Folklore Galore

Friday, August 12th - - It was raining when I woke up this morning as it had most of the night. Later in the day it seemed to be clearing and I decided to drive into Bemidji, about 30 miles north of Lake Itasca. About halfway there the sun would occasionally came out between the layers of clouds.

Bemidji, Minnesota is the first city on the Mississippi. They have a sign posted in the center of town that says so!

However, their real claim to fame though is that they are the home of one of several statues of Paul Bunyan and his famous blue ox, Babe! Here, they reside in a lakefront park on the shores of Lake Bemidji.

The rather crude “folk art” figures were built in 1937 and funded through donations made by local residents. It was rather fun watching the people interact with Paul and Babe!

Later that afternoon, driving south back toward Lake Itasca, the sun disappeared. By the time I got to the campground, it was raining again. And it rained for most of the next day. But that gave me an opportunity to get a bunch of blog posts written and scheduled!