Big Lake, Minnesota.
This weekend, we are in Big Lake, Minnesota for our annual Steiner Family Reunion. We arrived in town on Thursday and set about enjoying our visit. In the morning, winds were high and the large awnings placed so carefully ended up being blown around by high winds. Later that day, the skies threatened, but as it turned out, only a few drops fell from the sky. Continue reading
Rollag, Minnesota.
This week, Jen H asks us to use our cameras to tell a story. Even a single image can convey the essence of a story. Jen writes, “A single image can encompass what would otherwise require a long written narrative – the characters, the setting, even the plot.” She goes on to challenge us to do some visual storytelling. You can read the entire challenge post here. Continue reading
Rochert, Minnesota.
On many occasions, we’ve traveled on Minnesota Highway 34 between Detroit Lakes and Itasca. About 8 miles (13 km) east of Detroit Lakes, a sign points north marking the way to the Tamarack Wildlife Refuge. There have been many times we’d like to head in that direction, but we were always on the way to somewhere else. Continue reading
Itasca State Park, Minnesota.
Regular readers have seen some of my previous posts from the state park that is the “home port” of the mighty Mississippi River. When our friend Fred Mast was passing through Fargo on his way to points east, he stopped by for a few days and I shared some of our local sights. Our longest trip from Fargo was a two-hour drive to the Itasca State Park, Minnesota’s oldest state park. In the opening photo, Fred straddles a couple of rocks, behind him, Lake Itasca; flowing around and beneath him, the Old Man River, the Big Muddy begins its 2550 mile (4103 km) trek southward to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. Continue reading
Moorhead, Minnesota.
Last week we visited the Hjemkomst Center’s centerpiece, the replica Viking ship Hjemkomst. It had been over a decade since Lynn and I last visited the center that honors the dream of Robert Asp. I was surprised to discover that the center has made a home for another labor of love in wood. At the rear of the center’s property, Guy Paulson built a full-size replica of a Stave Church. This replica is modeled from a church near the municipality of Vik, Norway. The Hopperstad Stave Church, built sometime around 1130 AD, is now a museum church just outside Vikøyri village and still sits on the site of its construction almost a millennium ago. Continue reading
Moorhead, Minnesota.
This week, Michelle Weber asks us to “share a peek of something – a photo that reveals just enough of your subject to to get us interested.” You can read her entire challenge post here. This wood carving of a monk is one of many carvings that are located in an edifice that will be featured in next week’s Travel Tuesday post here at Journeys with Johnbo. Continue reading
Moorhead, Minnesota.
Travelers who visit downtown Fargo, North Dakota or her sister city across the Red River at Moorhead, Minnesota will likely notice what looks to be an oversize white plastic sheet draped across two poles not unlike a blanket tent I might have made in my childhood. If you drive toward the structure, you will end up in a parking lot in front of the building shown in the image above. This is the Hjemkomst Center built to honor a man with a dream and a vision. Below that large white canopy, the centerpiece on display features the accomplishment of that vision. Continue reading
