I saw Duluth yesterday. I forgot how much I love being there and driving along the Scenic Route and just taking in the view of the lake. It is so magnificent, it makes you feel small and humble and awestruck. Brady, my son, was with his dad and I was feeling adventurous.
Once I got on the highway a pretty little battery light came flashing onto my dashboard but I determined I was going to avoid it and just see.......I dropped Gizmo, our dog, at the Duluth Boarding Kennels to play for the day and continued up to the Split rock Lighthouse as the cute little red light kept flashing.
The Lighthouse wasn't at all as I remembered it. I guess I was picturing something in my head from a romantic movie or maybe from a Scooby Do cartoon. It was impressive, just not what I remembered. On the way out, cars were lining up to enter, good thing I beat the crowd.
I turned back south because I had a 12:30 tour at Glensheen to make so I regretfully thought - bummer - can't do Gooseberry Falls this time.
With the red light still flashing I got closer and closer to Gooseberry Falls when the voltage indicator started dropping. Yeah, it was making me nervous, so I make a lickety split decision and I pulled off the highway into Gooseberry and right there in the parking lot, in a primo STAFF parking spot, all the gauges went to zero and my truck died, ha.
On the bright side, I got to see Gooseberry Falls while waiting for the tow.
It took 3 hours for the tow, the ride to Two Harbors, and the new alternator and new battery to be installed. Sigh. It was my vacation money that I had pinched together over the spring and summer. Sigh,sniff, boo hoo hoo. I"ll probably cry real tears later today. But I was just so thankful to be safe, have my car fixed, and able to enjoy the rest of the day that I put all that behind me.
Glensheen was gracious enough to bump me to the 4pm tour so that was a cool thing.What a gorgeous house. I do wish they would have talked about the Murders. They sold the book right in the Gift Shop but no mention of it on the tour. The house was so grand, it must have seemed very opulent in its day.
Oh, one side note:
There was a storm brewing in Sturgeon Lake so I saw it in my rear view mirror all the way home. I stopped in Hinckley for gas and a burger (no Tobey caramel rolls this time). I was in the drive through at Hardees and this car ahead of me was taking forever!! It was like she was telling them the story of her life. How hard is it to order a few burgers? So I'm nervous about the storm and seeing some raindrops on my window and without thinking about it......I honked at them. They turned around seething at me and I rolled my hand at them, as if to indicate ---hurry along. Somehow their order was still on the screen when I got up there and I saw the couple had ordered $20 worth of burgers. That should have prepared me for what came next......
The passenger in the car steps out of the car and he's MAMMOTH. Like a WWF wrestler with bulging muscles and angry face and arms like cement walls. He comes up to my drivers window and says, "You F****ing bitch, you honked at us in the drive through? What's up with you, you bitch!" And I'm all cocky and tired and go, well you seemed to be taking soooo long up there and I'm trying to beat the storm. And he called me a bitch again and my big retort was, "WELL JEEPERS CREEPERS, GO ON WITH YA." Ha ha ha. I wasn't even thinking that my life was at stake over a few burgers, ha ha.
Overall a triumphant day of big girl panty duties - with no tears.
I'm going to rest today with a few Advil for my tourist feet and driver's backache.
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