Day 42. Rest Day in Elkader

Finally, the sign we never saw!

We never saw a welcome to Minnesota sign either of the two times we entered the state. This was looking back from Iowa. Is there a message here. :)



What do you see?

This is our dinner setup at the camp location in the city park before we actually set camp up in Wabasha.

(1) It is warm, but I wear a coat. I was freezing. After expending high energy output all day, once I relax I find I get quite cool.

(2) Alicia's bike has a spare tire attached. I will shortly replace the old one. You can see almost a continuous ring of red showing from the inner layers of her rear tire now. The new one is a slick, so we will need to take more care in wet conditions. It should have less rolling resistance and be faster. Something Alicia does not need. She is loafing around too much already waiting for me. Ha! Alicia has since reported it is a harder ride. It does take more air pressure, so I'm not surprised.

(3) I am featuring a can of cashews. We will be having mashed potatoes and mac'n cheese.



Mystery Beasts

What are these. They are not large enough to be elk. Certainly not deer. Alicia thinks reindeer, but I thought their horns were more wacky. They are behind a high fence keeping them in. This was taken just south of Prescott, Wisconsin.



Waiting for a gaggle of Geese to mosey across the road in Stillwater



Yellow Finches at the Donn Olson Farm



A divide between the Mississippi and Hudson Bay drainages



A nice country Church



Whew! A break after our biggest week yet. 484 miles this week. 6 days of cycling without a break. Though several days were long, we consistently turned out nearly 80 miles a day. Our plan was 60. This also shows that we are still getting stronger which is a great sign and a relief at those times when our attitudes are flagging.

We have covered 2335.5 miles so far. We are solidly past half way. Calculations show we have 1775.5 to Bar Harbor. But we will almost certainly cut that shorter to Portland, Maine. We have managed to find a few shorter alternates as we have gone.

This morning I woke to rain at 7am, I went back to bed and it had cleared and dried when we woke this afternoon. The weather outlook is 75-85 degree days for the next several. No rain but plenty of humidity. Not sure about wind. After another 140 miles south, we head east into Illinois and Indiana on our 8th map section. Some of Indiana does not observe day light savings time so we will not be on Eastern time until Ohio. We will be close to Ohio by the end of the week. The cycling sounds like it will be easier than ever, but we'll see...

Tall Grasses

The grass can be so tall in this country. Back in Minnesota, rounding a corner with a tall, lush, grass choked stream to the right, there was a loud rustle. A white tail deer tried to leap away from the stream but could barely clear the grass. It bounded away jumping high to see over and clear the tall grasses, nearly disappearing in between. Awesome!

Flying with Friends


When on the bike trail on Donn Olsons alternative, zipping along at 16 miles per hour, a bird came in from the left and took up position about 6 feet in front of me. We flew together for many seconds, the bird flapping only enough to hold position. Finally, he pealed off to the right.

Later the same day on the same trail, a bumble bee swooped around the right side of my helmet and took up position in front of me for a second or two before swinging off. I do like bumble bees. He was a welcome, if momentary, companion.

Trains

When passing through North Dakota, we often paralleled the Great Northern train tracks on the hi-line (highway 2). As we approached one train, I gave a slow double fist pull and the train responded with a whoo, whoo. Nice! We did that a few times. That never failed to impress us.

Enjoy your 4th! God's Blessings to all!

~Pete

Thoughts on MN & IA

Wexford Catholic Church & Cemetery


An Iowa Barn

It was interesting riding through Minnesota, basically flat with thousands of lakes, right beside each other. The towns were quaint and clean, usually brick buildings, and a few, such as Afton reminded me of East Coast Victorian towns. The farms were very neat, clean and well kept, beautifully landscaped with trees and flowers. The barns have a more rounded shape to their roofs. Minnesota I would compare to a carefully built pile of Legos. Then we enter Iowa, and it was just as I had imagined it would be, think of a pile of Lincoln Logs thrown in the air and landing where they will. The barns are very pointy and square, the farms are more of a mish-mash of buildings, not well taken care of, and pretty landscaping is missing. The very first town we entered was all old wood buildings not in a pleasing arrangement. I actually like the contrast, it keeps it interesting. (Although, since then I have seen some, quaint little towns such as, Elkader). And yes, there are corn fields everywhere. After climbing out of the Mississippi River Valley, we were on top of a very large plateau, and it feels like the top of the world, with rolling hills. Very different. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the 140 miles in Iowa look.

Mississippi River Views




We really enjoyed our camping beside the Mississippi River. It was fun watching the barges and tugboats. I am very thankful that the black flies and mosquitos had not had their large hatches yet. We had been forewarned that Minnesota would be quite miserable with the black flies especially.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Independence Day. We got much needed rest, slept until 1 pm! Will continue the adventure tomorrow. - Alicia

Day 41. Elkader, Iowa

Well we've said our goodbyes to Minnesota. Also temporarily to the
Mississippi, though we will cross it one last time in a few days.

We had all kinds of weather and all kinds of riding as we polished off
83 more miles. It was a long day, many steep hills, muggy temps, fog
even for the first hour. It even threatened rain.

Elkader is a nice small town on the Turkey river. We had pizza for
dinner and we stocked up for our rest day this Sabbath day - this
evening and tomorrow. Though it is the fourth, we expect it to be
quiet away from the Mississippi.

The picture is along the big M in Iowa.

Day 40. Wildcat Landing, Brownsville MN

Another 81 miles down. We are tired, yet enjoying our camp here
beside the Mississippi. Watching barges, boats, and people. Not too
busy here yet, considering the 4th is coming.

Tomorrow we enter Iowa as we continue south to Muscatine before
heading east again.

This is a picture of the Mississippi valley from atop the bluffs along
the Apple Blossum scenic byway.

Day 39. Wabasha

81 miles. We had good winds though the many hills negated the
tailwind effect some. There are many high bluffs along the
Mississippi (and St. Croix) rivers. Some of these the highway
engineers knew just had to gone up and over. Again and again and
again. You know there actually is a plateau at the top that could be
followed. But then for a motor vehicle there is no issue.

The pic is looking from Prescott Wisconson back into Minnesota where
the Mississippi joins the the St. Croix.

Leaving this morning we had to wait while a large gaggle of geese
sauntered slowly across the road. Wow! That was cool.

In all a good day considering a late 10am start.

Day 38. Stillwater

Today we see the St. Croix river from Stillwater. Winds were again good. North by Northwest at 15-25 mph. Temperatures were cool starting at 54 degrees. I never felt really warm today. We left the route and took an alternative suggested by Donn Olson.

Turkeys. We saw two groups of turkeys. Mommys with babies. It was very cool.

At Rendezvous Coffee in Isanti we met three other cyclists who were enjoying a break from their local ride before setting off into what for them were headwinds. We also met Mona, an elder Adventist who frequents the shop. She was a joy to talk with and was quite pleased to meet us. I had espressed eggs. These are made using the steam wand also used to steam milk. They added cheese for a tasty, light, fluffy egg dish.

The Donn Olson Alternative

Head south on highway 47 to highway 5 (13 miles). This is just past Bradford which has gas/grocery/restroom. On 5 there is a jog in the highway when reaching highway 10. Go south, right .5 miles on 10 then left again on 5. Go into Isanti. Be sure to stop at Rendezvous Coffee: good mocha on a cool day. On 5, go to North Branch about 35 miles. Just before going under the interstate, 5 ends in highway 95, go to the right/east on 95. Before highway 30 which is also known as Forest Blvd., a bike trail heads off to the south. Take this. For lunch, leave the trail at Forest Lake, go down highway 61 in Forest Lake and eat at Babs. Good bagel sandwiches. Get back on the trail. At mile 56 you will see 170th avenue. This is after passing through the town of Forest Lake. Take 170th left or east about 9 miles to Norrell Rd. which is also highway 55. Go south or right. This is a hilly road. You'll come to Square Lake Trail (highway 7) after 3-4 miles; take this to the right (west) about .5 miles then left/south on the continuation of Norrell Rd. (55). At Pine Point Park there is a bike path starting across from the entrance to the park that follows Norrell on the east side. This path is only a couple of miles long but gets you off the awful conditions of Norrell Rd. Continue south past Dellwood Rd. into Stillwater. Norrell becomes Owens St. Total distance from Donn Olsons farm to the south end of town: 79 miles. The hills at the end are tiring, otherwise the route was pretty flat and the bike trail was nice.

~Pete

Day 37. The Donn Olson Farm, Dalbo, MN

Today we raced before the wind yet again. Another fine day of
cycling. It was cool starting off around 53 and feeling cool all
day. We covered 94 miles.

The Olsons are the finest of hosts. They made a room and shower
available to us. Fed us dinner and dessert. Drove me to town in a
fruitless (alas) search for a new tire for Alicia. Toured us around
their amazing patch of heaven (It is a wonderful farm.). Mapped out
route alternatives for us.

And great conversation as well. They have feeders that attract the
most interesting birds. I especially enjoyed the bright yellow finches.

'Till tomorrow...

~ Pete (iPhone)

Magnificent Winds

Waves of wind washing over the tall grasses. Corn rustling silver green leaves. North by Northwest blows the wind, ideal for cycling south and east. Southward sustained speeds of 16-18. Eastward 26-29 miles per hour as winds reach speeds of 25-35 miles per hour. Cloud shadows race ahead of us on the road. Racing cloud shade on the road moving ahead: morphing, shifting, disappearing. The wind moaning through the air. Side winds whistling through the bike. The wind, the glorious, powerful wind; such a blessing from behind.

~Pete

Day 36. Battle Lake to Longs Prairie

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