April 5, 1997
On The Road Again!
Our first real trip of the year after being snowed in on the farm for the winter, enduring five months of snow on the ground. We were desperate for new scenery and some outdoor activity. Not wanting to see more cold, white stuff, we stayed away from Duluth, instead heading west and south. Totally overcast, drizzly but warmish, it was a good day to explore new realms.
First stop, Interstate Park on the St. Croix at Taylors Falls, the river now at flood stage from the heavy spring runoff. (We would later discover even worse flooding down river.)
The gorge looked to have twice the water volume as it normally had. No kayakers today! But there were at least two groups of rock climbers evident, practicing on the MN side of the river and a scattering of hikers could be seen on the Wisconsin side. Twenty minutes of walking around the Pothole Trail and we were off to Curtain Falls in the hopes that it would be running today. Several years ago, we had hiked the steep trail thru the heavy wooded hillsides to discover Curtain Falls was all dried up. We later found out from the park ranger that it was intermittent, only showing up in times of heavy runoff. I thought for sure it would be turned on today, but we never found out,
for the trail started out with a tunnel under the busy highway, and that tunnel was half filled with ice. Not wanting to crawl thru, nor wanting to find another way across, we decided to forego our hike. We instead spent a few minutes down by the river
looking at the flooded parking lot and picnic area. Nothing more for us here, so we moved on, deciding to head 30 miles south to Stillwater, MN. This was a trip of exploration, without any particular agenda or destination, so we kept our eyes peeled
for interesting diversions.
The sign read, William O'Brien State Park. We had just bought our $20-1997 MN state park sticker which was good for admittance to all MN state parks for the entire season. Hitting two parks in one day was a good start. We would have our money's worth
in no time, at this rate. William O'Brien has a new visitors center with
nature exhibits and full facilities. the large wall map indicated an extensive trail system, but with the rain increasing in intensity, we were
restricted to a few minutes hiking around the campground area down by the river.
where the first thing I saw was a tree floating by. I have no idea what this area looks like at normal water levels but the river was amazingly wide, here, at this point in time.
On to Stillwater. I had wanted to visit here for some time
after hearing about the interesting stores, train and ferryboat rides, and most recently, the historic liftbridge which is now in imminent danger of being torn down and replaced with an ugly but efficient, modern structure.
As a big fan of the Aerial Liftbridge in Duluth, I developed an instant connection with this bridge, especially when I found it being threatened by the rising flood. The first glimpse of Stillwater and the bridge was from the high bluff north of town where there are several scenic overlooks and waysides. The road took us directly to the foot of the bridge where an officer was directing traffic AWAY from it. It was CLOSED! The flooding river was only inches below. We went around the block, parked and strolled back to the riverfront, ignoring the steady drizzle that only added to the sense of wetness. A steady stream of large trucks dumped sand along the riverfront, building a dike to protect the business district. A lifelong resident of Stillwater, standing besides me, commented that she had never seen the river this high before. It looked to me that, without the emergency dike, at least the first two blocks of the downtown business district nearest the river would be in danger of flooding. Dozens of people braved the ever increasing drizzle, and tho we were damp, the air was fairly warm and
spring was definitely in the air. We got to see the liftbridge work as an official looking, small craft headed upriver, then down again; apparently checking out the situation from the river side. I'm anxious to return again when things are back to normal, so we can cross the bridge, and see how it works under normal conditions. If it gets damaged or swept away, it would be a great loss, for I have already observed how pivotal the bridge is in enhancing the historical atmosphere of the downtown area; and that's an important factor in attracting visitors who will spend money, (as I did in the first and only store we walked into.)
Kmitsch Girls is filled with dolls of all description, stuffed animals and Breyer horse statues, Legos and Playmobiles, artifacts and imports. They describe themselves as "a fun collectibles department store." One import caught my eye. It was amongst a group of other similar yet entirely unique items. I didn't realize it at first, but I was looking at little boxes made to look as if carved out of ivory and in the shape of masses of animals, each box covered with 7-12 individual creatures of a single species, each with distinctive poses and expressions. There were dolphins and meerkats and bears and more. I walked out of Kmitsch Girls with toads. Toads loaded with warts, and one with a heart tattooed on it's arm. I was fascinated how the three upper toads formed the box top, with the seam cleverly hidden within the carving. I wondered if this was going to be a unique purchase or if I had just found something new to collect. I have a feeling these "Harmony Animals, from England" will be another good reason to make a return visit to Stillwater. And to think that we only had time to wander in one store, one among many lining the streets of downtown where you could surely spend an afternoon exploring.
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