3 Aug
So where is Gilbert MN and WHY Gilbert MN? 😁 First, where is Gilbert MN? It is located north and a bit west of Duluth MN and it is about half way between Duluth and International Falls MN.
More importantly, it is located relatively close to Hibbing MN, which was built on mining the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range and still relies on that industrial activity today. At the edge of town is the world's largest open-pit iron mine, the Hull–Rust–Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine. During one of my childhood 1960's summer vacations to Minnesota, my family visited Hibbing and we saw the massive iron mine.
Since we would be coming right past here on our travels out west, why not stop and show the Hull–Rust–Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine to Doreen?! PLUS, no where else can you visit the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. This area is also the home of the Greyhound Bus Museum! (RIP Jimmy Murrell) How about The Minnesota Discovery Center! Then there is the Minnesota Museum of Mining! What about Bob Dylan's House?! Our stay simply would not be complete without a stop at the Hibbing Historical Society Museum! Not to mention the recreational areas and hundreds of miles of hiking trails. We are only staying here four nights, but I may have to rearrange the schedule to fit all that in!
In all seriousness, Gilbert / Hibbing MN is not that much different than Anywhere, USA. There are so many things to see and do everywhere in our great Country! Doreen and I are so glad we are able to travel around and see it and bring you along should you choose to read our blog..
North of Duluth we stopped at a Walmart and Doreen restocked groceries while Liberty and I hung around the RV. We also ate lunch at the RV before heading on north. This killed some time since it was a short travel day and our check-in time was not supposed to be until 1500 hrs. Even at that, we arrived at the West Forty RV Park at 1351 hrs traveling 146 miles.
As mentioned, we have a lot to see here. We will likely head out to the hockey museum and the Greyhound Bus Museum tomorrow. Then we will see how it goes.
So back to the trip, We had a nice drive up from the Apostle Islands area. The roads in WI were two lane but turned into four lane in Duluth and continued to our destination.
From Roadside America, near Brule WI: Uncredited roadside art, Bunyan-size. The arrow impales the earth between the ax of the rugged pioneers and the beer-can-chair of their fishing descendants
There is some road construction going on in Duluth which required a bit of a detour, but soon we were back on the highway headed north.
We visited Duluth in 2017 including the aerial lift bridge and both pier lighthouses
North of Duluth we stopped at a Walmart and Doreen restocked groceries while Liberty and I hung around the RV. We also ate lunch at the RV before heading on north. This killed some time since it was a short travel day and our check-in time was not supposed to be until 1500 hrs. Even at that, we arrived at the West Forty RV Park at 1351 hrs traveling 146 miles.
This campground is relatively small and caters to the ATV/UTV crowd. Sites are fairly long to accommodate the extra vehicles. The sites are terraced since the campground is built on a slope. Our "welcome packet" that was supposed to be at the entrance was no where to be found, but we knew our site# in advance so we set-up and then checked in with the camp host who was very nice.
So I mentioned that we "bugged out" this morning. Well, upon arrival at the West Forth Campground, after getting set up we discovered this hitchhiker!
A Crane Fly, according to what we can determine. Benign little guy, no bite and no sting bur sure got our attention!!
As mentioned, we have a lot to see here. We will likely head out to the hockey museum and the Greyhound Bus Museum tomorrow. Then we will see how it goes.
Thanks for tagging along!
Trip Stats:
This is campground #22 of 37
# States Traveled Through So Far This Trip: 14 (IA, IL, IN, MI, OH, KY, TN, AR, OK, KS, MO, IA, WI, MN)
# States left to visit on this trip: 6 (ND, MT, ID, WY, NE, IA)
Baseball Parks Visited So Far This Trip: 3 (Tulsa Drillers MiLB, Oklahoma City Dodgers MiLB, Kansas City Royals MLB)
Lighthouses visited: 2 (Hefner Lake in OK City and Raspberry Island WI)
Lighthouses climbed: 0
Point to point travel miles: 3711 miles
- Avg point to point travel miles between campgrounds: 161 miles
Vicinity miles: 2165 miles
- Avg vicinity miles: 103 miles
Total miles driven: 5876 miles
Total point to point driving time: 81 hrs 42 minutes
Total diesel fuel purchased: 496.953 gals
Total diesel fuel cost: $2610.01
Average diesel fuel cost/gal: $5.255
Max diesel fuel cost: $5.489 (Tipton IN)
Min diesel fuel cost: $4.869 (Ankeny IA)
Avg MPG: 11.50 miles/gal
# Nights at end of this stay: 122 (Includes Griffs)
Lodging cost: $4354.06 (includes Griffs)
- Avg lodging cost/night: $35.69/night
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