On a chilly, but beautiful, day, I followed mostly paved roads to the official start of the Mississippi, Lake Itasca. My notes say that the final part of the Great River Road is wonderful. At Lake Itasca, the big river is but a tiny stream of clear water, not yet grown big and polluted by a thousand miles of cities and industry. From Lake Itasca, I took various roads westward; 34 in Minnesota being scenic, 10 not being an Interstate, and I 94, well, ... From Bismarck in North Dakota, scenic 1804 and US 83 North to Washburn, where I stayed at the Scot Wood Motel, marked as good in my notes.

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