| 7/08/05 Friday | Richwood MN |
| 7/09/05 Saturday | Itasca State Park MN |
| 7/10/05 Sunday | Pennington MN |
| 7/11/05 Monday | Grand Rapids MN |
We're camping at Tamarac Lodge about 20 miles past Richwood. We watched stage 7
of the Tour de France on TV. There's not much in the camp store so we ate in
the camp restaurant.
Jim (who dropped out early in the tour) drove up to see us and took us
all out to dinner.
Last night I finally broke free the adjusting bolt on my Brooks saddle and
was able to tighten it up a bit. For the first time on the trip I have been
having some saddle soreness lately which may be due to the sagging saddle.
We're camping at Pennington (MN) Campground. It has a laundry, nice showers,
and a screened room with tables for dinner.
After dinner the owners opened up the bar/store/lounge for us and we
chatted with them and hung around. They love having cyclists. They've
owned the place 5 years.
RonE and I made fruit salad and bought BLT pasta salad and cole slaw.
We also bought a cake with a bicycle on it to commemorate the half-way point
(in days) of the trip.
Tomorrow we start the "Hayward Sortie" a shortcut from the official
Adventure cycling route to save a couple days.
7/08/05 Friday, Richwood MN
76 miles
I had planned to get an early start since temperatures in the 90s were
predicted for today. But a thunderstorm lasted until 7:30 or so so I
hung around in the tent for awhile. Don and Brendan rode ahead to Itasca
to reserve our campsites for Saturday.
7/09/05 Saturday, Itasca State Park MN
40 miles
Don and Brendan rode 120 miles yesterday to reserve our campsites at Lake
Itaska park. Since it was a Saturday and they only allow 2 tents per site,
we would not have gotten in otherwise.
Jim also drove me the couple miles to see the headwaters of the Mississippi.
That's RonP and Jeanne in the photo wading across the Mississippi River.
Jim will camp with us overnight if the camp cops don't notice we have 3
tents on one site.
7/10/05 Sunday, Pennington MN
56 miles
We crossed the Mississippi several times today. A fellow stopped us
to warn about a torn-up road and discuss alternate routes. Later a lady
stopped to suggest a side road and found that Don and she had a common
acquaintance.
Bemidji MN claims Paul Bunyan for its own.
7/11/05 Monday, Grand Rapids MN
70 miles
I rode with Don and Maddy again. It was hot but not as bad as yesterday.
Brendan is writing a detailed history of this trip and sends installments
home by email almost every day. We have found that most towns have
libraries with free Internet access. If you're looking for Brendan, just
head for the library. (Photo thanks Brendan)