We enjoyed having a bed last night so much that we slept in and didn't hit the road until about 9 am. The winds were in our favor today coming out of the northwest, and the temperature was in the 70's, ideal for me. The gusts were between 20 and 35 mph, which were great when we were heading west, but a little bit rough as we rode south. We did a zigzag pattern today, east for a few miles, then south for several miles, then east, etc. We road 66 miles today, crossing the Hudson Bay/Mississippi River Drainage Divide. Our destination for the day is Longs Prairie, MN. Population 3000. Downright metropolitan! They even have a Burger King here, so am looking forward to a vege-burger this evening. We got a cheap hotel room and Pete immediately laid down and slept. I, on the other hand cannot do anything until I have had a shower, and today's luxury and surprise was a blow dryer! So my haircut this afternoon looks the way it was intended to look!
We stopped at a diner in Parkers Prairie for lunch and they had 24 flavors of soft-serve ice cream, such as amaretto, black cherry, creme de menthe, peach, etc. As you know I love the ingenuity of these little towns and businesses, I hope you enjoy the irony of this sign as I did.
Some of my pictures today are a little off center due to those same wind gusts. No matter how many times I took a picture of that sign I couldn't get it centered, will take care of that later by cropping it with the computer.
Some of you may not understand my fascination with roadkill, as I believe I have commented on it before, if not I definitely have in my journal. The thing is, you can tell what type of wild animals are in the area. Since we crossed into Minnesota, the roadkill has consisted of snapping turtles (lots of them), red potatoes and large corn kernels! We were lucky to see alive and crossing the road: a skunk (he was so cute as he waddled across), and a mink. One of the local people said that there are a lot of wild mink around. I also saw several white-tailed deer. Another interesting sight was a field of prairie grass with miniature horses in it. I could just see their heads as they looked up at us as we rode by.
The barns, silos, and farms have been so picturesque: the barn shapes and silo arrangements are interesting and all of the farms have grass, not dirt and gravel, which makes them look so neat and clean. Two or three more days and we should be out of Minnesota. Can't wait to see what is in Iowa. - Alicia
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