that look loved and "oooh" and "ahhh" at the old town center with a beat up post office and a hardware store.
First stop of the day is the fish building. Not too much to say here except that it is a building..that looked like a fish. The kids have a great time pretending to be eaten and we are back on the road.
We get to the headwater park which is pretty busy, do a little souvenir shopping and then head into the park. It's a really short walk down an easy trail. There are stairs leading into the water at one bridge. I am guessing when the water is low you can walk in the riverbed? Or maybe there used to be a bridge at the bottom of the stairs? Or it's a part of a maze we have to solve? Anyways, when we get to the true headwater, it is really gorgeous. Looking at the water, it is a bit swampy with green plants growing in it. There are tons of adorable and sweet beings playing in the water, and their human owners were wading in the water too. We loved that it was a dog friendly place as we are missing our boy, Gus. There is a cool log crossing a small part of the river where you can walk over it and balance. Me and the kids took advantage of this. You can checkout Abby and my pictures to see us totally rock that log balance beam. The headwater is so small and peaceful and still. It's so strange knowing the enormous river it becomes. I could go into how this is symbolic of life, but it's not that kind of blog.
But maybe it is that kind of blog because our next event was life-changing in many ways. I've always felt that porta potties are to be avoided at all costs. There have been a few times when I could not hold it any longer and I resolve to use the porta potty. Upon entering is that all familiar smell and like magic, I do not have to go anymore. It never fails me. The potential for disease transfer, the feel of air blowing upwards and the risk of the porta potty falling over or being pushed while you're in it and finally the risk of being locked inside (thanks Orange is the New Black) have all forced me to avoid porta potties at all costs. Today, I found a new reason to stay away. We are at a stop light behind a truck who is hauling porta potties. We are on a side road waiting to turn left onto a main road. On the main road coming from our right is a tractor trailer who is turning left onto the side street we are on. He begins his turn and it is more than obvious that he cannot make the turn. Before I even have a chance to react, the porta potties are suddenly backing up towards me. I slam the car in reverse and look behind me before I start flying backwards and there is a car pulling up behind me. I become paralyzed as I watch the deadly toilets racing backwards towards me. I imagine how we'll be covered in urine and feces (yes, logically I know this doesn't make sense) and finally get the strength to slam on the horn. Thankfully the porta potties stop flying towards me and I look behind me again and the car who had come up on me had moved backwards to give me room. I reverse as fast as I can and porta potty truck shifts to the right to allow semi-truck guy by. I am about 20 feet away from porta potty truck now and the driver gets out and walks towards us and gives us a "thumbs up" sign. NO BUDDY. YOU NEED TO CHECK WHERE YOU'RE GOING ESPECIALLY WHILE HAULING DEATH ON BOARD AND DRIVING BACKWARDS. So naturally I respond with a thumbs up and a smile back. Like I said folks...stay away from porta potties. Oh and tractor trailer guy - I see this as ENTIRELY your fault. If you knew how to drive your truck, you would have known you couldn't fit on that turn and you should have let us turn left out of the road first. Get it together.
On the way out of the park we see a gorgeous and HUGE dandelion ready to be blown into the air to replant. We all try grab some pictures of it and then a young boy comes by (about 5 years old). He heads towards the flower to step on it or blow it out in the air. I plead gently with him and say something about how the flower has gotten SO BIG but how much bigger does he think it could grow if we leave it? He is curious about this and leaves it alone. This is when my 'idiot light' must have been activated. My idiot light is an affliction and a gift. It is some sort of setting I have where everyone feels comfortable talking to me about anything in any setting. Strangers will approach me without regard for personal space or even a care for who I am. This has been something I have had my entire life and my mother lovingly called it my 'idiot light' and it stuck. Now that it has been activated, the young man and I speak for quite awhile about his souvenirs and the types of rocks he found and how I should go get some and etc. I try to turn the light off so we can get moving again and the young man's dad rips him away.
For lunch we stopped at a cool hot dog joint Adam scoped out. See his blog for a link! All you need to know is that my hotdog had potato salad and baked beans on it and it was heaven. We ate outside and it was warm but with a cool breeze. I also did an awful job parallel parking but that's part of the adventure! We drove back to the hotel to remedy the fight from the prior night and take a dip in the pool. The pool was FILLED with lots of families enjoying their vacations - it was awful. Children everywhere likely peeing in the pool, boogers floating, drunk adults throwing koosh balls at eachother. What a joy. I lasted as long as I could before I headed into the hot tub. My departure from the pool was preceded by Abby dunking underwater and coming back up with boogers in her hair. Adam assured me they were Gideon's from them horseplaying and Abby assured me they were hers. Both options were still deplorable so onto the hot tub I go. We talked Gideon into trying it too! He had saw a sign somewhere 47 hotels ago that the hot tub was for 12 and over. Because he is a rule follower, he said he could not get in. We were able to convince him that his skin won't melt off (he thought that once you turn 12 your skin magically can withstand heat) and he told us his man parts were sensitive but it was "ok". The kids want to play longer, and I want to not ever see any of these people again so I wait for the last 30 minutes while the kids play.
Summary: Can't go wrong with hot dogs. Idiot light is shining bright. Hot tubs can't touch Gideon. Ended the day at the Country Inn and Suites, Grand Forks, ND.