Beach Bash Mississippi River – July 2017 – Day 4

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Day 4

Beach Bash Mississippi River. Rain today. Decided to go “down” the Mississippi (down river that is). Actually went north for a while before turning east. Got wet (rain and spray), some swimming in the river. “A good time was had by all!”  

Mississippi flows out of Lake Bemidji
Just entering the channel where the Mississippi flows out of Lake Bemidji

Explanation:

The source of the Mississippi is Lake Itasca. On it’s way through Minnesota, it flows thru many lakes. After Lake Itasca, it goes into Lake Irving and then into Lake Bemidji. 

The Mississippi River itself
Into the river itself

Couple bridges for traffic over the river. 

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Mississippi River
Mississippi River

Ok, Ok, no more pictures of just the river today!

Passing on Mississippi.
Part of our group letting us pass

In this entire area, the river is almost always bounded by trees right to the water line. Since it’s near the source, there isn’t much flooding here like there can be downriver. So it’s another Beach Bash Mississippi River

Stump Lake and part of our group
Stump Lake and part of our group

Stump Lake is another one on the Mississippi. Over half the people on all three boats went swimming for a while. One boat went on to a dam couple miles down river and the other two headed back. Ran into heavy rain for a while. Today’s temperature only got to 74 and went down during the rain so wet and cold coming back. But it’s a vacation! Who cares if we are wet?

Good sign - Northern most point.
The sign says it. It’s inside a door frame so the left and right edges were cut off.

River geography

We are about 30 miles “down river” from the source. When i post pictures of the source in a few weeks, you’ll see how much the river has already grown from drainage from the lakes. From here the river goes almost straight east for 30 miles or so, then starts heading south. Since it’s still a “new” river up here there are a lot of twists and turns. The river forms a “question mark” in Minnesota. (Is it saying “Why am I here?”)

Map of Mississippi in MN
Somewhat blurred map of the river

Sorry about the blurring, couldn’t get a better image. (I can’t explain the nearly straight line between Bemidji and Brainerd either.)  (By the way, did you know that some of the movie “Fargo” was set in Brainerd? For those who saw the movie, that is where Marge was the sheriff. Very little was set in Fargo but I guess the Coen Brothers thought “Fargo” was a better title than “Brainerd”!)

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Summary – Beach Bash Mississippi River

Number of family members left today but still a good crowd remaining. Rain and wind but not nearly as windy as yesterday. Overall, some of us still here at dinner toasted to “another successful Beach Bash”. If I’m counting right, this is number 18, and it’s the third year at this location. Reservations made for next year! Another Beach Bash Mississippi River. Tomorrow will feel like Bob Dylan’s Desolation Row:  “And the only sound that’s left after the ambulances go Is Cinderella sweeping up on Desolation Row.” (Not everyone thinks like I do so some of you will say “Huh?”

Until Christmas for much of the extended family and until the next post for readers!

The Driveby Tourist

https://www.the-driveby-tourist.com/category/road-trips/greatriverroad/

(Follow link and scroll down for information on Amazon Prime Day coming on July 16th)

https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/scenic-drive-in-minnesota-great-river-road-ga2.htm

And here is a link to another blog post that might be of interest.