We rested in Little Falls for a day and I took advantage at last of the opportunity to update the blog. In other words, I spent most of the day on the couch in the lobby with my laptop and a Perkins muffin! In the evening we took a cab down to Little Falls for dinner. Someone had told us that Little Falls had nothing for offer except the Lindbergh museum. A lot of people did check out the museum and said it was well worth the visit. Little Falls turned out to be interesting--I hadn't been through the actual town in decades, as the highway bypasses Main Street, so I was pleasantly surprised. The Black and White restaurant was the only alternative to fast food chains and Perkins, and turned out to be a real special treat. They had elegant meals as well as reasonably priced specials and it was very casual. Most of us had walleye encrusted with something (can't recall now) and garnished with a strawberry salsa, and it was great. (Yes, it is all about the food.) The young couple that own the place look like teenagers, but they know how to treat customers, and the husband is great chef. I had been surprised several days earlier to realize that almost no one on the trip had ever heard of walleye. It is such a staple in Minnesota and surrounding states that I wasn't aware how local it is. Most of them had to see it on the menu (and on my plate) several times before they were willing to try it, but they were all pleased with the results. I guess the name is a turn-off--another of those things we take for granted!
The ride to Pine River was a lot of fun. Edith and I rode with the sisters and one of Jan E's friends, Mary, into Brainerd and several of us stopped by the Coco Moon coffee shop a bit off route. Brainerd is 13 miles from my home town, so I really enjoyed riding through as we approached the end of our journey! From Brainerd, we hit the Paul Bunyan Trail, a smooth, straight paved trail through the woods; I've biked it in the fast, including a day with John and several friends when it rained the entire day. In fact, it is so straight that some of the WomanTour riders found it a little boring. Sue and Frankie told us that they had just expressed that sentiment out loud to each other when the sky opened up. They decided to keep such thoughts to themselves in the future.
The rain was a real downpour, complete with lightning. At least, the other riders all reported lightning; I didn't see it, but then the rain was so heavy that I could barely see the trail in front of me. We pulled into Nisswa, a small tourist town, soaking wet and getting wetter, and ducked into a bicycle shop for shelter. Luckily, they didn't have any jerseys with their store name on it, so I didn't spend any money! When the rain stopped, we hurried over to the Adirondack Coffee Shop for lunch and enjoyed a relaxing warm up and a tasty lunch. After lingering awhile, we started out biking again, but after a few minutes the sky opened up again, and this time I believe the rain was even worse. Edith and I kept riding in and out of downpours for the rest of the day, but Sue and Frankie, who left town a half hour or so after us, only experienced an occasional light drizzle! Weird! I put my camera away when the first rain started and never took it out again that day, so there are hardly any pictures of this day.
The Trailside Motel in Pine River was very hospitable. I had visitors that evening for dinner and they let us drag chairs into their tiny lobby and take over the place. A friend I have known since the third grade, Sue Georges, lives very close--I haven't seen her since our 20th high school reunion! My mother came from Crosby, 25 miles or so from Pine River, with my nephew Lee, who was visiting from California, and his mom, Wendy, from Des Moines. I knew they were all coming, so I wasn't surprised when Linda, the cook, mentioned that they had stopped by already, but I was surprised when she said other relatives had called, and she had invited them to dinner. Turned out to be my aunt, Carolyn, and her husband, Bruce, who drove over from Grand Rapids. Whew! It was quite a crowd! It was great to see them all.
By this time, I am really feeling odd--did we really bike this far? Is it really almost over? Mixed feelings: I won't be sorry to stop spending every evening checking tires and getting ready for the next day, or to stop waking up early and packing to rush off every morning--but I also don't want the biking to end, and I don't want to say goodbye.
Happy trails,
Dusty
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