Whenever Roadguy has a few vacation days, he usually goes on some sort of road trip. He then spends much of the time staring at maps, evaluating traffic conditions, looking for bike paths, thinking about highway design, and taking lots of really bad pictures. In other words, it’s a lot like his regular job.

My latest failed effort at relaxation was this past weekend, when I tagged along for an outing to the…

For those of you unfamiliar with our local blogging region, the North Shore is actually the western shore of Lake Superior. It’s dotted with state parks, cabins, small towns and lots of Twin Cities people driving around in large vehicles. To get there from metroland, one travels north on I-35 through Duluth, where I managed to glimpse this sign on the Great Lakes Aquarium:

I believe the abyss refers to an exhibit of deep-sea creatures rather than to the aquarium’s financial history, but it also describes the way that motorists on I-35 experience much of Duluth:

In some ways, the highway’s low alignment is great — drivers can fly right through, and I’m sure Duluthians would rather look at the trees atop the tunnels than at four lanes of traffic. At the same time, it’s extremely easy for North Shore visitors to zip past a good chunk of Duluth and not spend a dime there. Alas, such are the mixed blessings of freeway culture.

After 35 ends, there’s this little sign that I’ve long appreciated:

It reminds me that the 30-mile-per-hour speed zone won’t go on forever. (The road is nicely scenic but can feel eternal.)

Things also slow down in Two Harbors, which is home to this curious, mostly motor-vehicle-oriented enterprise:

A person must feel extremely clean after getting all those things done.

Farther up the shore, speed limits vary. In most places, signs like this suffice:

However, Hwy. 61 apparently attracts its share of Morons, because some of the signs are like this.

“Oh, you mean the MAXIMUM speed limit. I get it now.”

That isn’t the only uncommon signage. Upon first glancing at a roadside image of a martini glass with a slash through it, I thought I was reading a blunt drunken-driving message, “Don’t drink and bleed.” Upon closer inspection, however…

…it turned out to be about family planning.

Eventually, our destination, the Lutsen ski area, was reached, and the resort itself turned out to be a very transportation-y place. There were…

…gondolas, complete with exciting instructions on what to do if you get trapped up in the air:

There were traffic cones that were apparently nibbled on by some North Shore version of Sasquatch:

And there were amiable ski-chalet employees with random transportation-related T shirts:

This is Justin, who had no discernible link to Boston or its traffic and said the shirt was part of his compensation for painting some barns in North Dakota; he took the rest of his compensation in beer. Not a bad transaction, Justin, but always remember: Don’t drink and breed.

Roadguy plans to return to his regularly scheduled, largely metro-centric blogging tomorrow. Until then, feel free to share any North Shore driving tips, Duluth insights or Superior stories below.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 6:05 am and is filed under Scenes and stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.