Walking in Upsala

Yesterday, Saturday June 21, I did the Volksmarch in Upsala MN. As soon as I saw this on the schedule it was on my list. I'm doing a book called Walking the US  A-Z and a Walking Minnesota A-Z. Finding a town that begins with the letter, U, is a bit of a challenge and all that I did find where located quite a distance, such as Texas or Washington, from where I live.

Upsala is named for Upsala, Sweden. The present population is a bit more than 400 persons. It is located in Morrison County. My Minnesota Geographic Names books explains this county is named for two brothers, William and Allan Morrison. Both were born in Montreal Canada near the start of the 19th century. Each came to the Minnesota territory as representatives of fur trading companies.

I started out for this walk very early in the morning, for I had an activity in Saint Paul during the afternoon. I was away a few minutes after 6:00 AM. About an hour later I saw a sign that reminded me that Emma Krumbees now has a restaurant north of the Twin Cities. I stopped there for breakfast about 7 AM.

This featured apple fritter bread. That is something I may try to make after my return from Poland in the late summer. It is very good.

After driving about another 30 minutes I took an exit from the i-94 freeway to Minnesota 283. I had never been on the road before. It went through a rural area featuring now in late June every possible color of green. Near Upsala I ran into fog and had to travel very slowly. Finally in town I found the Borgstrom House, which was the location for the start/finish of the walk.

I quickly signed up for the 5K walk; the route immediately took us by the water tower, so that those of us who are using the Water Tower book could use this walk for that.

The route directed us south along Main Street to 3rd Street West. This provided a crossing of the North Two River. Isn't that a great name!?!

There we walked a large rectangle on the streets and returned to Main Street. The route took us north on Main Street, again directing us to walk some rectangles so that we were getting the necessary meters towards a 5 K walk. Here I was walking along the very edge of the town with agricultural fields on one side.

Above is a picture of pond, a result of the deluge of rain we have had in the past weeks. Along MN 283 I saw many flooded farm fields and areas of drowned crops.

While walking along I noticed the post office across the street. It certainly looked as if it should be further west in the United States not in Minnesota.

The route next directed us to walk to the right of a church.

From that vantage point one could see another church over in the valley.

Then I headed around the school buildings and walked back south and then east back to Main Street. Here I spotted the General Store -- more signs of the West!

Then back west and south where I found a yard lined by ladybugs.

Near here I found another symbol of the western United States area.

No, there really are not road runners in Minnesota.

By now I was near the end of the walk and back to the Borgstrom House. Click here for information about the house.

The house holds many historical objects associated with Upsala.

One thing that intrigued me was the hat collection.

This was a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning in summer.