June 29, 2018
Day 44 Walker, MN
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Today was the last day we'll be primarily on bike trails for a while. We rode the northern part of the Paul Bunyan Trail from Bemidji back to Walker, where we were three days ago.
We had another rain delay this morning, leaving at 9:30 instead of our planned 8:30. That gave the morning rain plenty of time to clear out and we had cloudy, but dry, weather all day.
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The first leg of our route was north along the easern shore of Lake Bemidji - which is actually the Mississippi River. We planned to ride through Lake Bemidji State Park, but Mother Nature altered that plan. There were strong storms last night and early this morning. We heard what we believe was a tornado warning siren about 6:30AM. We encountered three downed trees on the park road. We got past the first two, but the third one turned us back.
We saw a pair of swans in the lake with three cygnets. A woman walking along the path said there had been four yesterday, but the mortality rate of the babies is high.
An overpass near the end of the trail had this nice Minnesota treescape decoration.
After our ride to the north end of the Paul Bunyan Trail, we looped back through the town of Bemidji. We found yet another Paul Bunyan statue, this one with Babe as well. I never knew they rode a tandem!
Riding through a residential area of town, I saw this in front of a B&B - one of those little libraries with a place for dog bags and treats.
In downtown Bemidji, we found this wood carving on the courthouse grounds.
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We rode back to Walker and stopped for a late lunch at Piggy's BBQ. I had high hopes when I saw someone had a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on it. North Carolina pork BBQ could be in my near future! Alas, though the pork and slaw were good, the BBQ sauce was thick and red - no vinegar based sauce here. It was interesting to note that the menu called the slaw "Carolina coleslaw". So, even if the execution was less than perfect, I applaud their intentions!
Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 2,071 miles (3,333 km)
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