Today I said so long for now to Wisconsin on a 44-mile ride from Oulu, WI to Duluth, MN. The weather started out in the mid-eighties, but then as I approached Duluth/Superior got noticeably cooler–no complaints there. I was a little concerned about Labor Day traffic, but other than a 13-mile stretch on Hwy 13 in Wisconsin (the POW/MIA Memorial Highway) which was a little busier, the route took me along rural roads with very light traffic, or on a bike trail, including a six-mile segment on the Osaugie Trail, which runs through Superior, WI. This photo shows one of the trail entrances.

This view off the trail of the harbor in Superior I thought was interesting because it shows the diverse mix of commercial transportation, storage, and recreational uses for the area. I passed a marina nearby filled with lots of pleasure boats.

Crossing the border from Superior, WI to Duluth, MN required me to take a really long bridge across Saint Louis Bay, which flows into Lake Superior. The bridge, constructed in 1985, extends a total of 11,800 feet, 8,300 feet of it over water. It is called the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge, a/k/a the Bong Bridge, and is named after one of the most-decorated fighter pilots during World War II who was known as America’s “Ace of Aces.” Major Bong has a number of commemorative monuments named in his honor around the world, including an airport, two bridges, a theater, a veteran’s center, a recreation area, and several streets. Thankfully, the bridge includes a dedicated bike/pedestrian lane with a concrete barrier between the adjacent lane for vehicles.

At the start my trip across the bridge, I met Caro (“like the syrup”) and her daughters Hermione and Piper, who are from Duluth. They had just crossed the bridge to Superior on bikes and were resting a bit before heading back to Minnesota, biking about 10 miles as a way to enjoy their last day before starting school. I was quite impressed to see Hermione doing some acrobatics with a large daddy long legs spider, who was dancing in circles around her hand and forearm. I commented on this and learned that she used to be afraid of spiders, but now, along with the rest of her family, has come to enjoy and protect them. Caro told me that they all consider themselves to be “spider rescuers.” I understand that after they returned from their bike trip, these young ladies went diving from a cement structure off the shore of Lake Superior in Canal Park in Duluth. What an intrepid and adventurous family!

Here they are, just before heading across the Bong Bridge. They passed me on the way across, since I had stopped to take some photos. Amazingly, we crossed paths again about two hours later heading in opposite directions across another bridge, the Aerial Lift Bridge which crosses the Duluth Ship Canal. On their way to their swimming/diving excursion, they called out to me from the other side of that bridge and took my photo.

Here are a few of the photos I took of–and from–the Bong Bridge, including one I took of a railroad bridge across the harbor down below. The Bong Bridge offers a beautiful and rather breathtaking trip across the water.

Here is a photo of I took of our hotel, the South Pier Inn, from the Aerial Lift Bridge as I walked my bike across. Though I didn’t know it at the time, Trudi was on the balcony of our room there taking a photo of me as I crossed the bridge. You can actually see her, although just, barely, in this photo.

Here is the photo she took of me as I was crossing the bridge to the hotel.

And here is the photo Caro took of me from the other side of the Lift Bridge. Who could have guessed I would have any photos at all of me on that bridge–and I came away with two of them!

Trudi and I had a delicious dinner down the street from our hotel, at Belisio’s in Canal Park. It has been our tradition to have dinner there following Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth each year, and it seemed like the perfect place for a celebratory dinner tonight.

Following dinner, we were able to capture a few photos of the Aerial Lift Bridge before we were able to walk across, as we witnessed a passing freighter, the Paul R. Tregurtha, passing under the bridge.

This is the bow of the freighter.

And this is the stern.

Sadly, Trudi will be heading home tomorrow (Tuesday). Her teaching at Augsburg and Bethel starts this week and it is a busy time for her. As for me, I will be busy too, biking to my next destination, Floodwood, as I head west across Minnesota.