Hayward, WI - July 13 & 14

Hitterdale, MN - Tuesday, July 4th

We were scheduled to camp at Richwood, but that campground was closed, so we had an option of Callaway, but they apparently have no water at the campground, so we took our 3rd choice: Hitterdale. It is a small Lions Club municipal park in the center of town. The town consisted of one service station with a few snacks and groceries, and a bar. The bar was closed since this was a holiday. There was also a post office and some storefronts of closed shops and businesses. The park was nice: it even had running water, so we could take a sponge bath in the restroom.

The closest fireworks were about 7 miles away, so we were not able to enjoy fireworks - just fire crackers by the local kids.

With great foresight, Cal and Andy had bought groceries at a town about 20 miles before Hitterdale, so we had a good meal.

The land is getting hillier. There are a lot of small ponds (they call them lakes) ringed with cat-tails among the farm lands. The only crop we are now seeing are beans and corn.

Itaska, MN - Wednesday, July 5

We did some backtracking today. After about a mile on the road, we had to turn around due to construction...we ended up riding about 10 miles on gravel, which was the best alternate route. The day was 78 miles, but I still feel good.

We are now seeing White Birch trees, and I feel like I am in 'the northwoods'. We camped at Bear Paw campground in Itaska State Park. That park has the source of the Mississippi River, and we crossed it a lot as we and the river meandered south-east.

The nearest grocery store was about 20 miles before the campground, and Linda & I were cooks; so Andy and Cal I think, pitched in and bought and hauled about half the food...a great help. The park was pretty noisy, but still pleasant.

Pennington, MN - Thursday, July 6

We rode by the Paul Bunyan and Babe statute and took lots of photos. We had a good day due to a light quartering tail wind. We camped at the Camp Pennington Campground. This is a true 'northwoods' fishing resort...just like I remember visiting with Karen's family and friends when we were newlyweds. The camp also had a fire pit, with comfortable chairs abound a roaring fire, and lots of wood to burn.

After supper, Hans rode 1.5 miles down a gravel road for desert: ice cream!

Grand Rapids, MN - Friday, July 7

We are camping at the county fairgrounds - the best fairgrounds yet. Quiet, clean, good showers, lots of big oak trees for shade. Andy & I sneaked into the auto race track and watched the cars for a couple of minutes. Andy left just before I was discovered and asked to leave. There was a thunderstorm at daybreak - the rain ended just as we were finishing breakfast.

We met Tom, a coast to coast rider from Fairbanks, Alaska. We have met a lot of riders, but I have not mentioned them until because there were so many. Tom is the first rider we have seen since Hitterdal. Like most riders, he is young, male, and rides about 100 miles per day.

Palisade, MN - Saturday, July 8

We are at a county park on the banks of the un-mighty Mississippi. The park has about 15 camping spaces, a nice covered picnic pavilion, two out-houses, and one cold water spigot. Not even a private place for a sponge bath. There were, however nice places to pitch a tent in the shade, and a good grocery store was nearby.

I have been carrying an American flag, and the 'pole' broke. At the grocery store, they gave me a metal clothes hanger so I could make repairs: works fine now. Also at the grocery store, they told Andy where to find a seamstress to make some modifications to his tent. Andy now has a bug-free tent.

We met a local woman whose family was fishing at the park. She liked to talk and ask questions, and we had a hard time finishing our nightly 'map meeting' because of her comments and questions.

For supper we had soft shell tacos with lots of refried beans. Yum. The left over beans and taco wraps made a great lunch the next day.

Isle, MN - Sunday, July 9

Camped in the picnic grounds at the Father Hennepin State Park. Very nice! We arrived with the aid of a nice tailwind, and there is a nice cool breeze blowing in off the lake - the largest lake in Minnesota. I had a great shower, and had a nice nap, which I always enjoy.

Andy arrived with a new coffee percolator so he can enjoy 'real' coffee.

As a group, we agreed to a layover day at Bay City, Michigan on July 29 (we will spend July 28 and 29 evenings there). So Andy's wife will drive up from Kentucky, and my wife will drive up from South Bend so Andy and I can can spend a couple of days with our wives. I can hardly wait!

Cambridge, MN - Monday, July 10

Some problems with getting a campground again. Andy tried to set us up at church, but couldn't get a confirmation. The fairgrounds was 'plan B'. We met at Wal-Mart in Cambridge to see where we would be for the night. Turned out that we were forced to plan B, but it worked out ok. The Wal-Mart was only 1/2 mile from the fairgrounds so we had easy grocery shopping. Andy and Cal cooked: we had cream cheese sandwitches for a box lunch the next day. We seem to be judging campgrounds by the quality of their showers. These were ok.

I also made a 'beer run' at the Wal-Mart. In Minnesota, grocery stores can only sell 3.2% beer. The Miller High-Life packaging looked like all Miller High-Life, except 3.2% was stamped (in hard to read printing) on the outside of the carton. I also bought batteries for my camera and GPS.

We had a light side-wind most of the day.

Osceola, MN - Tuesday, July 11

We stayed at the Interstate State Park in Wisconsin. We knew ahead of time that we were staying at the Interstate Campground, but we had no idea it was a state park. It is located between Dresser and St. Croix Falls. Some teen-age boys told us about a shortcut from the campground to the highway. That shortcut saves us about 5 miles and a big climb out of the park. So we used the shortcut and walked back into Taylor Falls, Minnesota for supper. We ate at a 1950's root beer drive-in.

Haugen, WI - Wednesday, July 12

Today it was in the 90's with a light variable wind, and we had a warm muggy night. I took a 15 mile shortcut.

We stayed at the Shady Rest Campground and Bar, which was a decent campground with a nice little sand and gravel swimming beach on a lake. We had a good time at the bar, where we had Pizza for supper and struck up a conversation with Rod, who camps there frequently. The next morning he gave us some venison summer sausage which was excellent. Cal whipped me bad in a game of pool.

Hayward, WI - Thursday & Friday, July 13 & 14

We had a nice 5 - 10 mph tailwind, but the temperature hit 97. We stayed at a nice KOA north of town, where I took advantage of their nice swimming pool and even shot some basketball. I find myself using sunscreen daily.

I made great use of the day off. I was unable to get enough computer time at the library, so I could only complete part of this post. (I am finishing up in St. Ignace, MI) At the Blue Moon Bike Shop, I bought a new helmet because my old one was cracked. I noticed the crack a few days ago, and it is gradually getting larger. I also bought a suspension seat post, hoping that it will ease my saddle sores, and a new Phillips screwdriver. I looked carefully at kickstands, like Hans has, but their stands will not fit my bike because my aluminum tubes are too large. Kickstands are really convenient though. I also made a post-office run, and sent some more stuff home. The biggest thing I sent home were my fleece pants. I haven't used them since we got out of the mountains.

In town, Andy, Cal & I were at a bar where Cal offered to play a game of pool with a local. To make a long story short, the local guy declined and indicated he did not like tourists.