Ok... after all the moaning and groaning about the weather yesterday, I must admit that we had a beautiful day for riding albeit the early morning was rather damp and misty. After leaving Eau Claire this morning we crossed the Mississippi River into Minnesota. The river is rather wide even that close to its headwaters. Boaters and fun seekers abounded. Well, I saw 2 boats actually.
The entire day was spent expressway riding usually between 70 and 75 mph. Still not our favorite way to ride, we did manage 481 miles before ending the ride for the day in Carrington, ND. I must say though that the road so far has been in excellent condition compared to Michigan's byways.
Along the way I was hoping to see Fargo (since I saw the movie), but I-94 by passed it. We did pass Avalon, Minnesota. For the uninitiated (I was until Charlie educated me), Avalon is the community for which Garrison Keeler fashioned his town of Lake Wobegon. In fact as you pass on the highway there is a sign for Lake Wobegon. Although we didn't stop, we did notice that all the women were strong, all the men were handsome and all the children were above average.We rode the last part of the day through the North Dakota country side. Those who spoke to me before we left might have heard me question why anyone would want to live in this state. The fact is that it's a beautiful state particularly if you are a fan of agriculture, hate geographic features and dislike people. Their state tree, the telephone pole, does abound and is beautiful.
The only photo for the day was of a lake called Middle Spunk... begging the question: "Where were Left and Right Spunk?". In any case the lake was completely common and and looked like many lakes in Michigan; but with a name like that and the fact that I had no other pictures I immortalized Middle Spunk (I'll stick the picture in here somewhere).
Soooo.... I write this from Carrington, North Dakota. We are in a motel on the town's main road which has largely been reduced to a huge deep trench, making it a real challenge to find the parking lot for this place. The hotel clerk is a fine ambassador for the town; at least I think she would be if she put her teeth in to greet the guests. Upon asking her to suggest a local restaurant, she couldn't think of one (it is Sunday after all). It finally occurred to her that there was a pizza joint down the street which proved satisfactory.
Tomorrow we will strike out with the plan to make it someplace west of Regina, Saskatchewan.
One other thing. The bikes are performing beautifully so far..... with one interesting exception. I was enjoying the cruise control to relieve my right hand. Rather abruptly the the cruise became very erratic then wouldn't work for more than a few seconds at a time. Very frustrating and annoying. I guessed it to be a simple adjustment but didn't know how to correct it. In any event, while cruising down the road it occurred to me that the leather strips I have on my levers were getting whipped around pretty violently by the wind and that they were causing enough drag to move the brake lever, therefore kicking the cruise off. I removed the leather and the cruise control works flawlessly. It really does save your hand.
Kind of boring today.... thanks for reading to here.... hopefully more tomorrow.
The entire day was spent expressway riding usually between 70 and 75 mph. Still not our favorite way to ride, we did manage 481 miles before ending the ride for the day in Carrington, ND. I must say though that the road so far has been in excellent condition compared to Michigan's byways.
Along the way I was hoping to see Fargo (since I saw the movie), but I-94 by passed it. We did pass Avalon, Minnesota. For the uninitiated (I was until Charlie educated me), Avalon is the community for which Garrison Keeler fashioned his town of Lake Wobegon. In fact as you pass on the highway there is a sign for Lake Wobegon. Although we didn't stop, we did notice that all the women were strong, all the men were handsome and all the children were above average.We rode the last part of the day through the North Dakota country side. Those who spoke to me before we left might have heard me question why anyone would want to live in this state. The fact is that it's a beautiful state particularly if you are a fan of agriculture, hate geographic features and dislike people. Their state tree, the telephone pole, does abound and is beautiful.
The only photo for the day was of a lake called Middle Spunk... begging the question: "Where were Left and Right Spunk?". In any case the lake was completely common and and looked like many lakes in Michigan; but with a name like that and the fact that I had no other pictures I immortalized Middle Spunk (I'll stick the picture in here somewhere).
Soooo.... I write this from Carrington, North Dakota. We are in a motel on the town's main road which has largely been reduced to a huge deep trench, making it a real challenge to find the parking lot for this place. The hotel clerk is a fine ambassador for the town; at least I think she would be if she put her teeth in to greet the guests. Upon asking her to suggest a local restaurant, she couldn't think of one (it is Sunday after all). It finally occurred to her that there was a pizza joint down the street which proved satisfactory.
Tomorrow we will strike out with the plan to make it someplace west of Regina, Saskatchewan.
One other thing. The bikes are performing beautifully so far..... with one interesting exception. I was enjoying the cruise control to relieve my right hand. Rather abruptly the the cruise became very erratic then wouldn't work for more than a few seconds at a time. Very frustrating and annoying. I guessed it to be a simple adjustment but didn't know how to correct it. In any event, while cruising down the road it occurred to me that the leather strips I have on my levers were getting whipped around pretty violently by the wind and that they were causing enough drag to move the brake lever, therefore kicking the cruise off. I removed the leather and the cruise control works flawlessly. It really does save your hand.
Kind of boring today.... thanks for reading to here.... hopefully more tomorrow.
1 comment:
Glad you guys are finally dry! Sure is nice to "follow" you across the country.
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