Friday, July 22, 2011

THE TWO AMIGOS

After working on an old Amigo Scooter that Randy had, we took a few shake down rides in his neighborhood to assure it was dependable. It turned out to have a couple of problems. Since I know very little about anything and especially about electrical systems, it looked like a lost cause to get the scooter road worthy. But yet again, tinkering combined with the power of prayer provided the solution. A business in town that services these electric scooters has a technician who was very willing to give me a few ideas and also some simple encouragement to keep tinkering. The scooter is now adventure certified. The first adventure was for Randy to teach me how to board a city bus.
Getting on a bus is not too difficult. It requires some backing up skills and the ability to perform while all the other riders are watching. Being handicapped involves teaching others patience too, as the bus driver has to lower the bus, extend a ramp, prepare a parking space for the scooter and then secure it. The process takes about 5 minutes, so travel comes to a halt. I imagine that one will encounter a grouchy bus driver every once in a while, but so far they have all been kind and patient.

We rode the bus for about 4 miles to the Duluth Rose Garden http://www.superiortrails.com/duluth-rose-garden.html and then took the Lake Walk down to Canal Park.



The Lake Walk http://www.duluthmn.gov/parks/trail_pages/lakewalk.cfm follows the shore of Lake Superior and is designed for walking, inline skating, running, biking and of course scootering. It is a very popular place especially on a beautiful summer day. Randy and I moved along at a leisurely pace enjoying all the sights and sounds.
Pictured above is Lief Erickson Park . Festivals and other gatherings occur here often. The past few years the City of Duluth has had Friday Night Outdoor Movies. This has turned out to be a very big success. The movies are for all ages so a good crowd gathers together with their blankets, lawn chairs and coolers full of treats!



There is a scenic train http://www.northshorescenicrailroad.org/Home/exdaily.asp that travels up the Northshore of Lake Superior. There a variety of rides available from short relatively inexpensive ones to others that are longer and offer a meal.
We traveled all the way down to the bridge then took the Duluth Skywalk system http://www.perfectduluthday.com/2009/04/18/duluth-skywalk-video/ up to the downtown business area and caught a bus back to Randy's house. The entire trip took about four hours.

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