Highway 61 Revisited

We’ve been traveling down Minnesota’s North Shore and enjoying the sight of Lake Superior rolling by. The air quality has been pretty bad due to ongoing Canadian wildfires, but we had rain this morning so we hope that clears things up a bit.

The road we’re on is Minnesota State Highway 61. It’s not the same road that Bob Dylan sang about, although young Robert Zimmerman grew up not far from here in Hibbing. Dylan’s song is about U.S. 61 which follows the Mississippi River all the way from Minnesota to New Orleans, Louisiana. It cuts through the region where the Delta Blues was born and thus has legendary status.

How do I know we’re not on the same road? I have yet to see forty red, white, and blue shoestrings. Nor have I found a thousand telephones that don’t ring.

Born In The U.S.A.

I’m glad to be back in my home country. Canadians are nice, but Minnesotans by reputation have their own brand of nice.

Bilingual

Where I'm from, you'll sometimes find signage in English and Spanish, but it's not everywhere and it can feel like an afterthought. Canada is a truly bilingual nation and signs of it are everywhere. As you can see, making sure everyone understands can save lives.

Sometimes, you will even see indigenous languages, too.

D'où je viens, on trouve parfois des panneaux en anglais et en espagnol, mais ce n'est pas partout et on peut avoir l'impression que c'est une idée secondaire. Le Canada est un pays véritablement bilingue, et on le voit partout. Comme vous pouvez le constater, s'assurer que tout le monde comprend peut sauver des vies.

Parfois, on y trouve même des langues autochtones.

Inland Sea

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. Let me tell you, it is big! It literally takes many hours to drive from one end to the other. It even has many shipwrecks. We read about a guy who had to watch his gold-plated yacht sink to the bottom before his very eyes. (I’m guessing he could afford a new one.)

We stayed at a provincial park right on the water with a wonderful beach. I dipped my toes in cool, clear water.

Contraband

We had a little hiccup while crossing from the United States into Canada. We were asked if we had any cannabis products. (This is the fourth time I’ve been to Canada with Dad and it was the first time we’ve been asked this question at the border.) Dad declared that we had some CBD gummies for me (yes, they are legal). Well, we ended up having to give up my stash and deal with a lot of paperwork, and even a cursory search of Dad’s car by the authorities. The people there were nice about it, but it was a bit surprising.

The customs officer described the process as “surrendering the items to the Crown.” I couldn’t help but picture King Charles III relieving himself of the stress of being a monarch by munching on my gummies.

And The Tide Rushes In

We camped for two nights in New Brunswick’s Fundy National Park. It’s a really beautiful place. The Bay of Fundy is world famous for its extreme tides. In the photo, if you look over my right shoulder, you can see the beach at low tide. Very cool.

Canadians love to go camping, so I’m glad we had a reservation. Apparently this park has a total of 600 campsites. They were all full.

Octopus’s Garden

As far as I know, this restaurant in Alma, New Brunswick is the first one I’ve ever seen named after a Beatles song. We stopped by for coffee and goodies.

Dad has a theory that everyone has a Beatle personality. He says I’m a Ringo. Maybe that’s why I like the song.