Day Twenty-nine

Today has been the most perfect day, ever. I feel completely at peace, like I’ve never felt in my entire life. Chuck and I are in Dalbo, Minnesota at the house of a saint. I took this picture as I blogged this.

I’ll start from the beginning…we got up from our night at the abandoned campground (thanks to the generosity of the Osceola Police Department), and it was a COLD night. We had the flannel sheet that Chuck had bought at the Salvation Army in Winona, but we shared a sleeping bag as a blanket, and it just didn’t work out. We need a blanket! Plus, it doesn’t help that I lost my flannel socks, so my feet were cold. I just can’t sleep if my feet are cold. We managed to get through the night, and in the morning we made coffee and I had a cup of apple sauce and some cheese for breakfast (not much). I headed on the road and Chuck disassembled the camp site.

We had planned on a rendevous in Harris, but a road closure forced a departure from the plan. We ended up meeting in North Branch. It was 12:00, but I was craving breakfasty stuff. We found a place called Joe’s with a sign on the front that said “Breakfast All Day” and there was a parking spot right in front. It was meant to be! We shared a plate of hash browns mixed with onions and cheese and some eggs on top. It was EXACTLY what I had been craving. Apparently Chuck too, since he did all but pick up the plate and lick it clean! I took off down the road, and Chuck went to do laundry.

It was just a beautiful day for a ride, and today was the first day I’ve actually had a pretty good tailwind! Plus, no dogs chased me today, and that’s always a good thing. So far Minnesota is very pretty, but not “amazingly spectacular” so I haven’t stopped to take many pictures. Mostly, just places we stop to eat. I talked to my friend Steve today, and told him about our problems finding places to stay, and he offered to put us up for a night in a motel. I love my friends! We’re going to save it for a time when we really need it (and the motel will definitely have a pool…oh yes, it will have a pool.)

I rode into Dalbo (a town of about 60) and asked some ladies riding by on bikes “Is Dalbo that way?” They laughed and said, “You’re IN Dalbo, and this is rush hour!” I was trying to reach Chuck on my phone, when he pulled up. We had found a place on my ACA map that offered tent sites for cyclists. I had called them, but got voice mail, so I left a message. When I arrived in Dalbo, there was a message from the man: “I have better than a tent site for you; you can have the bunkhouse and there’s a shower if you want it. Not a hot shower, but it’s a shower.” FOR FREE. This guy offers all this to cyclists passing through, at no charge. He has a barn with three bedrooms all set up with pillows and mattresses, and a kitchen with a fully stocked fridge, microwave, coffeepot, pizza oven and toaster. How cool is that???? And it’s all in a beautiful setting. I told Chuck I’d love to do something like this someday, and host people as they were passing through. He said it would be a really cool thing to do. Our host (Donn) mentioned it was a coincidence that I'm doing this for MS, since his wife has MS. She's been on a medication, however, that has almost completely cured her symptoms. I'm so happy that I get to see the research money making a difference in my lifetime!

We got all set up, plugged in all our things that need to be plugged in, and went to a place called “The Dusty Eagle”. I love the name. We had a fish sandwich, played some pool, laughed about the fact that they had pickled turkey gizzards behind the bar, and I tried to win us a 6-pack by throwing dimes into a shot glass…but failed. We went back to the bunkhouse and Chuck’s snoring away. He’s had a busy day, but I know he feels the same way I do about this trip and about today. This is the best adventure either of us have ever had, and the best decision I have ever made. I can’t recommend it highly enough!