When I woke up in Hibbing I was greeted by a heavy layer of frost. I plotted my travels for the day; a morning appointment in town, then a 2.5 hour drive to Duluth for a second sales call, then a 3 hour drive back to the Minneapolis area.
Before setting out for appointment number one I remembered why “Hibbing, MN” stuck in my head like like a piece of popcorn sticks in your teeth; Bob Dylan grew up here! Well doesn’t that just make sense. I mentally played some tracks and yep, Hibbing came right into focus. I did a quick Google search for landmarks, but came up with only “The Greyhound Bus Museum”. No thanks.
I arrived at The Knitting Knight a tad early for my appointment. By a tad, I mean about 1/2 an hour early. As my college girlfriends put it, I’m pathologically on-time. I knocked on the door anyways, and was greeted by the shop owner’s brother. I asked him if he could think of any Bob Dylan Landmarks that I could get to before his sister got there. He graciously gave me directions to Bob Dylan’s old house. “It’s a blue house on Bob Dylan Drive with a big mural of “Blood on the Tracks” on the garage.” Lo and Behold…

Bob Dylan's Garage

I wonder if Bob ever got a letter addressed to this street...
I snapped a few photos because my Dad is a HUGE Bob Dylan fan… I couldn’t not. So, these are for you, Dad.
When I got back to the Knitting Knight, I settled in for an appointment. I Looked around the shop and was struck by the range in price points that this shop offers. Miss Amber has everything from Red Heart and Lion Brand all the way up through Noro and Misti Alpaca. If you are looking for a rare novelty yarn, I think this store will have just what you’re looking for! Plus Amber and her brother were quite entertaining to visit with. This was my second shop on this trip to be run by siblings. As someone who has my fair share of brother and sisters, I find these arrangements quite endearing and also hilarious.

Duluth streets all seem to drop straight off into the lake.
From the Knitting Knight I pointed Lola South-East-wards and started driving. Next stop was Playing With Yarn in Knife River. I was treated to yet another stunning day on the road, thank goodness! I did get to cruise through downtown Duluth. Duluth was a surprising treat, with it’s charming shopping district and SPECTACULAR view of Lake Superior. Namely, that view of Lake Superior is from the main drag in town, a remarkably steep and winding road that appears at every turn to drop off instantly into the Great Cold Blue Yonder. All I could think of is driving on this road during the icy months, which in Duluth is usually probably late September until Late May, and also June, July and August. I lucked out and had a clear and miraculously ice-less day. I’m not particularly used to driving anywhere where they have actual geography. I’m from Chicago.
When I did pull up at Playing With Yarn I should have taken a photo, or two, or twenty. This shop is located up a National Scenic Highway, backing up onto Lake Superior and surrounded by beautiful pine forest. But alas, it finally happened, I was LATE (gasp!) so I just hustled inside. In this shop I found a very well established shop. Judy, the shop owner, had a very informed perspective on the industry as a whole. She offered me loads of advice and “food for thought”, so much so that I ended up staying much too long. When I finally left, it was dark (and again, I mean DARK like I am not accustomed to).
I ended up crashing in Duluth for the night instead of heading back to Minneapolis. That turned out to be a great idea for several reasons. First of all, I lucked out with the absolute nicest hotel I have stayed in yet. Kudos to the Duluth Days Inn. The woman at the front desk hooked me up with a “handicapped” room because I was so tired and struggling with my bags/food. So my room was extra-big and extremely clean with a brand new mattress and just looked so inviting and warm. The front desk even called me an hour later to make sure everything was too my liking. I am by no means accustomed to such service when I’m on the road. I was just blown away! What a great way to spend my last day on the road.
I woke up the next morning, packed up, and settled in for a long haul back home. It was 9 hours of largely uneventful driving. Cow. Pine tree. cow. pine tree. strip club billboard. pine tree. dead deer. pine tree. pine tree. I think you get the picture.