July 15 through 19
Fargo, ND; Pelican Rapids, MN; Brandon, MN; Melrose, MN; Dalbo, MN
On our way to Fargo, the six of us stopped for “second breakfast” at the Morning Glory Cafe in Kindred, North Dakota. A fellow introduced himself to us as Ron, and expressed his admiration for the cyclists he often encounters as they come through. When he was younger he worked in a bike shop in Seattle and rode every day. It was easy to tell he was quite nostalgic in his recall of his story. Upon asking for our checks, we found out Ron had picked up the tab for us.
Fargo is on the eastern end of North Dakota and represents an end to what most cyclists refer to as the “worst” part of the ride on the Northern Tier. I can’t say I disliked riding through North Dakota. It wasn’t the most scenic state in a conventional sense, but on a bicycle there is always plenty to become familiar with if you look.
These little lake are referred to as "pot holes". They are all over eastern ND. They are not spring-fed, they just collect rain and snow.
On arrival in Fargo the Teachers separated to visit a relative of Meg’s. Sallie and I picked up her new tent at the post office, I needed some items from the bike shop, and we were in need of some bungee cords.
We had not taken a day off in 22 days since Sallie’s birthday on June 24, so we decided to shut it down for a day and maybe take in the street festival taking place on Broadway Street. As it turned out, it was our good fortune to meet up once again with Ryan Conaughty and make the acquaintance of Jenny, a Northern Tier rider we’d heard about for some time coming up behind us.
We entered Minnesota on July 17 and soon were greeted with roads that had actual curves and rolling hills. That was quite a change for us as we’ve had roughly 1,000 miles each of mountains followed by farm land.
The route we take in Minnesota has over a hundred miles of rail-to-trail that is part of several hundred miles reserved for this purpose going through the Central Lakes area. All of these are paved with asphalt and I’d like to think this was all designed for bicyclists and hikers, however if you pay attention to the signage, it’s obvious these serve a dual purpose as snowmachine trails in the winter. Nonetheless, this is a great asset for the state of Minnesota. They even have a stretch we rode designated as “Lake Wobegon Trail”. No, Lake Wobegon is not on that trail – sorry – keep looking.
Hardwood tree canopy on the Lake Wobegone Trail
We also crossed the Mississippi River while entering the eastern portion of Minnesota. That’s always an event in crossing the country. While the mighty Mississippi is not that wide this far north, the river is up a little right now as the week before some areas here got 10 inches of rain or more.
Oh, and then we saw this…
Hmmm…
Lake Woebegone Trail! So jealous!
A pinto steer!