Addendum

Girly just informed me that on her first day of orientation she is going camping. Hilarious.

The amazing sag

After a long uneventful drive to kentucky today met up with the girlies who were being entertained by a lovely
Baptist couple. Ate really good food washed it down with sweet tea. Gotta love Kentucky. Will load up the girlies gear in the morning and head out to find a camp spot. I can't believe i am camping again. When will this craziness stop.

Cave-in-rock

Last night Jackie woke me up to let me know raccoons were snooping through our things. I was tired and rolled back over to go to sleep, but Jackie scared them away. Our only casualty was that the coons got our baby wipes.

We had a good day, until the last five miles. Those last miles had some brutally steep hills that were demoralizing after a day of riding. Eventually we made it to the Cave-in-rock state park, 63 miles later. After setting up camp we had dinner at a restaurant in the park, and then walked down to check out the cave. We saw a deer with its baby in our campground, very cute. The cave was very large and cool inside. I couldn't help but imagine it being a perfect bat sanctuary. We are now in our tent (my anti-bug sanctuary) and relaxing before an early nights sleep. Tomorrow we cross the Ohio River into Kentucky and will camp in Sebree.

SAG WAGON

Today katy's new car (AKA THE SAG)

was purchased. A big thank you to katy's uncle John for hanging with the mom through this ordeal. 

"Would you rather spend 4 hours talking to a car salesman, or, sandpaper the a** of an alligator in a phone booth, or, pedal a bike 1000 miles at 90 degrees and 95% humidity?"

"What was that second one again"

Anyway the deal is done. Should be

off to join the girlies on thursday. 

3000 miles

This morning Jackie an I woke from a restful nights sleep at the hotel. We went down to the continental breakfast and there was another cyclist there. I was evidently feeling very antisocial because I did not even go over to say hello and inquire about his trip. We left with the plan of eating brunch in Murphysboro, about 31 miles into our day. This seemed like it would be a good plan since Murphysboro had a sizable population of 10,000 people. Definitely large enough to sustain a diner or cafe. We were totally wrong. After pedaling through the main strip of town and asking around, we discovered that out options were McDonalds or Hardees. Instead we picked up some snacks at the Walgreens and planned on eating an early dinner in Goreville when we arrived.

The ride today was hilly and hot. In the morning I quickly surpassed 3000 miles. Wow. After 70 miles we arrived into Goreville, starving. We asked around and three people all recommended that we go to this one restaurant. They were not wrong. The food was excellent and we topped it off with blackberry cobbler and chocolate cake. Fully stuffed, we managed to roll ourselves the remaining 2 miles to the campground where we promptly set up and showered.

Today Jackie broke into a song about sharing and proceeded to sing for the next couple of minutes. The mom would have been so proud. Speaking of the mom, she has purchased the official sag wagon for the remainder of the trip (aka my future car during med school, looks like I will be writing the first of many large checks to my parents!). It remains to be determined when she will make the drive down to join us. Jackie and I are hoping it is before we hit the bulk of the Appalachians.

A glorious ride to Sheboygan

Left early this morning for a 75 mile ride from elm grove to Sheboygan.
Weather was threatening but cleared after the first 20 miles. Rode out of the Milwaukee area into the countryside of Wisconsin. Great trail system. Lots of deer and bunnies. Also flat flat flat. This is the ride I have been waiting for all these weeks. Amazing!!!!! Tonight my brother made seafood fettuccini. Sooo good. Nora, it may have rivaled your cooking. Maybe not he didn't do it on a campstove. Good to see more family. Maybe a short ride tomorrow, but looking to buy a car tomorrow, may not have time.

Enough with the weather!

Last night another huge thunderstorm system passed nearby our campsite and kept us up for part of the night. We had hoped to wake up early and get a good start on our day; however, when the alarm clock was scheduled to go off, I check the radar and saw a large red blob that was nearly the size of Missouri. Needless to say, we were not going anywhere for a long time. It wasn't until after ten o'clock that we left on the tail end of the last thunderstorm. Even though we had a late start to the day, our ride was very pleasant and not nearly as hilly as yesterday. Large portions of it had me wishing for my road bike.

The fear of afternoon thunderstorms kept us mashing on our pedals and we made great time into Chester, arriving a little after four. 60 miles in total. We immediately ordered a pizza and cheesy bread upon arrival, knowing it would be at our door soon after we were done showering. It is great to air out our camping things, do laundry, and relax knowing that we will be safely indoors for any thunderstorms tonight.

Chester is the home of Popeye and there is a large statue coming across the bridge. If you look closely, you can see the can of spinach between his feet!

Tomorrow we ride to Ferne Clyffe State Park, just outside of Goreville, IL. The forecast looks promising!

Glorious

Arrived at Nora's after a 7 hour car ride. Went for a 10 mile ride. Glorious.
Tomorrow off to Sheboygan.

Ozarks

Today Jackie and I rode 55 miles to the St Francois State Park. This was Jackie's first fully loaded day and she sure got trial by fire. It was already 70+ degrees out this morning when we left and 97 percent humidity. Yuck. The temperatures rose to the mid 80s throughout the day while the humidity only slightly dipped. To top it off, we had an extremely hilly day traversing the Ozarks.

We arrived into the campground and set up the tent before showering. Just as we finished our showers, a thunderstorm moved in. It poured for two straight hours. We had to move our tent because an impromptu drainage river began running right through it. I am getting really tired of weather events. The thunder, lighting, and rain finally stopped and Jackie and I made dinner. Unfortunately, the camp host said another storm should be rolling through around midnight. I hope it doesn't. I need my beauty sleep!

We saw a lot of turtles and armadillos today alongside the road. Jackie manage to go a day without killing anything (however right now she is on an all out hunt to kill a fly that is in the tent).

Tomorrow we are going to Chester. We may stay in a hotel/motel if the weather is still poor.

Another long narrow bridge

Nora, Christine and I were heading down the road in front of the girls. We crossed the Missouri River bridge. Nora immediately said we have to turn around and escort them over. So we did. Everyone over safely. How are they going to cross the rest of the bridges on the way to NC?

Blood on her hands

During our ride today, Jackie and I were descending down a hill when a squirrel ran out onto the road directly under Jackie's wheels. I heard the crunch and just narrowly avoided the body. We both screamed for the next mile, and then proceeded to laugh for the mile after that. At the next turn in the road I told Jackie that we needed to take a break so I could regroup.

We also saw an armadillo today (dead) and outraced a lightening storm. Excite!

It is the last day with Nora, Christine, and the mom. Sad.

No pictures for today. Sorry. Hopefully more tomorrow. We are headed to the St Francois State Park.

The end of the ride for the mom

After much thought the mom has decided to end her journey. Girly needs to be in NC July 13th. With almost 1200 miles still to go we determined that in order for the mom to make it more time is needed. Time she does not have.
Anyway this has been an amazing physical and mental journey. Almost 3000 miles of peddling. One I will never forget. Thank everyone for all the support.
I will be driving to elm grove with nora Vrakas on Sunday and then Riding my bike up to Sheboygan to see my mom. If anyone in the area wants to get together I will be in town until Thursday , then flying to NC, renting a car, finding the girls and sagging for them.
Again the trip of a lifetime. Amazing.

Nora Vrakas reporting from the Katy Trail

This is Nora Vrakas reporting from the goofing around tent at the Katy Trailhead as a guest blogger.

I started the day watching the sun rising over the Mississippi River while the others sacked in. The motel was wonderful and owned by the Indian man who kindly shuttled us to the car yesterday.

Next Donuts in town and conversation with some very rowdy doobie smoking, Food Inc veterans. The real riders hit the road while Christine and I headed to the Kroger to replenish the cooler. On the drive out, we ran into some closed roads due to road construction. Those are my people and I organized with them to let the others through when they got there on the bikes.

Christine and I were forced to drive the detour and reached our parking spot at this amazing state park. Miles of wooded hills really green. We jumped on our bike and began cranking back toward the other just dying. We are on super light weight race bikes and cannot imagine how the real riders are getting their heavy bikes with gear up those crazy hills. We passed them about 15 miles out and decided to give them the car keys and keep going
North as it was a perfect day. Chistine kicked my butt up and down the hills as usual. She rocks.

We looped back and found Jayne at the car waiting for us. The girlies were pushing to complete 80 miles and the mom has come to the point where she is done. She is so amazing ! After just three days on this ride I cannot imagine what she has achieved. Wow! Very tough.

So we put her bike on the roofrack and headed toward the showers in the park. The ranger insisted that we register for a site before using them even though we had no intention of staying. So we did and proceeded to the men's shower house as the women's was closed for plumbing. No one around at two in the afternoon. We left the park behind knowing we would not find as beautiful a place to sleep tonight

What we did find after first showing the mom the rigors of sagging, was a little patch of grass in the middle of a village Park in marthasville mo. There is a ballgame going on one side and a country music concert on the other. Down the middle is the Katy trail, a rail to trail route that runs 250 miles through mo. Managed to cook blackbean fajitas w onions peppers and tomatoes in the back of my Subaru. Yum. Watermelon and icec bars topped it off . The cooler is getting empty and we have just one more day with the real riders. On to merimec state park near Sullivan tomorrow.

Some images from the day

For those of you who would like to read Jackie's perspective of the trip, check out her blog at
http://greenmachinejd.blogspot.com

Addendum. The bridge

Nora Vrakas and the rest of us were almost to Louisiana, MO. We just had to cross the bridge over the Mississippi
River. Nora Vrakas balked at going over the bridge. "I'm not going over that thing. (It had no shoulder and quite a bit of traffic). The rest of us all stared at her like "how the heck do you expect is to get across". We decided to cross in force. Christine flagged down a car and they followed slowly behind us. We got across safely. Nora Vrakas survived the crossing.

Nora Vrakas

Today Nora Vrakas along with the rest of us woke up to another cool and cloudy day. Yay! Nora Vrakas made eggs for everyone to eat for breakfast. She is a very skilled campstove cooker. We quickly packed up camp and took off on our bikes. Nora Vrakas (plus Christine) quickly passed us in the car on their way to our next destination.

The winds had shifted today and we had a nice tailwind. Since we had a tailwind our goal was to make it 90 miles to Louisiana, MO (or as Jackie informed us in swim-speak, 9 sets of 10). When we met up with Nora Vrakas and Christine, they informed us that the rest of the route was hilly and parts of the road were closed and washed out. Bummer! Thankfully I had my iPhone and whipped it out. We quickly found a different route that took us to Louisiana. The only problem was that it didn't go back by where Nora Vrakas had parked the car (They didn't make it to Louisiana the other way due to the closed road). Nora Vrakas quickly decided they hadn't done enough miles (only 25 miles so far for them) so they decided to come with us and take the new route to Louisiana and then from there figure out a way to get to the car.

All of us (including Nora Vrakas) made it to Louisiana. It was 87 miles for Jackie, the mom, and me. Nora Vrakas and Christine then had to figure out a way to get to the car, through the closed road. Nora Vrakas struck up a conversation with the motel manager where we were staying and he said he would drive her and Christine and their bikes to the wash out about 15 miles away. Nora Vrakas and Christine arrived at the washout and had to push their bikes through a mile of clay with no road in sight. When they arrived back at the road it was super hilly. Eventually Nora Vrakas got to the car and returned to Louisiana where we promptly ate a feast of pasta and homemade Italian sausage sauce. Yum.

PS I was informed today by Nora Vrakas's publicity manager (her family) that they would like to see more mention of her in the blog :)

No panniers!

Last night as the mom and I were waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive we made friends with Casey. An old lovely yellow lab. During the middle of the night, we got up to go to the bathroom and Casey had come over and was snuggled right up next to our tent. Almost under the rainfly. So cute. We almost wanted to invite her in.

Today we rode 72 miles to Hamilton Illinois. Another state line! There were strong headwinds; however, we easily sliced through them without our panniers. It was unbelievable how much easier it was. Had we had our panniers today, the headwinds would have been downright unbearable and we definitely wouldn't have made it that far. Instead, we had a pleasant ride. Tomorrow the winds should start switching so we are looking to put in another long day since we won't have our weighted bags with us.

I was dive bombed by a cicada today. It was terrifying. They are inch and a half long bugs with creepy, beady red eyes. I have confirmed on this trip that I truly loathe all large creepy bugs. Furthermore, while riding along the Mississippi, there were swarms of mayflies. They must have just hatched. Hopefully they all die tonight.

We had a campfire and bratfry at the campground, chatted with another cyclist we saw, and are now ready for sleep.

The friendliness of Iowinians (part three)

The mom and I were pedaling through Muscatine when an SUV passed us and pulled over in a parking lot about 100 yards ahead of us. A woman got out of the drivers side and started dancing around while giving us the thumbs up. As we got closer she started yelling "good job! Where are you going? Do you need directions? Do you know where your going? Whooooo!". She was very excite and made the mom and my day.

Later in the ride we had stopped along the side of the road to eat some food. A man in a red pickup truck passed us. About five minutes later he came back going the other way and asked us if everything was alright. We told him we were simply taking a break. He wished us luck, turned around, and continued going in the original direction he had been traveling in.

We are currently sitting in the campground waiting for Nora, Jackie, and Christine to join us. Unfortunately they were waylaid by bad weather and will be arriving late. Dang! We had been hoping for a brat fry tonight. Instead it was ramen noodles and instant mashed potatoes.

The night

First let me apologize for the lame blog from yesterday. I was le tired and girly was sleeping. Let me describe the night for you. We were camped at an old abandoned playground, next to a cemetery. There was water and a shelter. But nobody else was around. We were in a town of about 53. The police did do a drive through to check on what we were doing. Anyway like I said girly was sleeping and I was lying in my satchel watching the fireflies being gobbled up by the bats. We were
Right near the woods and there were sooooo many animal sound, I was silently freaking out. Of course then there was the cemetery to think or try not to think about. Finally I fell asleep only to be awaken by lightening. Lots of it. Checked the weather report and a bad storm was bearing down on us. I woke girly and we decided to head for the enclosed shelter. We threw all our stuff into the tent and as we were gathering our sleeping bags and pads a screech came from girly. A frog had jumped into the tent and attacked her. I had to chase it a bit to get it out. We ran down the road to the shelter. Got settled on some old church pews and the rain and wind really started. Just made it. Glad we were there as there were some real cracking thunder going on. Slept pretty good once settled. Still nasty in the morning so we left late for muscatine. Rode in the rain, had a 12 mile detour and then headwinds and heat. Yeah. Made it to a night in the hotel. Resting and relaxing.
Nora, Jackie and Christine joining us late tomorrow.
Pic description. The other day girly used a box of chips ahoy cookies as a carrot to get me down the road. It worked.

The friendliness of Iowinians Part 2

Woke up again this morning to heavy, thick, humid weather. Very hazy. It was going to be a hot one. Stopped for a great breakfast about 23 miles into our ride. An old farmer told us "this is corn growing weather". Had a good ride. Rolling hills. Only one long climb. Saw a group of about 20 people gathered at a house. They all stood up and were
Crazily waving and hollering at us as we rode by. Very friendly. But the best thing is the way they drive when cyclists are around. They always stop and slow To crawl behind you until they are sure it is clear. Really really nice. Anyway onto Muscatine tomorrow.

The friendliness of Iowinians Part 2

Woke up again this morning to heavy, thick, humid weather. Very hazy. It was going to be a hot one. Stopped for a great breakfast about 23 miles into our ride. An old farmer told us "this is corn growing weather". Had a good ride. Rolling hills. Only one long climb. Saw a group of about 20 people gathered at a house. They all stood up and were
Crazily waving and hollering at us as we rode by. Very friendly. But the best thing is the way they drive when cyclists are around. They always stop and slow To crawl behind you until they are sure it is clear. Really really nice. Anyway onto Muscatine tomorrow.

Addendums

Yesterday saw a sign that said "you are now entering and leaving Watson Iowa".

The fireflies at night are amazing. One got in-between the tent and fly. Lit up the whole tent.

Girly continues to herd the cattle with her bike and bell. Career opportunity if med school does not work out.

The mom was summersaulting in the tent yesterday. Made girly laugh so hard once again crying.

Stop touching me it's hot.

A tired ride

Well last night girly and I got a few hours sleep. Relay for life was going on and the dj was blasting tunes all night and the Campground was crazy. First bad night Of camping. So we woke up very tired but continued down the road. Thank goodness elkader had a really good bakery to stop at before leaving town. We had a 40 mile ride with one really badass climb, the view from the top was amazing. No pic though because it was really hazy out. The rest of the day was rolling hills. Nice. Small thunder storm tonight, cooled things slightly. Tomorrow into Oxford junction.

Five big climbs

The mom and I left Lansing this morning in the midsts of the Iowa bluffs on the Mississippi. The night before we had previewed our course by looking at the maps topographical outline and we knew there were five substantial climbs spread throughout the day. They ended up being spaced about every 10 miles. Each one of them ranged from 1-3 miles in length with anywhere from 300-600 feet of elevation gain. Whew! Those would be big climbs on a light road bike, let alone a fully loaded trucker.

Although the climbs were tough, the descents were even better. At one point I turned to the mom and said, "This climbing is like waiting in line for an hour at an amusement park for the roller coaster ride. Then, when the ride is over, you realize it was totally worth it and race your friends back into line." Yeah. The descents were that good.

We arrived after 61 miles into Elkader. After setting up camp and showering, the mom and I walked into town in search of food. We discovered an Algerian restaurant and laughed. The food was excellent and we were both extremely excited to have some different flavors on our taste buds. The owner was a friendly Algerian from Boston who has his PhD from MIT in computer engineering. He decided to move to Elkader because it was named after the Algerian hero who led the revolution against the French control. We also learned that Elkader is the only town named after an Arab in the US.

Now we are sweating on top of our sleeping satchels in the tent. It is still very hot out. The relay for life is going on across the park an we have been listening to local bands, auctioneers, and inspirational speakers through our thin tent walls.

Please note the zebra foot disease in the last picture. The mom would also like for all of you to disregard all other nastiness associated with her feet. Has not had a pedicure in a while.

We have a short day planned for tomorrow into the county campground outside of Dyersville.

The friendliness of the Iowinians

Ok so girly and I are stopped at a remote corner in the middle of nowhere looking at the map. Only one house about a quarter of a mile away. I hear this yelling and there is a man waving like crazy yelling "have a great ride today". Really really excite.

Iowa!

We had a beautiful ride today next to the Mississippi River. It was hot and fast and we made it 68 miles to our destination in Lansing, IA. This part of Iowa is not at all what I had expected. It is exceptionally hilly with steep bluffs. Furthermore, all of the trees are completely covered in ivy. It's very jungley. Tomorrow we have a hilly ride to Elkader. Hopefully the winds stay down so we can have another quick day of riding.

A rainy quick ride

Thunder and lightning all night long not much sleep, but kept nice and warm in the tent. Took a quick 50 mile trip south to Winona in the rain. Not much wind. Scenery was nice but no pics taken, too wet. Decided to get a hotel, some food and watch game 7 of the Stanley cup finals. Yeah bruins. Into Iowa tomorrow to Lansing.

The Mississippi bluffs

Awoke this morning to a tent covered with caterpillars. Gross. After flicking them all off and packing up we had a wonderful ride today In Wisconsin and Minnesota. Very hilly. Damn ice age glacier country. Rode 50 miles today along the St Croix and Mississippi rivers. Rode through some apple orchards and vineyards. The temps are warming up but we have been getting our slushys on.
It has just started to rain(thundering) but we are cozy in our tent. Hope it stops by tomorrow. Had a glorious dinner topped off with the most scrumptious chocolate cake. Yum. We are always hungry. Off to Winona tomorrow.

Bits of the day

Two baby skunks on the road. So cute we wanted to stop and watch for awhile. But we knew better. Where was their mom hiding?

Twisty curvy roads with overlapping trees that touched each other. In the moms family also known as noras kissing trees.

Lots of old red barns that looked like one puff of wind would knock them over.

The best breakfast ever at the moms
Amish cafe. Try it.

Stillwater MN busy bustling town. Had a hill so steep that the mom had to walk up. Worse than 13th street in hood river. Cute town.

A city of 2000 where you couldn't find a candy bar or cookie.

The amazing breakfast

The mom and I decided that the best way for us to start the day would be to ride for 17 miles into Wisconsin and then eat a big breakfast (our second breakfast of the day). We both ordered french toast with no idea what we were getting into. When it arrived, it was huge slices of cinnamon roll bread completely slathered in a cinnamon, butter, syrupy yumminess. Needless to say, we devoured it.

Our ride took us into Wisconsin today and then back into Minnesota. The roads were gorgeous. Very difficult and hilly riding but still enjoyable. We never knew if the top of the climb was just around the corner or further up ahead. The descents were a blast, weaving down the twisty forested roads. We arrived 68 miles later into our campsite at the Saint Croix Bluffs Regional Park. It is a beautiful campground. Tomorrow we are heading to Lake City.

Turtle and one excited girly

On the ride today girly started whooping. She was so excite. A big old turtle was on the road (see pic).
Sure made her day. We've seen lots of smushed ones but this was the first live one.
Had a good ride today. Gotta say these minnisotans are mighty friendly. Along one stretch of road we were taking a butt break and getting some food among other things. Anyway two cars stopped in a matter of minutes to see if we needed help and another circled by 3 times. Needless to say girly never got here break.
Rode 67 miles today. We
Ended up at a quasi RV, trailer park/ camping area. Mostly old folks driving around on their golf carts. Strange place. Into Wisconsin tomorrow then back into Minnesota. Hopefully Girly will get a pix of her sign. Heading toward st croix bluff regional park near Prescott MN.

Turtely!

I had been hoping to see an alive turtle on the road for weeks. Today my dream came true.

Donuts and girly a good combination

2000 miles (and more!)

Last night the mom suffered from some terrible allergy symptoms and decided to take a benadryl. It must have worked because 10 hours later this morning I needed to rouse her from a benadryl-induced coma. Truly a great night of sleep!

Uneventful but wonderful ride today. Crossed the 2000 mile mark. We saw many friendly dogs and many cows. The cows are starting to look like the Wisconsin cows (the mom knows her Wisconsin cows), and we thank them all as we roll by because June is dairy month. We also are riding through chicken farm area. The huge enclosed chicken houses smell awful for miles around. It is a wonder how the farmers live right next door.

We arrived early into town and since there was no camping area we stayed at the Super 8. When the mom inquired about a place to do laundry, the woman at the front offered to do it for us using the hotel's washer and dryer. Talk about Midwestern hospitality! Furthermore, the Dairy Queen was right across the street from the hotel. Great day.

On another note, the mom is getting homesick. Since I have been homeless since December, this is a new concept! It is a good thing her sister is joining us in a little over a week. Perhaps that can rally the spirits.

Wheeeeeeeee!

Woke up this morning from the best sleep. Over ten hours. It was glorious. Packed up and headed out. The first 35 miles flew by and before we knew it we were in Long Prairie for a lunch stop. After lunch we left and the next 10 miles were AMAZING. At one point I turned to the mom and said, "sometimes when I ride my bike like this, I just go 'wheeeeeeeee.'". It was just one of those rides. The entire day flew by. The roads were up and down small hills, twisting around corners, and no traffic. Ideal for cycling. Wheeeeee! It surprises me that we never see any other cyclists.

Towards the end of the ride we saw a herd of cows and their babies. I began ringing my bell an rounding them up. We got a true stampede going. Then the cows appeared to begin disappearing. The mom and I looked at each other and wondered aloud, "where are they going?" Upon closer inspection, we saw that there was a tunnel under the road. One cow popped out the other side! Very strange.

We arrived at Charles Lindbergh State Park along the Mississippi River and set up camp. After making dinner, enjoying a campfire, and showers, we are nestled in our satchels listening to a light rain hit our tent.

Tomorrow we will be heading to Milaca and out milage will cross 2000 total miles.

5 lbs of red vines

Today I was tempted to junk all of my food and just strap 5 lbs of red vines on to the back rack of my Surly. It's really hard to find small packages of them and when you need red vines you need red vines. Ok enough of that.
Had a beautiful ride today with rolling hills, curvy roads and lots of lakes. Road through some small touristy towns. Lots of bait shops and boats. The last 10 miles we were back in the prairie with headwinds. At least the roads curved some. Made it to Parkers Prairie and discovered our campground for the night was being inhabited by a naughty black bear. He even made headlines in the local paper. So we called the police to see if we could stay in the city park. Yeah. We can and it is a really nice place. No showers but used the ones at the motel across the road for a small fee. Then went and got ice cream. Noticing the Midwest has ice cream everywhere. Got back to the tent and visited with the police for awhile. Very nice. He wanted to make sure we had everything we needed.
Off to little falls tomorrow. Forecast rain and cool. Sounds better than hot.

64 lakes and counting!

Since we are in the acclaimed land of 10,000 lakes, I thought I would see if I could count them all. We saw 25 lakes yesterday and 39 today for a total of 64 lakes. Only 9,936 to go!

On a separate note we pedaled over the Hudson Bay/Mississippi Drainage Divide. It was not spectacular. As you can see in the picture, it was apparently in the middle of the field. I did not test the line by pouring out some water and seeing which way it flowed.