In and Around Duluth, MN with the Filmmakers: November 15-16, 2009

In and Around Duluth, MN with the Filmmakers: November 15-16, 2009
November 15, 2009

On Track for Duluth!

My plan to reach Duluth by Sunday 15 November was working: all I had to do was get from Brule to Superior, Wisconsin, which was around 30 miles away. Chris and Sandy woke at 4 am and by 5 am dropped me back at the diner in Brule. It was about 27 degrees Fahrenheit. There was a heavy frost by the roadside, on the grass and wooden supports of guard rails. The sky was clear and the Big Dipper lay in front of me, showing me the way north to Duluth.

The sun came up and the grass was white with frost. The skies were bright blue and it was a beautiful morning. The walk took me past an old blacksmith shop and a few miles later to the workshop of a wood carver. Wooden carvings stood at the roadside on the frosty morning. A seven foot tall grizzly bear and a Native American squaw stood there, brought to life from the carved wood. They were beautiful.

By around 10 am I reached the town of Poplar, population 500. I phoned Kimberly Paul, who had driven up from Lower Cape Fear Hospice in North Carolina to film me walking. We arranged to meet on the road outside of Poplar.

There was a diner in Poplar called Mother’s Kitchen. I ducked inside and ordered.

I had just left Mother’s Kitchen and was talking to a guy who worked at the gas station in Poplar, who had seen me in a newspaper. A silver jeep pulled up and there was Kimberly Paul and her photographer, Megan Deitz. The day was sunny and the temperature warming. We agreed that they would film me as I walked on towards Superior.

Talking to Kimberly and Megan and seeing the smiles on their faces breathed life back into me. I walked on with renewed vigor.

A few miles further on Kimberly and Megan appeared up ahead of me and began filming. A tricky spot came where I ducked into some trees for a surreptitious “call of nature”. Luckily they realized what I was up to and fortunately didn’t start filming. We had a good laugh about that. A man and a young girl stopped to talk to me by the roadside and Kimberly talked to them, too.

An Uncomfortable, Illegal Stroll Down Route 2

All was well until Route 2 became an expressway into Superior. I had about 10 miles to go to reach the city. There was a sign saying ‘No Pedestrians’. At that point I was stuck. Kimberly asked me questions about the walk, interviewing me as I stood by the beginning of the expressway. We agreed that if I needed to be picked up they would come and get me.

Walking on the grassy central reservation I carried on walking, illegally, on Route 2. In the grass were spiky plants. Bits of the spikes went into my shoes and caused me problems. Several times I stopped to take the burrs out of my socks.

As I walked on, a blue car pulled up ahead of me and I was expecting a Police officer to come walking towards me. Instead it was a tall, slim lady with a woolen hat and jogging gear on. The lady introduced herself as Kristine Fitch. She was a social worker with  St. Mary’s Hospicein Duluth and she wanted to walk with me. We agreed that she would meet me where the sidewalks into Superior began.

Through the highly unpleasant spiky grass I carried on for several more miles. Finally the expressway ended and sidewalks appeared. Kristine was there and we talked as I entered Superior. We walked together until we reached her car. Kristine then drove off to check out the bridges over to Duluth.

Not long after Kristine disappeared, Kimberly and Megan reappeared and carried on filming. Kristine came back, but didn’t want to be filmed. We decided that Kristine would take me over to Duluth when I got close to the Bong Bridge and that Kimberly and Megan would meet me at the guest house where I would be staying.

About four miles from the Bong Bridge, just as night was falling, Kristine picked me up and we drove over to Duluth. I checked in to the Matthew S. Burroughs 1890 House bed and breakfast. It was an amazing building. Restored original wood work from the 1890’s made the house look like something from the game ‘Clue’. I expected to find someone dead in the library, murdered with a lead pipe, or to bump into Miss Scarlet or Reverend Green. The owners of the guest house were Kathy and Al. Al had glasses, a balding head and big white beard. Al settled me into a room on the third floor and said breakfast would be at 7 am. Kristine left, but, shortly after, Kimberly and Megan arrived. It was fantastic: I’d reached Duluth and all was well.

Kimberly, Megan and I drove off to an Italian restaurant close to the 1890’s house. I had spaghetti and meatballs. We then shared 3 deserts. Megan had a real sweet tooth and you could see she loved the desserts. Although I’d only met the two of them that day, I felt as if I’d known them forever.

Once dinner was done, we returned to the 1890s house and Kimberly interviewed me until around 10 pm. We sat in the lounge and every so often a cuckoo clock would sound. It was a strange place to be. At shortly after 10 Kimberly and Megan left. I went upstairs, after turning off as many lights as I could find the switches for.

On the third floor was an old bathroom, with a big old iron tub… it was irresistible. I filled the tub with hot water and listened as the floor below creaked. As I climbed in, I hoped I wouldn’t end up falling through to the floor below. Luckily, it was fine.

I had to wait about an hour for my hair to dry after the bath. In that time I repacked my pack and checked e-mails on my Blackberry. I had walked over 1,700 miles and had just over 400 to go. Duluth was a key milestone. The Midwest, and winter, lay just around the corner.

November 16, 2009

Visiting St. Mary’s Hospice

At around 7.30 I had breakfast and coffee and talked to Kathy and Al. A woman called Laura Berhardson from the Miller-Dwan Foundation, which supports St. Mary’s Hospice, picked me up at 8:15. Kimberly and Megan followed us to St. Mary’s Hospice. The hospice office was in a basement. Inside the office it reminded me of a battle station from Star Wars or the bridge of the Star Ship Enterprise: everyone was in one main room, with their own “stationL to work at and they were busily working away on computers. It was interesting to see.

I was introduced to Marg Wolters, the director of St. Mary’s Hospice. Marg was a tall, dignified lady with a regal presence. I gave my presentation and it went well. Kimberly filmed me and there were also two TV stations filming, too. Hooked up to three microphones, I gave interviews encouraging people to support St. Mary’s Hospice in Duluth.

My wife, Monica, had sent a birthday card to Duluth. The card was signed by all my extended family and even had a black paint footprint of my 6 month old great-niece, Gabrielle. I was almost in tears, as I read the messages in the card. St. Mary’s Hospice staff sang me ‘happy birthday’ and there was also a cake for me. The celebrations were 9 days late, but it was good.

I arranged to meet Kristine Fitch later for dinner, and then to go shopping for winter gear with Kristine’s husband Pete on Tuesday.

For lunch I ate with Kimberly and Megan at a small café called Sarah’s Place. We then drove to the St. Mary’s hospice residential unit, which was called Solvay House. Solvay meant ‘path of the sun’. It was a good name. For me, as I headed west, I too followed the path of the sun. At Solvay House I gave a third TV interview.

On a tour of the house I met kitchen staff and the nurses. I was told of how deer would come to the windows of the building. When one lady had passed away in the house, a deer had come and lay down by her window. At Solvay House they had a quilt, with a sun and shade from dark to light on it. When a person passed away, the quilt would be placed over their bed and left for there for one day, as a mark of respect for the person.

Solvay House sat atop a hill overlooking Duluth and was surrounded by trees. There was a peaceful air to the place. A lady had donated her house to St. Mary’s Hospice. The house had not been the right size for the hospice house, but the sale of it enabled Solvay House to be built. In the few years that it had been in existence around 400 people had been looked after there. It was a wonderful place.

Back in 1988 I had stayed in the inpatient unit at the hospital in Duluth; to see Solvay House and the busy staff of St. Mary’s was marvelous- so much had changed.

The Walk Into Duluth

By 3 pm it was time for me to finally walk into Duluth. I said goodbye to Marg Wolters and the staff of Solvay House. Kimberly and Megan dropped me back 4 miles before the Bong Bridge. I started walking, and by 4 pm I reached what I thought was the start of the bridge. I phoned Kimberly, she came over from Duluth and set up her camera in a parking lot to the left of the bridge. Unfortunately, it turned out that the bridge I’d reached was just a bridge over some rail tracks.

I walked on and phoned Kimberly again. On Route 2, again there was a sign saying ‘No Pedestrians’. There was a walkway heading to the Bong Bridge, but it was fenced off from Route 2 and I was on the wrong side of the fence. I carried on walking on Route 2, hoping to find a way onto the bridge. Kimberly took some shots as I headed off down Route 2. Just ahead there was a small guard rail and the fence to the bridge walkway ended. I climbed over the guard rail and breathed a sigh of relief, as I set foot on the Bong Bridge. I phoned Kimberly to say that I was finally on the bridge.

The sun was going down behind the hills to the north of Duluth. Lake Superior was totally calm and an old steel railway bridge was silhouetted in black against the silver water and deep orange skies. It was perfect.

Kimberly dropped Megan near the middle of the bridge. Megan began to climb over the small guard rail to reach the walkway. I reached out to hold her camera and help her over the guard rail. Together we walked over the Bong Bridge, both snapping pictures and talking as we passed by a tall chimney stack for a factory. Steam billowed out of the stack and the lights of Duluth looked like Christmas decorations. With a big smile on my face, I turned to Megan and said ‘It doesn’t get much better than this.’

As we neared the end of the bridge we saw Kimberly standing on the roof of her jeep, with the film camera rolling. I walked into Duluth, a happy man.

Kimberly picked me and Megan up at the end of the Bong Bridge. She drove me back to the 1890s House and we said our goodbyes. It had been an emotional day and I’d been on the road a long time. As I said goodbye to the women, I was sad to see them go.

Not long after Kimberly and Megan left, Kristine Fitch arrived. With her hair up and in a long winter coat she looked very different from the day before. Kristine drove me to her house and there we had dinner with her husband Pete and her 11 year old daughter. I had a pound coin and a £20 note and gave them to Kristine’s daughter. Kristine had two retired husky sled dogs and brought them into the house for some photos. Monica had sent me a CD of 80s music for my birthday and we played that, as we ate dinner. Monica had also sent me some Turkish delight and I shared this with the Fitch’s for dessert. They had read about Turkish delight in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books, but never tasted it. We joked that now they had eaten the Turkish delight they would be bewitched by the Snow Queen.

After we had finished our food, I emptied my pack of all the things I no longer needed: bivi bag, stove, fuel bottle were all left behind. I also filled a large padded envelope with a piece of paper and odds and ends to send back to England. It was time to get new gear for winter.

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