Biking-Camping West Central Minnesota

Pearson's Century Farm, Litchfield, MN

This year's annual summer biking-camping adventure with Bud was to west-central Minnesota. Short cut to video montage.

We were kinda in the middle of a triangle drawn from Wilmar to Litchfield to Hutchinson. This was another HipCamp site on a farm with goats, a cow, a burrow, chickens, and lots of cats.

The drive out on Monday was less than 2 hours. To be honest, the farm is in the middle of nowhere. Acres and acres of farmland were everywhere around. There are basically two crops: soybeans and versions of corn. That's it! The acreage of these two crops goes on and on and on. There are patches of trees (mostly oak) and lakes or ponds generously sprinkled in.

The "camp" is on Pearson's Century Farm. I forgot to let the owner, Travis, know when we were arriving, but he quickly responded to my text to let us know where the campsite was located. If we had been paying closer attention, we would have seen the "Campsite" signs.

We've gotten pretty efficient on setting up our campsite, so we were done in a few minutes. I should mention that most of Minnesota, including where we were, was under an excessive heat warning. We discussed not going at all but were glad we did. At least we were out of the urban heat island and fortunately had a very shady campsite.

Bike transport

I searched AllTrails to find a paved biking trail that would be mostly shaded. We knew driving to bike trails was in our future. We drove to Wilmar, MN to ride the Glacial Lakes Trail to Spicer, MN - 14 miles ride trip.

Back at campsite Monday evening for dinner of hamburgers, corn on the cob and baked beans. After dinner was a short walk to the sunset meadow.

Tuesday morning, we had a big breakfast in camp before driving to Hutchinson (Hutch to the locals) for a trek on the Luce Line Trail. We got about halfway to Winsted before we ran into trail re-construction and turned around. 

Back in Hutchinson (they go big on their parks), we cooled off at the Dairy Queen before heading west bound for a few more miles. The heat was intense this year, so our rides were shorter than on previous adventures.

The need to cool off was high so we found a local public beach in order to get into some water. Lake Manuella has a nice sandy bottom with warm water, but it felt so good to get wet (that wasn't sweat).

Dinner Tuesday evening was in Litchfield next to Lake Ripley but too hot to sit outside. It might sound counter-intuitive, but a campfire Tuesday night kept the mosquitoes away for a while.

Back to Minneapolis Wednesday just in time for the worst wildfire smoke ever! Looking at the maps, the wildfire smoke was even worse just where we left so the timing was perfect.

Memorable sights: sandhill cranes; lots of pelicans; beautiful lakes and ponds; huge acres of soybeans and corn; majestic oak trees; amazing bird songs in the early mornings; Hutchinson park system.

Video montage.

Bike - Camp Jay Cooke State Park

The swinging bridge.

Another biking-camping trip with Bud from June 29 - July 1. We went to Jay Cooke State Park south of Duluth along the St. Louis River. Here is link to the video.

Jay Cooke State Park is a really nice park with excellent facilities. It is known for the swinging bridge that crosses the St. Louis River. There is also a feeder trail to the Willard Munger Trail, a well maintained, very long rails-to-trails.

After arriving early on the 29th, we setup our campsite and headed out onto the bike trail heading toward Duluth. These rails-to-trails paths are fantastic with very little elevation change. There are tons of trees and little streams beside the trail. There are some major drop-offs on either side.

We stopped at Buffalo House at Buffalo Valley Campground for lunch. They do a great job of "advertising" on the Munger Trail to let you know how to get there. Our server suggested we keep going up the trail to see and ride through a tunnel.

We had planned on heading back to camp but couldn't resist such a unique thing, so we kept riding toward Duluth. It was a beautiful section of the trail carved through rock; however, we never found the tunnel but did get caught in a very severe thunderstorm. 

It as a bigger obstruction than 
this photo implies.

After trying to wait it out for quite a while, we decided to head back to camp. The storm eventually passed on, but the trail had become blocked by a large fallen tree. We helped two bikers who were coming in the opposite direction get over the tree and they helped us.

Once back at camp, we were happy to see that our gear was not too wet though we were soaked.

Day 2 we took the Willard Munger Trail in the other direction, south. There is not much to see or places to stop going in this direction. A good deal of it was fairly close to Highway 61. We made it as far as Mahtowa where we did find a place for lunch, Mahtowa Tavern.

Back at Jay Cooke, my friend Trish and her daughter Lyla visited for a while. Later Bud and I did a short hike into the park before another rainstorm looked like it was coming. This time, the storm went around us!

The State Park Rangers do check that you have a permit. The first night, the ranger gave us the "all good." As we were packing up to leave on July 1, another ranger said my state permit was not "valid" because I didn't have it stuck to my windshield. She revoked the permit and sent us to the ranger office to get a new one. The office was not open, but a ranger did issue me a new permit and seemed kind of ticked off that the other ranger had sited me. There was no charge for the new permit.

If you made it this far, here is the link to the video again.

Cannon Falls Camping and Biking

Another camping and biking adventure with Bud.

Cannon Falls is surprisingly close to the Twin Cities. A little over half hour and we were at the Lake Byllesby Campground in Dakota County. The campground is adjacent to the dam that creates the lake. The dam is a hydropower plant on the Cannon River.

The campground is well maintained and has very nice facilities (bathrooms and showers). We tent-camped among several RVs with electric and water hookups so no generators and very nice campers.

It was super windy when we arrived on Tuesday and were trying to set up the tent when, fortunately, the women in the RV next to our site offered to help. We really couldn't get have gotten it setup without them. We later got some fried green tomatoes to eat 😊

The tent and site were set up quickly enough that we decided to go on our first bike ride. There is a trail out of the campground that connects with the official Cannon Valley Trail (CVT). We took the spur trail into Cannon Falls before heading on an out-and-back down the CVT to the halfway point, Welch Village.

Cannon River along the CVT

The CVT is really well maintained. It primarily travels next to the Cannon River where you can occasionally see a canoer or someone fishing. There is a daily $7 fee to use the trail. The CVT website is not user friendly at all, but the trail fee is obviously well used to maintain the trail and bridges.

We saw a few animals including a deer being chased by something very furry, a ground hog, and a good-sized snapping turtle.

On the way back to camp, we road back into Cannon Falls for a late lunch.

There was an incredible sunset Tuesday night. The Canadian forest fire smoke made for very dramatic reds and oranges of the sun and later, the moon.

It had been a long day, so we retired early. Wednesday, after a breakfast of scrambled eggs, we drove to Red Wing to ride the other half of the CVT. This portion was more crowded but really that is relative because it wasn't bad. The entire CVT is fairly flat, but this portion is even flatter than the Cannon Falls side.

An out-an-back trip is great because you really do see different things when going in different directions. Seems odd but for instance, the river is more obvious when going in one direction than the other.

On the ride back to Red Wing, we were able to assist a couple who had an incident. The wife got nervous and crashed her electric bike. I was helping the husband get the chain back on when I noticed the wife was bleeding. She had taken a bad fall. Bud had bandaids and we used my hand sanitizer to get her somewhat cleaned and patched up.

We had lunch in Red Wing before heading back. On the way back to camp, we stopped in Cannon Falls again...this time for ice cream.

We spent some down time at the Lake Byllesby beach. The water was not pleasant looking so did not do any swimming. Wednesday night we lit a campfire and made s'mores.

Trout stream in Miesville Ravine Park

Thursday, we packed up and drove to the Miesville Ravine to do a short hike. It was a nice break from biking. We stopped in Miesville for lunch at King's Place Bar and Grill, a very popular restaurant/bar.

A short video of the adventure is here.

Biking - Camping Lake Louise State Park

 

This year's first biking-camping trip. Bud and I went further south (almost to Iowa) this spring to camp at Lake Louise State Park and cycle the Shooting Star State Trail.

Lake Louise is about 1 1/2 hours south past Rochester. We were the only tent campers in the park! The tent camping is split into two sections that are right next to each other. One is closer to the Upper Iowa River. Both are open but surrounded by large trees. There is a pit toilet near the tent area. There are nice showers and bathroom facilities just down the gravel road at the RV site.

We arrived in bright sunshine and warm weather. After quickly getting set up, we jumped on our bikes to explore the closest town, LeRoy. The bike bridge to LeRoy is being repaired and the detour is not marked but an easy ride over the road bridge. Not much to see in LeRoy. There is a hotel with a restaurant. There is a bowling alley down the street.

Back at camp we thought we would eat out on our first night. Having seen what LeRoy offered we drove in the other direction toward Austin, Minnesota. There are 3 towns - Taoli, Adams, and Rose Creek. There were no places to eat at any of these towns! Taoli has no restaurants. Adams has one that is only open for breakfast and lunch. The one restaurant in Rose Creek is not open on Mondays. 

So back at camp, Bud fixed us a dinner of chicken and rice. It was very good.

Tuesday, we biked the Shooting Star Trail on an out and back to Adams - 24 miles total round trip. We had lunch at Bubbles Cafe in Adams. It got busy with a good lunch crowd (makes sense since it was the only place to eat for miles!)

The trail follows the Upper Iowa River for the most part. It isn't a big river and more like a creek. We passed near newly planted fields of corn and soybean and a couple of pig farms. We also passed through a huge solar farm under construction. There are lots of wind turbines down here, too.

The Shooting Star Trail is very, very flat. Yay!

Back at camp we showered and put away most of the gear as storms were forecast. We headed to LeRoy and the Sweets Hotel for dinner. The hotel has a large restaurant, and the food was very good. It is an historic looking hotel with lots of wood and an old-world feel.

We got back to camp just before the rain started. And rain it did indeed. There was a long enough break in the weather for me to go to the restrooms to brush my teeth. On the way back I got to experience an incredible firefly show.

The rain turned into a big-time storm with lots of lightening, thunder, and rain. The field we were camped on turned into a pool of water but luckily or due to our preparations, we only got a little water in the tent. Wednesday when we checked the weather app, we saw that over 1 inch of rain had fallen!

Wednesday morning, we dried everything out, packed up, and headed home with a stop in Rochester to ride the Douglas State Trail. Either I was a bit worn out from Tuesday's ride or the trail was steeper, but I pooped out about 7.5 miles, so we turned around and rode back to our start. It was also very windy.

This was another really good trip and many thanks to Bud for all the food and preparations. We highly recommend the Shooting Star State Trail as it is very flat. We saw a variety of animals and flowering plants.

When you watch the video, the first audio you hear is of the songbirds that were all around. I recorded that from inside our tent on Tuesday morning.

Video link here.

Biking-Camping Forestville State Park

Second biking-camping trip for this year. This time there were 4 biker-campers. Bud and I were joined by Pam and Susan. (video link - best viewed landscape)

We headed out on Monday to southern Minnesota using two cars because Pam and Susan have pretty heavy electric bikes and theirs' take a different bike rack than Bud and my bikes.

Destination, Forestville State Park - less than 3 hours from the Twin Cities. We were the only people tent camping in a part of the park that allowed RVs. The tent only part of the park only had one set of campers! The tent-only sites were very woody so being in the RV area was better in my opinion.

We got our camp site setup pretty quickly (including the picnic tablecloth and a very special center piece made by Pam) so decided to take a walk/hike along the South Root River to find the historic town Forestville. The South Root River is full of trout...so full you can see them hanging out in the deeper pools. But "deeper pools" isn't really valid this year as the drought made the entire river fairly shallow. We made it to Forestville which during normal summer hours has costumed docents. There was no one around when we visited. It felt very ghost-towny.

We had beautiful weather and got to enjoy Susan's very tasty Chile, some s'mores, and a magnificent starry night. I don't remember if it was the first night or the second, but we had a visitor during the night that for some reason I was the dumb one that got out of the tent to investigate. Turned out a racoon was having its way with our belongings. I did my best to "scare" it away though it didn't really seem to care.

Bud fried up bacon and some delicious scrambled eggs to get Day #2 started which was a good thing because we were riding round-trip (a little over 20 miles) from Preston to Lanesboro. Bud and I had a Lanesboro trip in 2021 (click here for that blog post) but from the east side then. 

The Root River Trail is fairly flat and easy. In Lanesboro, we ate and wandered around some. The weather was starting to look stormy so we headed back to Preston. It was threatening the entire way so we did not dawdle. We made it to the cars and started to load the bikes right when the clouds opened up. We jumped in the cars and waited for the deluge to end before finishing the bike load and getting back to camp.

I am writing this almost a month after the adventure, so my memory is not great. I think the second night we ate in camp. Sweet potatoes baked on the fire coals with two different Indian curries. There was another beautifully clear night. While I was looking at the stars, a trout fisherman came by (he was night fishing) and told me he saw a 30" trout eating a mouse!

Day #3's event was a tour of Mystery Cave. Reservations are required. The South Root River runs underground through parts of the cave system. Having the river run underground is how trout can survive here. The water is always in the high 40's year round! 

The cave tour is an easy walk/stroll and the State Park tour guide was informed and even turned off all the lights so we could experience the total darkness.

The road to the campsite was being repaved and was limited to a single lane. While we were hanging out with the road guard, we were able to get her recommendation for eating in Preston. She suggested the bowling alley and while not a high culinary experience, it was decent but surprisingly the drinks were very mediocre.

We were definitely some tired campers by the time we made it back to the campsite. Thursday, we packed up the campsite and headed home to Minneapolis. 

The trip video is here (best viewed landscape).

May Biking and Camping Trip - North Central Minnesota

Quick link to trip video

It has been a busy couple of weeks since I returned from a 4-day biking and camping trip with my friend Bud. I've been trying to get a video edited and this blog post completed.

A quick summary of the trip. We drove up to Akeley, MN on Wednesday, May 24 (the Wednesday before Memorial Weekend) where we spent 2 nights at a private campground, Akeley City Campground on the 11th Crow Wing Lake. It is a really nice site with RV and tent camping. We were the only tent for the first night.

The campground is next to the Heartland Trail, one of the first in the country rails-to-trails. It is a really well maintained trail and like our previous experience on rails-to-trails, it was relatively flat and straight.

We jumped on our bikes as soon as we got our campsite set up. It was a cold first ride.

Wednesday night we ate in Nevis, the town just west of Akeley. Had some good barbecue. Back at camp, Bud tried some fishing off the public fishing pier next to our campground.

The second day was warm and sunny. We had breakfast in camp and then biked to Walker, MN. We stopped at a coffee shop in Walker and headed back via the "scenic" route...which meant lots of hills and turns. This took us onto the Paul Bunyan Trail.

Bud has an electric bike...I do not! I did a pretty good job of keeping up. I think I gained an inch on my quads. We finally encountered some other bikers.

We drove back to Walker for dinner as there were more options.

Friday, we drove to Cass Lake to get a tent site at the Chippewa National Forest park outside of Cass Lake. We found a beautiful site but there were LOTS of mosquitoes. Lots of mosquitoes brought out LOTS of dragonflies. It was fascinating and we really appreciated the work dragonflies do. There were also LOTS of ticks...horror movie LOTS!!

We were expecting the campsites to be busy (Memorial Weekend) but there was only one other person there when we arrived. By the time we left on Saturday, there were 3 other families camping.

We took the Mizigi Trail around the lower portion of Cass Lake. It passes through a section of the Chippewa National Forest that has mostly been harvested and re-planted with pine trees. The bike path is completely covered with pine needles and cones. And there were millions of dragonflies!!!

We ate dinner at Stoney Point Resort, the only place close by.

We returned to the Twin Cities on Saturday. We drove back through Federal Dam, Emily, Crosby, and Mille Lacs. It was a great adventure.

Click here for a video (best viewed landscape). The "music" you will hear is a recording of the many songbirds that serenaded us in Cass Lake.

Fall Biking - Camping Trip

 I forgot to write my usual story to accompany photos and the video. So here is a hopefully a short story of last week's biking-camping trip.

First a clarification...we did not bike with our camping gear. We drove to the bike trails and drove to the camp sites. Two guys in their sixties do not need to be overdoing anything :-)

We (my friend Bud and I) first went to Albany, Minnesota. It is just off I-94 between St. Cloud and Sauk Centre. Albany is along the Lake Wobegon Trail which has a side route that connects to the Soo Line Trail. The Soo Line Trail goes through Holdingford and Bowlus to the Blanchard Dam on the Mississippi River.

These are rails-to-trails -- old railroad rights of way converted to cycling, walking, and snowmobile use. Because they are old railways, they are super flat and nearly completely straight. While the countryside might go up and down a bit, the trails just glide right through. Perfect for biking. We also learned what State Rail Bank Property is (there are signs all along the trails)

We saw lots of different farms and fields but the rail rights of way also provide for trees to grow along the trails. I was surprised there weren't more flowers (asters, black-eyed susans, etc.) along the way but they mow along the trails and the farm fields don't have much of a buffer.

We stopped in Bowlus at Jordie's Trailside Cafe and ate the biggest sandwiches I've ever had. Our destination and turn around spot was the Blanchard Dam on the Mississippi River. It is much bigger than I thought. It produces hydroelectric power.

On the return trip, we stopped at BoHo Cafe in Holdingford for a beer and pretzel bites . It is only a year old and has a winery feel to it. Holdingford has a charming covered bridge over the trail. It is not as old as one thinks.

The first day ride was 40 miles! -- 20 out and 20 back. We were very sore but made it to our camping destination - Sauk Centre. We set up our tent at a campsite right in town next to a small lake. We were the only tent and were surrounded by giant RV campers. It was kind of comical.

We ate at the local Mexican place in Sauk Centre. The food was very good. Back at camp, we were the only ones with a campfire which felt good on a cool night. We could see stars but there were street lights and lots of car noise. Even so, I slept really well after a day of cycling.

Thursday morning we had coffee and breakfast at camp. I made scrambled eggs with my new camp stove. We drove to Brandon which was further north on I-94. Our destination was Chippewa Park in Douglas County. There was only one other camper set up when we arrived. This time we had a spot where only tents were allowed. It was very spacious. We went ahead and setup the tent before going on our bike ride.

Thursday's bike ride was on the Central Lakes Trail - another rails-to-trails path. We started in Brandon and headed north 15 miles to Ashby. Again it was very level and very straight.

Lots of lakes and ponds along this trail. In Ashby we found City Restaurant. We got there just 20 minutes before the end of lunch. Grilled cheese and chili were perfect. And best of all, homemade blueberry pie!

We got back to the campsite and were the only ones there. It was a bit creepy to be honest...out in the middle with no one around. There was no place to eat in Brandon. We had passed through Evansville on our bikes which was a bigger town. We ate at the Backroad's Bar and Steak House. I had a steak salad with a really nice balsamic vinaigrette. We were entertained by the stories being told a the table across from us.

Lantern holder?

By the time we got back the campsite, an RV camper had setup with a large family and a huge tent was setup 2 sites down from us. There was plenty of room and honestly it felt good having other people around.

I was hoping for clear sky for star viewing but clouds kept coming and going. The clouds ended up coming for good because it rained over night early in the morning. It stopped raining by the time we got up. We made coffee in camp and decided to close up camp, have breakfast somewhere, and head back to the Twin Cities. I had planned on making eggs goldenrod but it seemed a bit complicated and making toast was going to be a problem.

We had breakfast at the State Street Cafe in Garfield. We highly recommend the fritter French toast.

We took a scenic route back to Minneapolis and successfully avoided the interstate. It was nice driving through the towns and seeing more of the country side.

The video of the trip can be viewed by clicking here.

Another busy weekend. Running, walking, cycling, bowling

Another busy weekend started with my usual run Saturday morning to meet the gals for coffee at Starbucks in St. Louis Park. I need to get some running miles in before the Twin Cities Marathon 10 miler in October.

Saturday evening was the Chinese Lantern Lighting ceremony at Lakewood Cemetery. Lakewood is about five blocks from my house so I walked over. Lakewood is a very large and old cemetery near lakes Calhoun and Harriet.

Kay and Christine drew and wrote on their lanterns. I wrote on the bases.

Our lanterns weren't floating out into the lake so I waded in to encourage them along.

I had not visited the cemetery's chapel. It is famous for the glass mosaics. This is a photo of the ceiling. It was stunning in the artificial light.

Early Sunday, Jenny and I rode the intermediate route (25 miles) of the Minneapolis Parks Bike Tour. It was a perfectly gorgeous day.

Sunday evening was the start of Sunday Goers bowling league. After all that I had already done this weekend, I thought bowling a 172 and 173 was pretty good. The third game was only a 115.

Weekend athletics

I am going to count helping Kathy recycle her TV as an athletic activity. The thing weighed a ton. We pushed it down both her indoor steps and outdoor concrete steps. Then rolled it to her SUV. Thank goodness she has a hatch back so we could just slide it in.

From Kathy's place in Apple Valley, I rode my bike home. Total mileage was 26 miles. All but about a mile was on dedicated bike/pedestrian trails.

We are so fortunate in Minnesota to have a great trail system.

Crossed the Mendota Bridge for the first time. From the bridge you can see Minneapolis to the west and Saint Paul to the north.

On Sunday joined the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy fighters for hill sprints in Theodore Wirth Park. There were only four of us so it went quickly without much rest between hill runs. Ugh.

Active weekend

Whew. What a weekend.

Saturday morning ran 6.4 miles with Tracy to coffee in St. Louis Park. We ran/walked 3 miles back to my place.

At 12:30 I rode my bike 7 miles to downtown and the Grain Belt building in Northeast. I joined friends for the annual Art-a-Whirl event where we walked 3+ miles viewing art, beer gardens and bands.. I then got back on my bike and rode the 7 miles home via Cedar, Kenilworth and Midtown Greenway bike paths.

Sunday morning I joined the crew from Minnesota Martial Arts Academy to workout by running hill sprints!

That was all more than enough activity and doesn't include the yard work, painting and house chores.

Minnesota Martial Arts Academy crew and me

Gracie and Alex visit

My niece Gracie brought her son Alex to spend a year with his father on Wisconsin. They spent a couple of days with me before Alex's dad picked him up on Saturday.

Gracie and Alex flew in to MSP on Wednesday while I was still in Denver for work. They went to a Twins baseball game and stayed the night at the downtown Hilton. My fantastic neighbor Roxi lent them keys to my house so they could check out and move Alex's huge suitcases. I got home a little after 9pm. It was still light out.

I worked a couple of hours Friday morning. They are still on Hawaii time so sleeping in was pretty much assured. We went to Isles Bun and Coffee before going over to St. Paul to the Como Zoo. There was hardly anywhere to park but the zoo and Como Town were not crowded.

We had a wonderful time at the zoo. Got to see the baby gorilla and the baby orangutan. Alex also got to see two gray wolves (wolfes as he calls them). One of the wolves is all white.

Turns out Alex loves carnival rides so an unlimited ride pass at Como Town was perfect. He rode all he could twice.

We drove back to Minneapolis and walked to the Stone Arch Bridge to see the Mississippi River. Alex was starting to run out of steam. Walked over to Izzy's for ice-cream. The goal now was to try to keep Alex up to switch him to Midwest time. By the tome we got back home, all three of us were out of steam. Everyone laid down for a nap.

The Uptown leg of the Northstar bike races was Friday night. We got dinner at Salsa a la Salsa before going to Hennepin Ave to watch the professional bikers race around. Alex's nap hadn't really helped. His biological clock was totally off.

These pro-racers are incredibly fast and fun to watch. We stayed to the end though Alex was done half way through.

Alex's dad Nate drove from Wisconsin on Saturday to pick up Alex. Because Gracie has to finish her tour of duty on Hawaii then go to training in Florida the move to Washington state for her next two year tour, she decided to have Alex spent a full year with his dad and go tone school for third grade. It was an emotional going away.

I took Gracie to the airport after stopping at Chipolte one last time. There are no Chipolte restaurants in Oahu.

Bike overhaul

I finally got the timing correct and took my bicycle to Penn Cycle and their half-priced overhaul. Also any additional parts or accessories are installed without labor costs.

I ended up with a new chain and rear wheel due to wear and new hand grips because the old ones sucked.

My bike was so clean and fresh looking that I didn't recognize the tires.

Busy Weekend of Fun

What a weekend which really started on Thursday. Bowled on Hookers and Bowl team (Jenny and Andrew's league) . First two games were not great but third was 194!

Friday went to opening of White Snake at the Guthrie. Rose so graciously takes me to opening nights. Really enjoyed the show based on a Chinese fable. The visuals were wonderful.

Saturday morning was a 5k called the Suds Run It was a cold morning but warmed up quickly. This was another Running for Brunch event, though there were only three of us plus Gypsy, the dog. So the costumes were Three Blind Mice.

Saturday evening was a garden party dinner and David's. David has a beautiful, tranquil backyard and prepared a delicious meal. We retreated indoors for dessert as the temperature kept going down after sunset.

Sunday was the Minneapolis Parks Bike Tour of the Grand Round. Kelly and Bud joined me for the 32 mile bike ride from the Mississippi River to Minnehaha Creek to the Chain of Lakes and on to Theodore Worth Park and Victory Memorial Drive then back to the Mississippi River.

It was a cool day with perfect sunshine. The beer at the end was so nice.

 

Sunday night was more bowling -the start of my regular Sunday Bowlers league. We have a new team member this year--my friend Jenny. I am a substitute on her Thursday team and now she is a regular on my Sunday team.

I didn't bowl great but what a weekend!

Bike ride to Minnehaha Falls

My friend Bud and I met on the Greenway and rode over to Minnehaha Falls via West River Road.  It was a beautiful evening. Lots of folks were out and about, biking, running, skating and walking.

The falls are running fast and full from all our rain. There have been lots of photos taken of the falls this year so here is one for the blog.

Me and Bud

Bike to work

Rode my bike to and from work for the first time. The ride to work was fairly easy. Most of the ride is on Bryant Avenue which is a bike-dedicated street. I went over to Nicollet Avenue to get the office but the buses and cross traffic are particularly bad. Next time I will take an alternate route. I did make it to work faster than taking the bus.

After work I went to an event at Mill City Museum It is a few blocks from work on the Mississippi River. So my ride home was up Portland Avenue in the bike lane then over to Loring Park and back up Bryant. The key word about going home is the "up" part. Uptown is definitely up hill from downtown and the river.

Home to work

Downtown to home (Uptown)