Saturday, May 9, 2009

The middle

Hey,


So now we are in Minnesota! Long Prairie to be specific. Doing the rest of WI was for the most part fairly uneventful. Except that Nick was stricken with what cyclists refer to as the ID, or Inflation Dysfunction. 4 flats in 3 days. We were also rained upon by a huge rain storm, though I suppose what else is new? The one thing that really impresses me about the mid-west is the sky. In NY whenever you look up most of your view is interrupted by trees. Here there are certainly a fare share of trees, though it seems that they are spread out far enough that one can observe the weather in every direction. For example, when we were caught in that giant rain storm we were able to actually watch the entire weather system as it got closer, morph and swirl away as it departed.
After that day we were blessed by beautiful weather all the way into MN. In Dalbo MN, pop. 50 maybe, we met a man named Don Olson. One day about 6 years ago he was in his front yard watering some plants when he spotted two cyclists off in the distance. It was a hot day in July and the county road that passes Don's house was not yet finished. As he observed the bikers pushing their fully loaded rigs through the hot dirt/sand road, he asked them if they would like something to drink. The rest, as they say, is history. Now Don's house is a landmark on the Adventure Cycling maps that Nick and I are using on this trip. Don's house/ front lawn is now a haven for any touring cyclist passing through the area. Don is a great guy with tons of stories and a lot of spirit. He showed us around his farm and answered all our city-boy questions about what does what and why. After a great nights sleep and some showers we were on the road again. Now we are just rolling through MN, we will be in Fargo North Dakota in 2 days. We would be there sooner, but today was the latest start of the trip, and cost us a lot of miles. It wasn't even our fault. Ask me about it later, Im still a bit upset about the whole thing. Tomorrow is Mother's Day so don't forget!!!! I know I wont. Sorry again, no pictures, so there is nothing cool to look at after all this blabber you just muddled your way through, hehe. Soon though, I promise. Maybe even later this evening. Oh yeah, one more thing. The second we rolled into town a man rode up to us on his bike and asked if we needed a lawn to camp in! People are nice. talk to you later.

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