HOME BASE
Greetings from HOME BASE! We arrived home yesterday, after a quick 35 mile ride between Parkers Prairie and our car in Long Prairie---it's sweet to be home. We had a nice ride into Pelican Rapids last Friday, and were surprised to find that "the other girlz", Shannon and Liz arrived some time after us and set up camp near us. They are traveling with a nice guy named Mark---and we all met up again in the park the following night in Parkers Prairie. The ride that day was grueling---we stood around in the park for several minutes going over a variety of ghastly details, and then summed it up to another day out on the road. Although I'm proud of Minnesota, I can say unequivocally that you don't want to be out riding fully loaded bikes on the small roads in the lake country on the 4th of July weekend. Trust me on that one. Liz is also "blogging" about her cross country trip---she has some added details about some of the places we've also been, and people along the route. I was amused to find that she had spent some time riding with Mike during the same time that David and Carmyn "adopted" him at the "no water" campsite with the bear. In cross country biking, it is a small world afterall. Her blogsite is: www.kauffmel.blogspot.com
Yesterday morning, since we knew we had a short day and short ride to our car, we were able to wait until the Parkers Prairie cafe opened for breakfast at 8am. Our three friends had to get on the road, and we were in the cafe, in cognito, when they pedaled past the windows. It was so funny to us to hear the older farmers in the cafe commenting on the bikes---for one thing, they assumed that all three bikes were ridden by men. Liz rides a touring bike like ours, with front and rear packs and a load on top of the rear rack (including her small rubber seal, "Ray"). Shannon rides a recumbent (a lower to the ground style, where your legs are out front of your body, and you are seated in a chair-like position), with all her gear in a large wedge pack behind the seat. Mark is on a road bike, pulling a trailer behind it with all his gear. Admittedly, they are a sight riding along! However; the farmers were astonished--- we kept our heads turned to keep from laughing as they exclaimed, "GODDAMN! THEY SURE DO MAKE FUNNY LOOKING BIKES THESE DAYS!!!" "LOOK AT THAT ONE LAYING DOWN!!! HE PROBABLY SLEEPS WHEN HE GOES DOWNHILL!!" etc. etc.
The dead animals count has changed again! Since crossing over from North Dakota to Minnesota, the crushed animals are mostly turtles, with a surprising number of red foxes rounding out the count. Not so sly, after all.
We haven't been home a full day yet, and we are surprised to find ourselves somewhat disoriented. We're doing the same things we've been doing: laundry, eating, thinking about eating, eating again, sleeping, packing and unpacking our panniers. I'm happy to report that I went to SUBWAY today to see my friends, and they gave me enough SUBWAY bags to keep my feet warm and dry across the rest of America. I've spent many a lunch break with them the past few years, and am fond of all the girls who work there. So fond, in fact, that when one of them asked if I would send her some rocks for her rock collection, I complied and carried a bag of rocks on my bike for a couple of days! That's friendship.
We'll probably be here for a few more days---we need to get the bikes to the shop, take care of some details, and get ready to hit the road again on either Wednesday or Thursday. Kami is posting some of her trip photos to a webpage, and I'll put a link to it on this page as soon as I figure that out. Meanwhile, GO LANCE!!!!
Yesterday morning, since we knew we had a short day and short ride to our car, we were able to wait until the Parkers Prairie cafe opened for breakfast at 8am. Our three friends had to get on the road, and we were in the cafe, in cognito, when they pedaled past the windows. It was so funny to us to hear the older farmers in the cafe commenting on the bikes---for one thing, they assumed that all three bikes were ridden by men. Liz rides a touring bike like ours, with front and rear packs and a load on top of the rear rack (including her small rubber seal, "Ray"). Shannon rides a recumbent (a lower to the ground style, where your legs are out front of your body, and you are seated in a chair-like position), with all her gear in a large wedge pack behind the seat. Mark is on a road bike, pulling a trailer behind it with all his gear. Admittedly, they are a sight riding along! However; the farmers were astonished--- we kept our heads turned to keep from laughing as they exclaimed, "GODDAMN! THEY SURE DO MAKE FUNNY LOOKING BIKES THESE DAYS!!!" "LOOK AT THAT ONE LAYING DOWN!!! HE PROBABLY SLEEPS WHEN HE GOES DOWNHILL!!" etc. etc.
The dead animals count has changed again! Since crossing over from North Dakota to Minnesota, the crushed animals are mostly turtles, with a surprising number of red foxes rounding out the count. Not so sly, after all.
We haven't been home a full day yet, and we are surprised to find ourselves somewhat disoriented. We're doing the same things we've been doing: laundry, eating, thinking about eating, eating again, sleeping, packing and unpacking our panniers. I'm happy to report that I went to SUBWAY today to see my friends, and they gave me enough SUBWAY bags to keep my feet warm and dry across the rest of America. I've spent many a lunch break with them the past few years, and am fond of all the girls who work there. So fond, in fact, that when one of them asked if I would send her some rocks for her rock collection, I complied and carried a bag of rocks on my bike for a couple of days! That's friendship.
We'll probably be here for a few more days---we need to get the bikes to the shop, take care of some details, and get ready to hit the road again on either Wednesday or Thursday. Kami is posting some of her trip photos to a webpage, and I'll put a link to it on this page as soon as I figure that out. Meanwhile, GO LANCE!!!!
posted by Laurel @ 1:20 PM
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