We woke up to our last morning at Lows Lake, and this little squirrel was tickled to see me go. Every morning, I’ve written the log on the back deck, and every morning this guy has squacked and screamed at me… to the point that this morning I wondered if he was having some kind of squirrel seizure.

So at least he was happy to see us leave the cabin.

We leaded a bit northwest to see the Chippewa National Forest and to Parks Ridge, Minnesota to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River. As we headed to Park Ridge, we crossed into Leech Lake Reservation.

Minnesota is absolutely the Land of 10,000 Lakes, if not more. Every corner we turned was another lake, and they were all beautiful.

Finally we made it to Itasca State Park.

The drive was absolutely gorgeous with some of the largest pine trees I have ever seen!

We stopped to buy our pass and learned that we had to go through the East Entrance Visitors Center, and we are so glad we did, because it was Smokey the Bear Day at Itasca State Park!

After getting an ornament for our travel tree, we headed to the North Entrance to see the brook that becomes the mighty Mississippi. Before we headed out, we decided to make sandwiches for a picnic. And thankfully, Mom’s Cafe has a Parks Ridge, Minnesota location!

A little history on the creation of the Mississipp River… the Mississippi River is created from the Red River of the North, the St Croix River and Lake Itasca. These waters all join up south of St. Paul, Minnesota, and become the Mississippi River. And you know its true, because – there’s a plaque about it!

We walked along the trail and the boys and I can now say “I crossed the Mississippi on foot”

But watch out for the Itasca River Bridge troll!

After a quick walk, we made to the spot where “here above 1475 feet above the ocean, the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.” The sight was absolutely beautiful. So beautiful that some of pictures looked fake.

After playing in the water for a while, we enjoyed our picnics lunch along the banks of the Mississippi and then headed back headed toward North Dakota. Along the way, we decided to stop for milkshakes at the Dairy Land in Bagley, Minnesota, and then decided to take a 15 minute detour for a smaller but older version of our town

And then we crossed into state number 30 – Hello North Dakota!

North Dakota is gorgeous and so flat that it seems like you can almost see the curve of the sky

We loved this, farmers grow hay up to the state Right-of-Way. This serves multiple purposes: People don’t litter because its a farmers’ land; the farmer mow and collect the hay; and the state doesn’t have to pay someone to mow. So there are hay bales littered along the side of the road, waiting to be collected. Such a great use of resources.

We made it to our next VRBO location in Devils Lake, ND. It is really cute and is the upstairs of a family’s shop. The Varilek family is extremely nice and welcoming. We have met some of the nicest people through VRBO.

After dropping off our luggage, we headed out for dinner at The Ranch Steakhouse. We found this gem on a great travel website called “Only In Your State.” The Ranch has been operating since 1946, and as you can see, the outside hasn’t changed all that much in that time. The steaks and salmon were fantastic and the tater tot appetizer was delicious!

After dinner, we ran over to the nearby WalMart to replenish out lunch and snack supplies. We didn’t get anything for dinner tomorrow night, in hopes that we will have fresh fish for dinner. We have an early wake up tomorrow for a 7am put in on Devils Lake for a whole day of fishing for bass, trout and walleye. 🎣