Day Twenty-seven

Today wasn’t the most productive of days, but we did make it to St. Paul, Minnesota. Only problem was, I had been trying to do 114 miles today and make it to Stillwater, but I think I biked a grand total of 33 miles. In my defense, the wind was strong in my face, I biked up a mountain and I haven’t had a day off since Wheaton, Illinois!

We started the day by brewing some coffee in our Jet Boil, and this was really the first time it’s been successful, since the coffee I brought wasn’t ground finely enough. Chuck was in charge of the measurements, and it was very tasty! I had a huge breakfast of 2 crackers with a little peanut butter. I had a great breakfast at Jellystone the day before: yogurt with freshly picked blackberries and a little smoked gouda cheese.

I headed down the road, which was a fairly busy 4-lane highway, but it had a wide shoulder. I stopped at the first town and my map promised a restaurant. It looked like a pretty small town, but I had faith. I rode up the hill and found a little bar that looked like it was closed, but I took a chance and tried the door. Sure enough, it was open, even though the place was empty. There was a lady behind the counter and I asked, “Do you serve breakfast?” She said, “Just eggs, bacon and toast”. I said, “That’s fine – just no bacon please.” We chatted a bit and I told her about my ride. She was very friendly, and I enjoyed the conversation. She mentioned 4 young men on bikes had passed through town a few days ago, from Washington on their way to Maine. She didn’t think they were doing it for a charity, just on their own. I mentioned that the donations hadn’t been so good in the Midwest, and she gave me my breakfast for free! Sweet lady.

I rode on with renewed energy (I had been pretty hungry), and Chuck pulled up. He had grabbed a couple of doughnuts in Winona, so that was his breakfast. I grabbed my biking pants, since the temperature had dropped a bit, but I didn’t end up needing them. Chuck headed for Wabasha. This is where we had a bit of a communication breakdown. I thought he would stay in Wabasha and we would have lunch there, but I called him when I was a few miles away and he said he had gone on to Lake City, almost 20 miles away. I was disappointed, especially since I was surrounded by a group of stormy looking clouds, but Chuck’s been so great about everything, there’s no way I could stay upset with him! Right out of Wabasha, I had a huge climb and it was raining on and off.

Eventually, I came to a road closure, and I called Chuck. I was done for the day. We drove to St. Paul and met up with my friend Russell’s brother, Ron. He and his wife, MJ are very sweet and they took good care of us. They have a beautiful house, too. We pulled out the fold-out couch and turned in.