It's been awhile - roughly 380 miles - 7 days

7-22-2010

Because of exhaustion, interesting happenings at night, and a lack of motivation for writing, I've cut down on my blogging quite a bit.  I imagine that I will continue to post less frequently than at the beginning of the trip as our mileage continues to increase and the towns we're in become more interesting.

It was great riding with Bob and Jim, great guys.  I'm hoping that we'll meet up on the ferry across Lake Michigan on Saturday, but that's not a sure thing.

After Fergus Falls we spent a day and a half on the Central Lakes Rail to Trail through central Minnesota.  It was a fun, relaxing ride.  After spending the night in Melrose, we said farewell to Bob and Jim who decided to rejoin the Adventure Cycling route that we had been following for most of our trip.

  After Monticello we crossed the Mississippi river!  pretty neat.

Then shortly after leaving the trail and braving heavy traffic in St. Cloud, we sought shelter in Monticello.  That evening a major thunderstorm blew through the area, as Doug (our Minnesota guide said, "this is the worst storm I've seen in 25 years here.")  there were 75mph winds, large hail, and it sprouted a couple of tornadoes though luckily not where we were sheltering in a motel.

Several trees blocked our passage through the suburbs of St. Paul.  Signs of the strength of the storm the night before.

Then we had a short ride into Shoreview to stay for a day and a half with Doug and Therese.  Therese was glad to be home, but Doug decided that he wanted to trade in his tandem for a single, and continue to Maine with us.

It was very relaxing staying in Doug and Therese's house.  Excellent meals and a very nice atmosphere.  I loved their screened in deck off of their dinning room.

We left their home on Tuesday morning, and after a long hot ride, we made it to Colfax, Wisconsin.  A nice park, but the drinking water wasn't very tasty and there weren't picnic tables nearby.

Yay we made it to another state.  Don, Joe and I wanted a picture, Doug is taking it and Jeff is walking up the incredibly steep hill that met us right across the border.

Then we had a major 90 mile day to Cherokee, WI only to find out that their park isn't really a campground.  However, while asking around for the police's phone number, we were invited to stay the night in someone's backyard.  She even let us use her bathroom for showers!  pretty fantastic and so generous.

Freshly remodeled.  The kind of home I'd like to have one day.  Very airy and on a large piece of property.

We woke up to rain in the morning, but started riding in good spirits.  That didn't last long.  The wind quickly picked up, blowing the rain right into our faces and down our jackets.  Pretty quickly, the rain had completely soaked everyone.  After a welcome break from the rain, and a hot breakfast in Mosinee, we decided that it wasn't worth the discomfort of riding on.  This is supposed to be a fun ride after all.

Despite the rain the next day, we were all hotted out when we saw the sign for Watermelons.  Needless to say, we all sat down and ate an entire melon, boy was it tasty!

Tomorrow we'll try for a big day to make up for only riding 30 miles today.  We're supposed to have clearing skies and a strong west wind, which should help push us towards 100miles or so.