Day 7 Wisconsin Dells to Duluth, Minnesota

We woke up to many Birthday wishes for Brad, and buttons saying “Brad is 60”. Our friend and mentor JeanAnn Martin made buttons for many of our friends and fellow racers.

We headed toward Duluth, Minnesota. The environment around us reminded me of being in the mountains in Southern California only we were at about 1200 feet in elevation. We started with evergreens lining the narrow roads and then we headed out to the highway. The road followed the river winding back and forth, and then we were back in the farm lands again.

We transited toward Chippewa Falls, and ended up on some very back roads that showed the winters they experience in the North. The roads were rough, and we managed to keep our teeth in our mouth. Our speedometer was not as lucky. We were on one road that was not paved, and as we focused on the road ahead the speedometer ended up in my lap. Below is a picture of where the speedo normally sits on our dash.

When we cleared the unpaved road we headed to lunch in Chippewa Falls. There we met a young lady named Leah and her dad Jon. Leah works for Northern Chill Water. She is a sports enthusiast and a great marketer for Northern Chill #NorthernChillWater.

There was a nice turnout for lunchtime on a Friday. The town was full of people and we stopped for a quick lunch and a few photos.

One of the best parts of The Great Race is meeting people around the country. Aside from the many race friends we have made from all over, we meet the nicest people at the lunch and dinner stops. People want to share their car stories, and show their interest in the event.

We drove into Duluth, Minnesota and we could see fog sitting on Lake Superior. Brad started singing The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot. We were aw struck by the size of the ships on the water. They spanned 750 feet to 1000 feet. The lake is massive and has crazy weather.

The racers who drive Chitty Chitty Bang Bang are from the Duluth area and explained how crazy the lake can be. There is a draw bridge that is about 350 feet high, and the waves will crash over portions of it.

We finished the day in a park on the lake. We parked are car and sorted out some scoring issues. After having our score card corrected. We ended up with a total of 4 seconds for the day. A great score for Brad’s Birthday.

Brad has celebrated 7 of the his last 9 Birthdays with our friend Sawyer Stone. Sawyer races with his grandfather and has been racing since he was 9 years old.

Every year Sawyer’s mom Susan has organized a Birthday celebration for Sawyer and Brad. This year we were able to organize the celebration, and fun was had by all.

Thanks to everyone for all the Birthday wishes. Thank you JeanAnn for the decorations and pins. Thank you Esther and Roger for running errands for us. Thank you Jimmy for picking up the cakes!!!

Thank you again to McCollister’s Auto Transportation for the merchandise. You kept us warm and dry in Duluth!

Thank you Mustang Country, we finished the 7th Day with great numbers and a car that ran perfectly.

One last “thank you”, Barry Jason our mentor, we appreciate all of your guidance. We would not have any of these scores without your time, patience and efforts. Thanks to you and Buddy for making our race Great.