74 miles. All but a few on the Lake Wobegon bike trail.

I was never a big fan of The Prairie Home Companion but if the legacy is this bike path (another rail to trail initiative) then that’s OK by me. Most of the route had been fairly recently resurfaced so the going was very smooth. The wind was against us but since the bike path is sheltered we made good time.

Bonnie had sent us off with a good breakfast, lunch sandwiches and cookies! We stopped for lunch at the picnic tables of a community center in St. Joseph and there was a family sitting at another bench with an extension cord plugged into the exterior outlet charging their cell phones so we felt the center was an active hub in the community!

I don’t think this tandem is going anywhere soon.

The path ends on the southern side of St. Joseph and we had another 7 miles to go back on a busy 4 lane road.  We clearly had grown accustomed to the peace and quiet of the paths because the truck noise was unnerving.  Certainly we had experienced worse conditions on the small roads in Montana and North Dakota but the contrast between the smooth sailing of the last two days with the sudden immersion into traffic unsettled us… but we pushed on.

This poor old thing had been worked hard in its day and now left to rust. We’ve seen many relics like this tucked away in the corners of fields.

John and Susan were our warm showers hosts and they welcomed us in. After showers and re cycling we had a great dinner of “American Bento Box.” Susan helps a friend whose restaurant is selling her version of the bento box with rice, quinoa, chicken, red meat, veggies, freshly chopped ginger all topped with various sauces. Our meal was essentially leftovers from the weekly market the night before so it may have been the best and most nutritious free meal we’ve had.

Two paths leading into an infinite future!!

72 miles. Finally reached the rail to trail part of the trip.

This is reputed to be the largest pelican in the world nested by the river with Pelican Rapids in the background.

We had a great night in Pelican Rapids, even made dinner for our host Gretchen and learned how their little town has changed over the past few years.  Gretchen and her husband Andrew not only run the store and the hot dog and ice cream but also have a florist business, kayak and canoe rental, have planted hops and a few other enterprises.

Lake after lake after lake into the distance.

Got an early start complete with a hearty McDonald’s breakfast and rode the very hilly first part of the day’s trek to Fergus Falls where, with difficulty, we finally found the Central Lakes Trail, a paved former rail line that will take us most of the way to St. Cloud. It is definitely nice riding on the path and not worrying about traffic or rumble strips but the down side is that we don’t get to see a lot of the surrounding country side since the trail is mostly wooded on both sides.  But the good outweighs the bad in this case so we made haste to another warm showers hosts, Bonnie and Jeff,  in a beautiful house on Lake Lida. As we have discovered, this whole 6 degrees of separation is a myth, the truth is we are separated by only 2 or 3 degrees! Bonnie and Jeff’s son is starting graduate school soon at ASU in Tempe, Jeff grew up in a small town in central Missouri near where my family is from, his grandfather had a medical practice in Webster Groves and their daughter is graduating from Northwestern med school.

Too bad we don’t have time to enjoy our hosts’ pier and lake.

Tomorrow we get back on the Central Lakes Trail and will connect with (wait for it) The Lake Wobegon Trail. The last part of the ride today was on a washboard dirt road and Bonnie has volunteered to drive us back to the trail just to give us a break from the jolting ride back tomorrow.

11 whole miles! Recovery day for mind and body.

We slept in, found our hotel didn’t serve breakfast so we just lounged until check out time. Given the short, short day in store, we weren’t rushed at all.

Our bikes were not crushed as the sign warns.

We are in a nice apartment owned by our Warm Showers hosts, Andrew and Gretchen. 100% improvement over our last experience! They own a gift shop and hot dog and ice cream shop on the ground floor. Very nice folks. We are cooking dinner tonight.

Tomorrow we head through Fergus Falls and join the rail to trail path so it’s back on the road!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY TO ONE AND ALL!

14:4

Yesterday was possibly the most uncomfortable day of our whole trip and it had nothing to do with our biking.  As you know from previous blogs, our Warm Shower stays have been some of our best experiences on our trip.  Our hosts have been welcoming, interesting and interested, friendly, informative and the places in which we have stayed have been more than acceptable.

Yesterday, unfortunately, was the exception.  We rode into Moorhouse, MN expecting to spend yesterday night and the night of the 4th with warm shower hosts–enjoying what we hoped was going to be a well deserved and fun day off on the Fourth of July.  We arrived at the home of our hosts, who were very welcoming although we later realized not terribly interested.  It seems they make a habit of inviting people they don’t know or barely know into their home.  The abode was all but unlivable–perhaps the inevitable result of housing 5 cats, 3 dogs and 5 humans in a small space.  We were allocated a small area–to call it a room is to glorify it– in an unfinished and moldy basement. The shower and toilet there hadn’t been cleaned in months even though an acquaintance who was living in an RV in their driveway has been using the facilities. The washing machine emptied onto the floor.  The room we were in was filthy and claustrophobic as was the rest of the house–dirty dishes, dirty counters, dirty bathroom, etc.  We should have just turned around and walked out, but we decided to grin and bear it because we didn’t want to offend our hosts, but did shorten our stay and left this morning.  At about 1:30 am, when I woke up feeling as though I couldn’t breath, I almost woke Charles up to suggest that we just leave.  It was truly an uncomfortable situation.  It was an adventure of a sort, but one we hope not to repeat.

It was wonderful to get out this morning and ride in the fresh air and clean countryside.  Tomorrow will be a very short ride–16 miles or so–and we hope that today’s short ride and tomorrow’s will equate to a day off.

Onward and upward!

38 miles. This was to be our rest day so we weren’t too ambitious. July 4.

We are patriotic.

Got a bit of a late start today from Moorhead and after getting our breakfast and a sandwich for lunch at the grocery store, we headed southeast toward some of Minnesota’s famed lakes.

The road was mostly flat with a head wind and when we turned to the east the quartering breeze gave us a little boost. There again was very little traffic but since we saw a highway patrolman pull someone over right in front of us, we made the effort to stay on the shoulder and stay legal. The miles clicked by to the 28 mile marker and then we got into some hills again. Speaking of hills, a few days ago I totaled all the climbing we have done so far on our trip and found that we have easily summited Mt. Everest – over 45,000 feet of climbs so far. And we don’t even have Sherpas!

We interrupted our ride a couple of times to consult with Brady whose Jeep has broken down in Las Vegas. He and a friend had driven from LA to Phoenix to the Grand Canyon and then to Vegas over the long weekend. Leaving Joshua Tree National Monument they ran out of gas and were lucky enough to quickly find a tow truck with a few gallons of gas so they could limp into a station. Unfortunately, by running the tank to empty, all the sludge and debris from 22 years got into the fuel system and by the time they got to Vegas, the car would sputter to a stop every dozen miles of so. Nothing that dollars can’t fix so in the end, his Jeep will have a new fuel system from clean tank to new pump, filter and injectors. What happens in Vegas ….

For a couple of miles on the road there were shoes of every description nailed to the fence posts.

Nearing our goal, The Cormorant Inn, we nearly passed by a very inviting looking sandwich shop and cafe, one of the nicest we’ve seen on our trip so far. We’ve subsisted on PB&J  and gas station pre made sandwiches so seeing this place, we could almost hear the angels sing! Great food and smoothies! As we sat we were approached by a woman who asked where we were biking from and to (many folks are curious about our trek and we’re more than willing to tell them and occasionally proselytize about Frank Lloyd Wright). In this case we also spread a little of the Warm Showers gospel – 11 years ago this woman had let two cross country cyclists in their teens camp overnight in her front yard and was very impressed with the young men. A little while ago, one of the guys came back through Comorant and visited her and she was still excited about the whole thing.

While we were eating, three more cross country cyclists came in, father and his two early 20’s kids.  They are going as far as Ticonderoga, NY, since his daughter is starting  med school in August and his son starting biz school. They had biked across North Dakota all on the Interstate so had made very good time and looked way too neat and clean (as compared to our somewhat grubby appearances).

We have decided to treat today and tomorrow (both light days) as one rest day. Once we hit the rail to trail path we’ll put in more miles as we aim to get to Minneapolis on Friday.

Shoes climbing the telephone pole all by themselves!

58 miles. No traffic but a headwind depending on which direction the road turned.

As usual, the road out of town (Enderlin) involved an uphill but that turned out to be the most significant of the day since the landscape leveled off – more or less.  The shoulder was non existent in most places but since there was no traffic (Sunday) cruising in the lane wasn’t a problem. After 28 miles or so our route turned north and then we had the wind at our backs.  The roadway was rougher with a lot of expansion joints but having a tail wind was compensation for the bumps. The route zig zagged east then north then east then north so we were in and out of the favorable wind until we turned north for the final 10 mile wind aided run into Fargo.

We passed miles of wheat fields then a few miles of sugar beets then corn then the pattern repeated itself. I joked that we are in no danger as a country of having a corn shortage. Maja said that someone mentioned that most of the corn here is used for ethanol production.

Not quite amber but still waves of grain. It was interesting to me to read Maja’s comment from a few days ago that she rode along humming patriotic songs because I, too, have had America the Beautiful in my head.  I’m glad she said something since it’s not as though we pedal along side by side singing songs of national pride to each other all day!

Then sugar beets.

The dividing line between the two crops. This farmer is adept at using his GPS.

Once into Fargo we had stopped to check directions to our Warm Shower hosts in Moorhead, MN (just across the river) when a woman stopped to ask if we needed help. She proceeded to bend Maja’s ear for 20 minutes about her family, nursing homes, her personal history etc. and finally gave us two small American flags so now we are decked out for the 4th.

We found our hosts’ house complete with welded steel dinosaurs, cast aluminum fence decorations, 3 dogs and 5 cats!

Our plan was to spend the 4th with these people as a rest day but after looking at the weather forecast and the projected wind and rain data going forward we decided to head out on the 4th and use the rest day later on. So tomorrow we head deeper into Minnesota and will hook up with the 110 mile long rail to trail path to St. Cloud.