No Artificial Color

To Otsego, Minnesota -- 58.8 miles, 11.6 mph, 1375 ft

After three days off the bike, we are back on the road. Although I'm almost afraid to mention it, for the first time in weeks, my left knee did not hurt. We got a pretty good start leaving our home for three days, the Lakeville Quality Inn, at 8:00.

For the next few days we will be deviating from our consistent westerly path and start heading north to Fargo, North Dakota. This will allow us to join up and follow the “Northern Tier” bicycle route all the way to Missoula. Missoula happens to be a fairly major crossroads for many bicycle routes partly because Adventure Cycling Association, which publishes more than a dozen bicycle routes across the country, is headquartered there. Their original route, the Trans America trail was inaugurated in 1976 to commemorate the 200 year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The trail extends from Yorktown, Virginia (start of the Revolutionary War) to Astoria, Oregon (end of the Oregon Trail). It was this trail that I embarked on during the summer of 1997, after my first round the world trip. (As the family would say, when I was single and unhappy!)

Today, we once again had biking company. This time it is my brother, Don, who will be riding with us until North Dakota, before jumping on a train for home in California. Recently retired, he seems intent on packing in as many physical activities as possible. Last summer, while we all were riding in Europe, he was hiking the northern half of the Appalachian Trail. This summer, he decided he would ride to Jamie’s graduation starting in New Orleans. For some reason he thought that riding along the Mississippi from New Orleans alone was better than riding from Boston with us. Go figure!

Since our bike route happened to pass just a few blocks away from Jamie and Lucas’ place, we got one last chance to see Jamie, Lucas, and Joan (and Lionel) before continuing on our way north.

Don and Meg after a quick ride from Lakeville

Me and Lionel.  Good kitty!

Today turned out to be a beautiful day with good trails and roads along the Mississippi. Although the headwinds at the end of the day made the pedaling a bit harder, all in all, it was one of our better, warmer, and sunnier days.

Rest stop

Blue slushy tongue

We snuck Uncle Don into our super-sized Holiday Inn room, and then, as a special treat, went out to Uncle Don’s favorite restaurant, Denny’s.

Hmm.  Too much stuff.

Happy Grad

Lakeville, Minnesota -- Sun-Tue, May 28-30 -- Rest Days

Sunday was the big day -- Jamie’s graduation from St Olaf’s school of nursing. Our slow but steady pace paid off, so we were able to share in the festivities. I'm sure Mom and Dad -- Joan and Don --were super proud and perhaps a little relieved to have these four years at the small, out of state, private university, at an end. Unlike many graduates, Jamie already has a job lined up to start in August. For the time being, she's decided she likes being a midwestern girl and will stay in Minneapolis for a while. Graduation day was bright and sunny. I'm told there are dozens of days a year like this!

The day was filled with non-stop graduation events -- brunch at 10:30, pinning ceremony at noon, full graduation at 3:30, and a family dinner at 7:00. My dad's cousin and wife, Al and Marilyn, drove out from Minneapolis for the big event. Although I have heard about Al and Marilyn all of my life, the one and only time I met them I was just four. Al and Dad grew up together, and when my dad's parents died, he went to live on the family farm (in North Dakota) with them.

Don, Jaime, Lucas, and Joan

For the last couple days of our riding break, we were able to explore Minneapolis. To Dex and Kylie’s ultimate dismay, none of the activities were mini golf or watching a movie. On the bright side, we got to spend tons of time with family -- Don, Joan, Jamie, and De Ann, and, when he wasn’t working, Jamie’s boyfriend, Lucas. We even got to meet their friendly (though somewhat chubby) cat, Lionel (sorry Jaime). Although we adore dogs, the Hoornaert family is considering a feline companion when we return home. Must be friendly as a dog but capable of spending weekends on it's own.

Since yesterday was Memorial Day, we did our patriotic duty and -- what else -- went to the Mall of America. What could be more patriotic than that?  Purportedly, this is the largest mall in the US, which was pretty easy to believe. Inside is an entire amusement park, which, of course, we had to test out. Even Uncle Don and Aunt De Ann got in on the act.

The rest of our time was spent either exploring the area... or eating. The Minnihaha falls and the Weissman Art Museum are two of the notable tourist attractions we visited.

Minihaha Falls

Weissman Museum

And since De Ann had never actually seen the Mississippi, Jamie walked us over to the Stone Arch Bridge where early last century stood dozens of flour mills. For more than fifty years, starting in 1880, Minneapolis was the flour milling capital of the world. Not only was the Mississippi used to power the mills, but being on the river made distribution south a relative snap.

On Tuesday afternoon, it was time to say good bye to De Ann. Some of "us," apparently, have work to do!

Riding to Rest

To Lakeville, Minnesota -- 64.2 miles, 14.0 mph, 1650 ft

Yeah. We made it. Yet another major way point as we rolled into the Quality Inn in Lakeville, sixteen miles north of St Olaf’s college where my niece Jamie will graduate tomorrow.

The day started out beautifully. As we rode along the wide shoulder of highway 61, we counted the passing train cars and even tried to keep ahead of the bright red engines. Along the way, my brother Don texted that he, Joan (his wife), and Jamie, (his daughter) would be at Bev’s Cafe in Red Wing for breakfast, just ten miles up the road. Awesome, this would be the first time in more than a year that we’d see them (and, an added bonus, our second breakfast of the morning!)

Us with Joan and Jamie

After a fun meal together, we hopped back on the bikes at 11:00, still with 48 miles to go -- most likely, four plus hours of pedaling. To our surprise, a few miles later we started climbing what was surely our longest climb since New York. Fortunately, the grade was moderate, and we were all feeling good as a blanket of clouds filled the skies… and then the rain set in.

Out came the rain jackets, except for Meg’s as she prefers to stay cool. The rain stopped after an hour, but we all agreed, it’s much less fun riding in the wind and rain. Still, we kept on going knowing we would soon be with De Ann, Don, Joan, and Jamie. And, since everyone would be around through Tuesday, we would now have not just one, or two, but three rest days in a row! Hopefully, our legs would be feeling a little less sore.

Don and Jamie

Kylie and Dex back with Aunt De Ann

Lake City

To Lake City, Minnesota -- 62.8 miles, 14.0 mph, 1200 ft

Today, the roads were smooth and fast.  Meg was sure our speed was due to a tail wind. I figured we were just awesome, though the hard asphalt shoulders, as opposed to the dirt trails, probably made a difference. By noon, we were in Alma, 37 miles in. Good thing too; my blood sugar was getting low. Meg and Dex were just a distant speck, so Kylie and I wolfed down a couple Pop Tarts to fuel us the last few miles.

Soon after lunch, our time in Wisconsin came to an end as we crossed over the Mississippi. Although the woman at the cafe had warned us about highway 61 on the other side of the river, it wasn't bad at all. The road was busy, but the shoulder was awesome -- plenty of room and smooth pavement. Kylie and I and Meg and Dex reviewed some state capitals as we rode, and, before we knew it, were only a few miles from town. So much better than just counting down the miles.

The mightly Mississippi

Our lodging for the night was the AmericInn, just across the road from Lake Pepin.  After taking a dip in the pool, we headed out for food and were astonished to see how bright it was at 6 p.m., but then again, we hadn’t seen the sun at this time of day for at least a week.

Embarrassingly, we were happy to simply walk across the parking lot to the next door Burger King. I must say, my Whopper tasted mighty good. Dex and Kylie went back to split three more Mini Whoppers. Since we were still not completely satisfied, we walked the half mile down the road to the Dairy Queen for Blizzards! We’re definitely going to have to change our eating habits in a couple months.