Completion of the International Falls Every Street Project

Well, it's over. My time in living in International Falls is coming to a close. Tomorrow I set out on the road headed southwest through North Dakota, South Dakota and into my new home in Nebraska. Noelle and Sierra will be joining me once the first half of the school year ends in December. Because I am getting ready to leave, I had to ramp up my running efforts in order to complete the Every Streets project. I was able to finish things up today, just in the nick of time. Today I filled in the rest of my map!

For the past few weeks my focus on completing the project has been mostly in the South Falls area. However, I've gotten to see whole swath of town on my runs; both the pleasant parts of town,

and the not-so-photogenic parts.

I've run on lots of paved, asphalt roads

and quite a few dirt or gravel ones also.

I even ran down roads that ended with little warning.

I ran through neighborhoods, past "normal" homes and also past quirky statues

and murals.

I ran past beautiful, Northwoods scenery, but more often than not, I ran past evidence of a dying lumber town.

Tim Horton's closed after just over a year in business

The closed Holler Elementary School

The soon to be closed K Mart

Perhaps the most interesting area I ran through was the cemetery in town.

Located in a quiet neighborhood on the town's outskirts, it is a fitting final resting place for those who love the quiet and cold of far northern Minnesota.

Among those buried in the cemetery is the town's most famous resident, NFL Hall of Famer Bronko Nagurski.

International Falls isn't perfect, but it was home for 3 and a half years. While I am relieved to be leaving, I know I will miss some aspects of living in "the Falls". The beauty of the lakes and woods, the call of the loons, seeing wolves and snowy owls, and other interesting wildlife, and paddling the waters in Voyageurs National Park all made living up here worth it. We will always take the great memories we made with us for the rest of our lives: seeing a wolf walking across the ice of a frozen Rainy Lake from our living room, Sierra learning to cross country ski, riding our bicycles into Canada.

Goodbye "Icebox of the Nation."