Minnesota!

Temperatures today were in the mid-50's. Forty degrees cooler than yesterday. Crazy! We left Fargo and quickly entered Minnesota. I was crushed to discover that there was no "Welcome to Minnesota" sign. Doesn't this state know that I live for those welcome signs? I had been fantasizing for the past three days about what the sign would look like when we got there and how I could take a picture of it. Disappointed, I googled the sign and took one of the pictures from the images cache. I am hoping that when we leave Minnesota I will be able to get an authentic "Welcome to Minnesota" sign picture at the border.

Despite the lack of a welcoming sign, we were in Minnesota. I stewed over the lack of sign and how we might as well still be in the North Dakota prairie. It was still flat and windy. Then, after twenty miles, the mom and I saw a large hill in the distance. The largest hill we have seen in days. We clicked into our granny gears and began the ascent. At the top, we were tickled to see trees. And lakes. And the road turned! The remaining 40 miles of the day were glorious. We happily pedaled up and down hills, around corners, and past nearby lakes, reveling in the fact that we could not see the road extending in a straight line for as far as the eye can see with tumbleweeds being whipped across it.

We saw five roadkilled turtles today. One of them was enormous... probably two feet long. Additionally, we saw two herons (very cool) and a herd of buffalo.

We arrived into Pelican Rapids and set up our camp. Notice the mom's legs in the picture where she is doing the "housekeeping". Looking good. Tomorrow we are headed to Parkers Prairie.

It's Hot

Planned a short "off" day today. 35 miles into Fargo. Of course 30 miles were into a strong headwind. But we still made it into Fargo early. We were glad we only has a short day.
Fargo is flat and hot. Did not get to the downtown as it was too far because of the heat.
Did go to scheels. A huge outdoor sports store. It had everything we could have wanted and more. Even a ferris wheel.
Got errands done. Ate Mexican food and culvers custard. We are in the Midwest. Went swimming did laundry and had a beer. A big storm should be blowing through soon and temps should drop by about 30 degrees. Into Minnesota tomorrow.

Why can't someone just steal my surly

Just kidding. Having a good time but getting to be a grind.
The town of Arthur is great. They even have a mall. It contains the city office, a small grocery, a cafe, a sports bar and a small fitness center( with showers). So we are at the city park camping and got the key to use the showers. They were fabulous. All for the low cost of free. Ate at the cafe. Big breakfast meal. Yummy. Off to Fargo tomorrow and hopefully a hotel and Mexican food.

Lilacs

We left Cooperstown this morning and it was already getting hot out. The high for the day was 92 degrees. Fortunately the humidity was low, ranging from 30-40 percent. The winds decided to die down for a little bit and we enjoyed a relatively flat day. Along the ride we passed hundreds of lilac trees. The farmers have them planted in their windbreaks. The mom and I were debating if this is simply to bolster the windbreak or if there is another underlying factor (such as they draw in birds that eat pests, or that the farmers simply like the smell of lilacs when they are plowing their fields). We arrived early in Arthur, around 2 o'clock, after 63 miles of pedaling. Tomorrow we have a short day to Fargo (mileagewise at least.... you never know what the winds can do). We hope to get in early so that we can do some shopping and restock on supplies.

Even with SPF 50 and above applied liberally on our bodies, the crazy suntan lines are becoming more defined. The mom is wearing Keen sandals with SPD cleats in them. The result of this is that her feet are becoming quite zebra striped!

An uneventful day in North Dakota

Had a short ride today. 48 miles to Cooperstown. We were joined for awhile by two guys just starting out from Cooperstown for a couple of weeks touring near international falls, mn. Nice to talk with some others for awhile. Winds were crosswind but not to bad. Pretty quiet day. One hill.
Saw one turtle on road. Alive
Off to Arthur tomorrow then Fargo.

Smelling the plowed soil of North Dakota

Awoke to scattered clouds and tailwind. Yeah. Today must have been the day to plow and get the crops going. Most fields were being planted and the smell of soil was strong. Had a short quick ride today to carrington. 58 miles. The rest of the day is for recuperation. Got in around 1:00. We are heading to Cooperstown or hope tomorrow depending on the winds. Met a old guy in the coffee shop (getting my chai) and he said he passed us going up the big hill near his
farm. He said he got a good laugh out of that. Girly and I were wondering "what hill". Must be in eastern North Dakota.