Day 28 - Sat., June 21, Perham to Crow Wing

DAY 28, SAT, JUNE 21, PERHAM TO CROW WING STATE PARK
84.8 miles
5.06.10 st
16.6 avg
TTD-1716.23

We left the motel about 8:20, rode down hwy 10 toward Wadena which is 24 miles; we averaged 19.1 mph for that stretch. We stopped at the Wadena Flea Market and wandered through and Gerry bought a Louis L’Lamour book .

Between Perham and Wadena, we counted six trains that went by us, in both directions (double tracks). The ones going east had coal (we’re assuming from MT as they look exactly like the trains we saw in eastern MT and ND) and the ones going west were empty coal cars.

As we left Wadena, we saw this guy mowing the ditches with a team of horses pulling a hay mower.We stopped at Motley to have lunch in the shade of a tree. We debated whether or not to continue on hwy 10 to Little Falls or to turn onto hwy 210 to Baxter/Brainerd. We chose 210, which might not have been the best as far as lodging goes, as we were to find out later.

The road rose a little into some hills, but actually was not hard at all to ride. It was pretty with pine forests on both sides of us now.

A couple of times we came on roadkill with a stench that just about did us in. Maybe it’s the heat and humidity here, but it sure was worse than any we’ve encountered so far.

One thing I’ve liked to do when we’re on bike trips is to note different, unique names of streets, roads or businesses. Usually, they reflect the area and culture. The two names for today are totally opposite in the emotions they evoke: Sylvan Shady Shores and Oink Joint Road. The Sylvan Shady Shores I understand, but the Oink Joint Road? Not sure about that one.

When we reached Baxter/Brainerd about 2:00, we looked for a campground or RV park where we could stay for two nights, as we really need a day off. We stopped at the Easy Rider bicycle shop to inquire. Nope, no campgrounds right near town and the only RV park nearby doesn't accept tents. Our other option was either a motel or ride 10 miles out of town to a campground. The cheapest motel was $80. That's $160 for two nights; we can get eight nights of camping for that! So we stopped at the grocery store for a couple days stock and took off for the state park. We crossed the Mississippi River on the way out of town. At Crow Wing State Park, we set up the tent quickly with the threat of rain motivating us. We threw everything into the tent, crawled in ourselves, then waited. Nothing happened except for us falling asleep. We had ridden about 20 miles more than we had planned.

We woke up, looked at the map, pondered our route, then decided it was time to eat. Gerry made dinner while I set up the sleeping bags and arranged the tent.

As we were finishing eating, we noticed the clouds getting darker very fast, so we cleaned up very hurriedly, tossed the cooking stuff into BOB, rolled it down to seal, then crawled into the tent just as the first drops hit. Within a couple minutes, it was pelting hailstones the size of large marbles. That was close! It would’ve hurt a lot to get caught out in that. It hailed for at least five minutes, then turned into rain for ten minutes. The tent held up very well and we had no moisture inside. We survived our first Midwest summer storm. This is the first rain we’ve had since leaving Miles City, so we have no complaints. This is also our first encounter with mosquitos, which isn’t surprising seeing that we’re on the bank of the Mississippi River here.
Gerry, relaxing with his new book.

This morning before we left, we spent time on Ephesians 1:13-14, reflecting on being sealed with the Holy Spirit and the guarantee that He gives. Later, as we were riding I was thinking of songs in relation to that.

“I know Whom I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able
to keep that which I’ve committed
unto Him against that day.”

What assurance!

Gerry and Pat

Did you know… Each U.S. rush-hour auto commuter spends an average of 50 hours a year stuck in traffic.

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