Continental Divide in MN

This past week, my family stayed in northwest Minnesota (referred to as MN from now on). While there, some of us discovered an interesting monument for the Continental Divide. We all knew that the Rocky Mountains were the location of the Continental Divide, where water flows away to the east or west. But we did not know until last week that water flowed north-south in North America. (It makes sense if you think about it, though.) All water flowing north from the Divide empties out through the Hudson. South-flowing water empties into the Gulf of Mexico. I learn something new all the time. This means really wholesome fish, with very low contamination levels from our lake. Good thing, too, because we cleaned about 40 fish to eat at the end of every day.

We visited GCRDCG, I-35 South Bound Rest Area (New Market) on the way home. The geocache page contains a list of amenities for this rest area. The list definitely encouraged me to make a stop here. Knowing there were vending machines, playgrounds, picnic tables, etc. was incentive on top of the geocache to stop there. The MN DOT website states:

"Mn DOT wants to encourage positive use of its rest areas and feels that geocaching, if played in accordance with this policy [listed above], will not conflict with other rest area uses."

I also picked up one of the coolest geocoins I have ever seen. You will see from the photograph that I left a tiki travel bug in New Market. The sign behind it relates the story of The Big Woods. This is not the same Big Woods the Laura Ingalls wrote about. This Big Woods is in south central MN.