What can you say about Lake Superior that hasn't already been said or doesn't sound trite? The North Shore of Lake Superior (SR 61) is one of the premier motorcycle roads in Minnesota. We will be on this road for the next day until we get into Thunder Bay in Canada. Yeah, we're going to try Canada again and hope for better results getting back into the US than last time. Keep your fingers crossed or this may be the start of an unplanned immigration to Canada for us.

We took our time getting out this morning and left the city of Duluth behind at around 10:00 o'clock. As we pick up the scenic route along the North Shore, we start to see a combination of nice older homes and very expensive newer homes, dotting the shore side.

Several years ago, Linda and I visited about 30 lighthouses along the Western coast of the United States. Because of this, if we get a chance to see a lighthouse, we usually take it. As we headed northeast along SR 61, we saw a road sign for the Two Harbors Lighthouse. The bike just turned into the place, I had no control of it.

We pulled off the main highway, wound down some local streets to a nice park like setting where we dismounted from the Goldwing. Just about that time, a gentleman on a BMW, I'm not sure which model, drove up and asked us about our trip. His name was Wally Jorgensen; he lived in the area and was just out for a ride. He knew quiet a bit about the history of the ore docks and surrounding area and was kind enough to share his knowledge. We had a nice conversation and he wished us well. What was it that Will Rodgers said? " I never met a man I didn't like." Will must have been a biker.

Two Harbor light has a nice, well maintained building which is now a B & B, should you need a place to stay the night (photo 1). You can still climb several landings to the light tower, but you can't actually get up to the light. Instead of windows, as some lights have, Two Harbors light has "portholes" to let in light. Through these portholes, you can see the breakwater from here and it's warning light (photo 2). I took a picture of the landing (photo 3) and the new mechanical light they are now using, which has long since replaced the Furnel lenses which was originally used (photo 4).

I also got a cool shot of the three historical Ore Docks through one of the portholes and later, a closer shot from across the bay (photos 5 & 6). Minnesota used to be one of the major producers of iron ore. They would ship it down to Two Harbors in rail cars, run the railcars out on the dock, dump the ore from the rail cars down these shoots that loaded these huge ships that used to tie up in the docks. The fastest ship ever loaded was only 161/2 minutes from the time they tied up to the time they had a full load. That's dumping some rock!

On the lighthouse grounds, they also have the wheelhouse of a local ore ship that went aground and was beyond salvage. They cut off the wheelhouse so people could see what the "pilothouse" of an ore carrier looked like. I took pictures of the S.S. Frontenac and Linda took one of me at the helm, looking perplexed (photos 7, 8, & 9). They also have an old fishing boat of 36 feet, built by a local shipwright on the same grounds (photo 10). Are we tourists or what?

As we headed out, I stopped at the local train museum and took pictures of two ends of a spectrum for locomotive design. The first was built and run in the late 1800's, quite small, and the other was one of the largest ever built, in 1943. Since I once worked at the Southern Pacific Railroad when I was going to college, I found the contrast interesting (photos 11 & 12)

The North Shore is heavily wooded with Aspen, fir, and other evergreen species. We stopped at Gooseberry Falls to see some of the topographic development of the Lake Superior shore. The next couple of photos illustrate some of the scenery found on the North Shore (photos 13 to 18). I think you will agree it is well worth a visit. And to see it on a motorcycle is to see it best.

As we were getting ready to leave Gooseberry Falls, a Goldwing rider saw my hat and we started chewing the fat about motorcycles. He let me know that he had attended the Honda Wing Ding held in nearby Wisconsin. He bought ten tickets to a raffle and on the last draw; he won an Escapade Elite trailer for his Goldwing. They are even going to paint it the Illusion Red of his GL1800. That's a $3500 prize my friends. It's the same trailer my Harley riding neighbor Dave owns and has loaned me for this trip. Some people have all the luck. Of course, you have to attend these things if you want to win the prizes. Maybe next year.

OK, it's time to get on the road or we're never going to finish this trip. About 30 minutes after thinking this thought, we see Split Rock Lighthouse. The bike just turned into the place, I had no control of it. This is a light on a sheer cliff face. Not only is it a nice design but it's also in a great location. In fact, I've seen pictures of this lighthouse many times before now and it was a real pleasure to be able to finally see it. Hey, you gotta be into lighthouses to understand. Anyway, I took several pictures of the light and it's surrounding building and terrain. I think they will be self explanatory (photos 19 to 24).

All right, now I'm serious about making some time. Oh, oh! The clouds are really getting dark ahead. We pull into an AmericInn Motel in Tofte, MN, and it starts to rain just a little. The motel manager lets us park the bike under the front entryway. Later two Harleys, whose riders know what's coming, join the Honda.

We take a chance and walk over to a local restaurant and have a great Walleye sandwich. The fish was tender, flaky, and very tasty. You may remember my first experience with Walleye in Duluth. It is obvious now that the Perkins cook lacked some culinary skill. Besides that he couldn't cook. I'm glad I tried it again.

Heading back to the motel, some big drops start to fall. We duck into a maintenance yard. The custodian is kind enough to allow us to stay a minute waiting for the rain to stop. We make a run for it and five minutes after getting back to the motel, the heavens open up and the rain is pouring off the motel in buckets. I can't remember the last time I've seen such heavy rainfall. The rain Gods on the North Shore are serious about their rain.

The day is over; we're fed and happy. It's still an adventure and we're still having fun. Tomorrow brings Canada, again.