Mileage for today was 73 miles with cloudy skies and cooler temperatures. Wonderful biking weather.
After packing up this morning and meeting up with Michelle and Steve we stopped at the local restaurant in Lansing, Iowa for breakfast. There were trivia questions on the table so we went around the table asking each other questions. Mr. Steve is very good at sports trivia and obviously enjoys the game.
Heading out of town on highway 26 we encountered a hill that we ended up walking up - not too serious of a hill but we decided to walk it versus grinding away on it. New Albin was only about 12 miles up the river and we stopped to use the rest rooms and visited with some of the locals. We were told that we were within 10 miles of Dorchester, Iowa but it was in the opposite direction. Just out of New Albin we crossed into Houston County, Minnesota. So now we have biked in 3 states within the last 24 hours.
We took pictures of entering Minnesota sign and came across a painted turtle that we took pictures of. It has been wonderful joking and visiting back and forth with Steve & Michelle. Continuing north on 26 we viewed beautiful overlooks of the Mississippi rivers with barge traffic and train traffic on both shores (Minnesota & Wisconsin sides).
We stopped at a little bar/grill about 2 miles south of Brownsville where there was an older gentleman tending bar. He enjoyed telling us stories of other bikers that have biked thru the area. He even had to come out and take a look at our bikes before we left.
Upon arrival in LaCresant we had lunch with Steve & Michelle before they headed back to Wisconsin. We have so enjoyed the time that we were able to spend with them and miss the two of them already. Hopefully we will get to bike with them again soon.
After saying our goodbyes we headed out of LaCresant - oh my, what a long hill to get out of that town and to the top of the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi river. Once again, WOW, WOW, WOW! You can see for miles and it is absolutely beautiful in every direction. We biked along the bluffs for approximately 20 miles with glances of the Mississippi and the beautiful wooded areas and apple orchards.
We biked thru the town of Nodine and to a Kwik Trip truck stop along I90. John has gotten a heat rash on his leg where his biking shorts rub and so he went into the truck stop and applied a band aid to where it was rubbing. We then headed towards Pickwick which is on County Road 7 which was a horrible stretch of road but beautiful rolling hills and wood scenery. We then went back onto highway 61/14 along the side of the Mississippi river all the way to Winona.
Once we got checked into our hotel we took off and biked to the laundromat to wash our clothes. While we were there we were surprised by a phone call from our friends, Deb & Dennis, who offered to drive from 30 miles away to take us to dinner. We had such a wonderful time together sharing fajitas and beers and then a beautiful drive up to Garvin park to an overlook of the city of Winona.
Hopefully Deb & Dennis will be able to meet up with us on Saturday and spend a day or two biking with us as we headed west from Stillwater to North Dakota. We are sure it is only a matter of time before Deb & Dennis go on the same type of bike adventure as we are now on.
We are so blessed to have so many people that are such good friends and family members interested in hearing how we are doing and to be able to share this adventure with them.
Total mileage as of today is 539 - WOW, do you know how far 500 miles is?
After packing up this morning and meeting up with Michelle and Steve we stopped at the local restaurant in Lansing, Iowa for breakfast. There were trivia questions on the table so we went around the table asking each other questions. Mr. Steve is very good at sports trivia and obviously enjoys the game.
Heading out of town on highway 26 we encountered a hill that we ended up walking up - not too serious of a hill but we decided to walk it versus grinding away on it. New Albin was only about 12 miles up the river and we stopped to use the rest rooms and visited with some of the locals. We were told that we were within 10 miles of Dorchester, Iowa but it was in the opposite direction. Just out of New Albin we crossed into Houston County, Minnesota. So now we have biked in 3 states within the last 24 hours.
We took pictures of entering Minnesota sign and came across a painted turtle that we took pictures of. It has been wonderful joking and visiting back and forth with Steve & Michelle. Continuing north on 26 we viewed beautiful overlooks of the Mississippi rivers with barge traffic and train traffic on both shores (Minnesota & Wisconsin sides).
We stopped at a little bar/grill about 2 miles south of Brownsville where there was an older gentleman tending bar. He enjoyed telling us stories of other bikers that have biked thru the area. He even had to come out and take a look at our bikes before we left.
Upon arrival in LaCresant we had lunch with Steve & Michelle before they headed back to Wisconsin. We have so enjoyed the time that we were able to spend with them and miss the two of them already. Hopefully we will get to bike with them again soon.
After saying our goodbyes we headed out of LaCresant - oh my, what a long hill to get out of that town and to the top of the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi river. Once again, WOW, WOW, WOW! You can see for miles and it is absolutely beautiful in every direction. We biked along the bluffs for approximately 20 miles with glances of the Mississippi and the beautiful wooded areas and apple orchards.
We biked thru the town of Nodine and to a Kwik Trip truck stop along I90. John has gotten a heat rash on his leg where his biking shorts rub and so he went into the truck stop and applied a band aid to where it was rubbing. We then headed towards Pickwick which is on County Road 7 which was a horrible stretch of road but beautiful rolling hills and wood scenery. We then went back onto highway 61/14 along the side of the Mississippi river all the way to Winona.
Once we got checked into our hotel we took off and biked to the laundromat to wash our clothes. While we were there we were surprised by a phone call from our friends, Deb & Dennis, who offered to drive from 30 miles away to take us to dinner. We had such a wonderful time together sharing fajitas and beers and then a beautiful drive up to Garvin park to an overlook of the city of Winona.
Hopefully Deb & Dennis will be able to meet up with us on Saturday and spend a day or two biking with us as we headed west from Stillwater to North Dakota. We are sure it is only a matter of time before Deb & Dennis go on the same type of bike adventure as we are now on.
We are so blessed to have so many people that are such good friends and family members interested in hearing how we are doing and to be able to share this adventure with them.
Total mileage as of today is 539 - WOW, do you know how far 500 miles is?
Sounds like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteJust read your entire blog (so far) in one sitting. Really wish we could have joined you! My back is doing well and we did a 60, a 56, and a 53 miler already this week. Another two weeks and we may have been able to keep up with you!
ReplyDeleteMarilyn