Day 38 Albany MN to Monticello MN

July 25, 2023

Leaving Albany this morning it was warm and we knew it was going to get hot today. Luckily the GPS didn’t have to take us through neighborhoods as the bike path was right across the street from our motel. We had a wonderful 20 mile ride on a great path. The pavement was smooth, it was tree lined and we just rolled along. We did have a couple of fallen trees from the storm yesterday that we had to maneuver around but we did see the town truck coming so hopefully they got the path cleaned up quickly. The path was more active today with riders than we have seen in previous days. We did not see any touring riders and I am wondering if we will see any more as they would have probably started in May or early June to make sure they get across before the cold sets in. We stopped in St Joseph for breakfast which was a nice rest, then off again. We saw some historical things that we took pictures of. When we were close to Clearwater we stopped when we saw a place with tables. We shared a table with a guy who was eating his lunch. We learned he used to live in Clearwater years ago when his kids were little. He now works and lives in his van traveling all over the country. He was on his way to Wisconsin. We asked him where we could get lunch and he mentioned a couple of places. One was closed up and the other was a truck stop. He said it was sit down and they had good salads. Well, we found the truck stop but no sit down service. I asked a few people in there and they suggested we go to Holiday (another gas station) so we did. When we walked in it was like NuCamp came to Minnesota. All the bakery stuff was as big or bigger than the Amish Donuts. They also had tons of homemade breads. We got in line to order and I ordered a sandwich. when Hubs saw the guy making it he said to me, we can share the sandwich. It was huge. So we did share and it was really good. It felt good to be off the bikes as we had head winds since mile 20 and we were riding over 50 today. I have to say it was good that we had some wind as the temperature rose to over 90°. When we got back on the road I noticed new pavement on the left of the road and suggested we get back on the new bike path. Hubs wasn’t sure how long it would go but agreed we would ride on it. It did not last long and ended abruptly with no exit. Again, slugging the bikes through the weeds. All part of the adventure. Tomorrow we head to a Warm Showers in Minneapolis.

The first downed tree we had to maneuver around

The second down tree we maneuvered around

A bench telling about the train derailment at Scwimhammer Lake

A shot of the trail. The path actually got much much better as we rode. It was new in some places

Train tracks running parallel to the bridge

Hahahaha, got caught at the abrupt ending of a brand new bike path with no exit so we had to make our own

This is Jerry. We met him when we decide to take a rest. He lives and works in his van. He says he is on YouTube under Jerry Jr. shows. We will have to check him out when we get home

This is half of the sandwich we had for lunch. It was huge. Hubs ate the other half.

Our destination water tower in Monitcello MN

Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 2,136 miles (3,438 km)

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Debbie ColeGet this. Thanks to you guys. We signed up for warm showers yesterday. Guess what I woke up to this morning a request for someone to stay at our place today. Gasp spit sputter time to clean the house and bake some thing and come up with something to serve for dinner Besides pasta with butter ha ha ha
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9 months ago

Lois AlexanderYay! That’s awesome. You will meet some great people and they will Love your cooking. Make sure you get pictures and start a book they can sign. 💜
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9 months ago