We spent two nights in Avon, MN at the home of Jan and Mary. It was wonderful to be in a home again. They took us out for a great mexican dinner. The next day was a beautiful sunny day. Several of their family came over with their kids. There was a houseful of kids. Maybe this is getting us ready for all of our new babies next fall! We enjoyed the family time with them. We took a pontoon boat ride on the lake. It was really interesting to see all of the fish on the "fish finder" (I don't know what you really call them) on the boat. We kept looking for the Mississippi Missy that we heard on the river, but I guess they don't go into lakes. Maybe Bing can explain that to us!
We got up Sunday morning and left their house heading for New London. It was very hot again and to add to the fun, we had a huge headwind. Headwind Hap rises again! We felt like turtles moving along. While we were riding we got a phone call from someone and we stopped to answer the phone. Aren't cell phones great???? As I was talking on the phone, someone stopped and asked if we needed some help. I think the people in Minnesota are the friendliest people we have ever seen. I can't tell you the number of times people have stopped to talk to us or asked if we needed any help, directions or anything. We stopped in the small town of Richmond for lunch. While sitting their a guy stopped and asked if we needed a place to stay. We could stay in his camper down the street if we needed to. I told him we needed to go alittle further, even with a HEADWIND! So off we went into the wind, singing all of the way. We stopped again in Paynesville to get out of the wind and get something cold to drink. As we were sitting in the park, a lady stopped to talk. She told us about a bike trail called the Glacier Lake Trail that followed Rt 23. We could get on it in Hawick and it went for about 25 miles to Wilmar. We found the trail and just before we got to New London we saw a campground called "Old Wagon". We had had enough of the wind and heat so we stopped for the night. We averaged a whopping 10 mph! The best news was the camping only cost $10/night. And it was clean and had showers. We cooked brauts for supper and headed to bed.
We woke up to the sound of thunder and heavy rain. So we did what most people would do........turned over and went back to sleep! We checked the weather on the computer and it looked like it might clear so we decided to wait it out. We took the computer, food and book over to a shelter and paid some bills and read. The rain finally cleared about 1pm. We decided it was too late to ride, so we stayed another night there. After it cleared up we did go into New London, it was just up the bike trail and did some eating and some shopping. On the way back up the bike trail we saw a lake with a waterski jump on it and a sign that said Little Crow Waterski show. They were just getting ready to practice. They have weekly shows every Friday night. It was really fun to watch them do flips off of the big jump. There was alot of crash and burns. They also did some barefooting and pyramids. When we got back to the tent we just went to bed since we had eaten so much in town!
Today's ride was .............yes.........you guessed it! WINDY. But this time the wind was from the northwest and we were headed southwest. You would think THAT wouldn't be so bad. But with all of our bags on the bike it catches all of the wind. We went into New London for breakfast and to mail a few things. We rode most of the day southwest on Rt 23. We had a huge berm all day until the last few miles. The berm ended so we found a back way into Granite Falls. We stopped for our lunch in Raymond. For lunch we had apples, bagels, peanut butter, and skittles (just to taper off with). It was quite a ride with the sidewind but we may as well get used to it. Someone told us the wind is bad in Minnesota but it is worse in S. Dakota! Mmmm........ We got into Granite Falls and found a campground just on the edge of town along the Minnesota River. It is a nice place and has a shower! We cooked our rice, green beans, chicken and for dessert had pineapple. All day we had been hearing a funny noise in the back wheel so Hap took it apart and found the freehub had loosened. He fixed it and we are good to go. By the way we are still on our original tires! I think we have a world record (for all of our trips anyway) for tire wear! The mosquitos (Minnesota's state bird) chased us into our tent again. I forgot to mention that the temperatures were much cooler today. But did I mention that it was windy!
Until next time...........
We got up Sunday morning and left their house heading for New London. It was very hot again and to add to the fun, we had a huge headwind. Headwind Hap rises again! We felt like turtles moving along. While we were riding we got a phone call from someone and we stopped to answer the phone. Aren't cell phones great???? As I was talking on the phone, someone stopped and asked if we needed some help. I think the people in Minnesota are the friendliest people we have ever seen. I can't tell you the number of times people have stopped to talk to us or asked if we needed any help, directions or anything. We stopped in the small town of Richmond for lunch. While sitting their a guy stopped and asked if we needed a place to stay. We could stay in his camper down the street if we needed to. I told him we needed to go alittle further, even with a HEADWIND! So off we went into the wind, singing all of the way. We stopped again in Paynesville to get out of the wind and get something cold to drink. As we were sitting in the park, a lady stopped to talk. She told us about a bike trail called the Glacier Lake Trail that followed Rt 23. We could get on it in Hawick and it went for about 25 miles to Wilmar. We found the trail and just before we got to New London we saw a campground called "Old Wagon". We had had enough of the wind and heat so we stopped for the night. We averaged a whopping 10 mph! The best news was the camping only cost $10/night. And it was clean and had showers. We cooked brauts for supper and headed to bed.
We woke up to the sound of thunder and heavy rain. So we did what most people would do........turned over and went back to sleep! We checked the weather on the computer and it looked like it might clear so we decided to wait it out. We took the computer, food and book over to a shelter and paid some bills and read. The rain finally cleared about 1pm. We decided it was too late to ride, so we stayed another night there. After it cleared up we did go into New London, it was just up the bike trail and did some eating and some shopping. On the way back up the bike trail we saw a lake with a waterski jump on it and a sign that said Little Crow Waterski show. They were just getting ready to practice. They have weekly shows every Friday night. It was really fun to watch them do flips off of the big jump. There was alot of crash and burns. They also did some barefooting and pyramids. When we got back to the tent we just went to bed since we had eaten so much in town!
Today's ride was .............yes.........you guessed it! WINDY. But this time the wind was from the northwest and we were headed southwest. You would think THAT wouldn't be so bad. But with all of our bags on the bike it catches all of the wind. We went into New London for breakfast and to mail a few things. We rode most of the day southwest on Rt 23. We had a huge berm all day until the last few miles. The berm ended so we found a back way into Granite Falls. We stopped for our lunch in Raymond. For lunch we had apples, bagels, peanut butter, and skittles (just to taper off with). It was quite a ride with the sidewind but we may as well get used to it. Someone told us the wind is bad in Minnesota but it is worse in S. Dakota! Mmmm........ We got into Granite Falls and found a campground just on the edge of town along the Minnesota River. It is a nice place and has a shower! We cooked our rice, green beans, chicken and for dessert had pineapple. All day we had been hearing a funny noise in the back wheel so Hap took it apart and found the freehub had loosened. He fixed it and we are good to go. By the way we are still on our original tires! I think we have a world record (for all of our trips anyway) for tire wear! The mosquitos (Minnesota's state bird) chased us into our tent again. I forgot to mention that the temperatures were much cooler today. But did I mention that it was windy!
Until next time...........
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