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Storm
I could not get to sleep last night. I think that I had slept in too much that morning. Anyway, just as I was about to fall asleep, a horrible storm blew in. I don't think it rained too much, but the wind and lightning were unbelievable. I peaked out just once to replace one of my tent stakes that had come loose. From inside the tent, it was all quite a show, though. I saw a lot of trees down all day and I head that a couple barns fell to the storm.
Up the River
I got a slow start at about nine or so. The tent was still wet, but otherwise I was ready for another day. I got off the river road a bit and went back into the hills. Road up to a town called Ellsworth. I saw lots of people going to church and doing laundry and whatnot. I was surprised that the little market was open in town. Stocked up on food and apple juice for the day.
The Beach
Next I cruised on over to a town called Prescott. I intended to stay on the Wisconsin side of things, but I accidentally crossed over the bridge. At this point, the Mississippi is not the boundary, so there is just a short bridge and then the "Welcome to Minnesota" sign. There was a big beach there immediately on my right, so I pulled in to assess the situation. I ended up staying there for the rest of the afternoon. I chatted a little with the lifeguards who were not too busy. After a bit, I jumped in and swam a couple laps. That served as my shower for this weekend. After writing a couple letters, I decided it was time to move on.
St. Croix Trail
I think a lot of French settled at various points along the Mississippi, and they named this river "the cross." There is a beautiful winding, hilly road that runs up the river there, so I followed that for a bit. Then there was suddenly a nice paved bike path alongside. Before long I met Mike.
Mike
I didn't catch his last name, but I rode with this nice middle-aged man for quite a ways. I didn't have any sort of map of Minnesota or the Minneapolis area, so I thought I would stick with him. He showed me a trail that ran out of Stillwater over toward the Twin Cities. Then we got on another path. He told me exactly how to get downtown to Liza's place. In fact, he had lived down in the same area when he was younger.
Mapplewood
However, I knew that Liza and Seth were not home from Chicago yet and were not due back till late. I got the idea of camping in a suburb only about ten miles out. I picked out a decent baseball diamond without lights, and then I headed for a restaurant to kill time till dark. I think I should be all right here till morn. I will ride in to the city then.
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