Today was a much better day with much improved weather. We started the morning crossing over the Mississippi River on the Cass Street bridge. This is where Chris gave up the mapping responsibilities to Katie. As we got into LaCresent MN, we had a little troubling finding the route. After getting things sorted out, we started with a steep climb for a mile or two, gaining over 400 feet of elevation. It was tough and the two-wheeled riders ended up doing some walking to make it up, but from the top the view was amazing.

We were doing well riding along the ridge top and came upon a Kwik Trip near Nodine where we stopped to eat lunch. After lunch we ran into some road construction, but the workers allowed us to go through. It was a little challenging because the paved surface was torn up leaving soft gravel for us to ride on.

Once we got onto highway 61 we started making some great time. It was very smooth, small rolling hills, and we were happy to be getting some miles under our belts for the day. As we began planning our day's final destination, we had trouble finding places we could stop for the night. We planned to camp at a state park, but when we arrived it had signs saying "no camping" was allowed. Another small private campground had some campers, but the office was already closed, so off we went to the next small town.

Finally Chris and Katie found a person in a small town bar who were able to help us. They worked at a small campground just a few miles down the road. It was now closed and up for sale, but she said we could stay the night there. It turned out to be an okay place. There was water, soft grass, and best of all, it was FREE! The only downside was the location right on top of a busy railroad line. By this time we were all tired, we put up our tents, ate some food from our bags, and went to sleep to the rumble and whistles of the trains.

This last picture is us playing blisters before we went to our tents.

60 miles (130 total)