ROADTRIP of the day:

It has been far too long, but I'm back so let's hit the road. Today we’re journeying north to visit tiny Akeley, Minnesota (population 412). The town grew around the Red River Lumber Company’s sawmill in the 1890’s and was formally incorporated as a city in 1916. RRLC chose Akeley for the mill over nearby Walker because of disapproval over the bars and brothels in that area. In the early 1900’s, Akeley was a boomtown with the local train depot carrying lumberjacks and their families to swell the population to an annual average of 2,000-3,500. Although now very small, Akeley takes pride in its great lumbering past and annually celebrates "Paul Bunyan Days" and hosts the Paul Bunyan Historical Museum. Keeping a close eye out for any shenanigans is a kneeling statue of the mighty lumberjack himself, rising 25 feet into the air.

PS Apologies to those of you on Facebook seeing this for the second time, but those who aren't on FB with me couldn't see it until I connected my two accounts with Networked Blogs.