Lake of the Woods

   I had a quick service appointment this morning. I'd like to thank Keith Bell of St James Audi in Winnipeg. I was in and out in under 2 hours and my car was returned washed and clean. I'm thinking it might have taken longer to wash all the bugs off than to change my oil.

   I left town to the southeast and crossed the border back into the US at the very small town of Warroad, Minn. The main street is "Mom's Way" and the name stays for 40 miles beyond town.

   As I got close to the border I was the only car around; I met the border guards with no waiting. When I was explaining how a guy from Pa was crossing the border from Canada at this remote spot in the Minnesota woods I saw the guys look at one another funny. They were very courteous and professional and after a few more questions and a quick look in my trunk they waved me through.

   I stopped afterward at a park overlooking The Lake of the Woods. It's the  little notch of North Minnesota that juts above the 49th parallel, the border with Canada. Its almost all water and I've always wondered why it was important enough to change the border line. It had to do with not having any good maps of the area when the Treaty of Paris was  signed in 1783, setting the border. It took a number of surveys over the years before both countries finally agreed in 1925. The picture of the lake (below) doesn't look like much to argue over

   I passed through International Falls which seemed to be the coldest spot on earth when I was a kid.

   I made it to Duluth for the night, 500 miles for the day. Tomorrow I start to drive Lake Superior's north shore .