Price of gas: $3.66/gallon
International Falls, MN to Bayfield, WI
True to form, I didn’t sleep well in the tent. The wind stayed high much of the night (and it rained a little), and there mighta been a raccoon snuffling around my tent at one point. Inside the tent was perfect, but come early morning, I said enough, packed up, and left.
I went to Grandma’s Pantry, run by a woman named… Grandma. I don’t know if it’s just my perception, but this area of Minnesota, to put it gently, seems old. Active, but old. I had a massive blueberry pancake that was lovely. If there’s one meal I won’t skip… it’s beakfast.
But, having had a massive breakfast, I wasn’t quite ready to ride. I went out to the visitor center and walked a trail they have. Very disappointing. All the “overlooks” overlook trees and are a long, long way away from the shore. I got back to my car and got all my bike stuff together. Took me forever to get going. Realized I left my chain oil at home, which isn’t good as the bike has been getting rained on and the chain could have used it. Pumped up my tires (did remember the bike pump). Adjusted the seat. I went out for about an hour 20; did about 17 miles. Some small ups and downs.
Voyageurs national park lakeshore
My bike computer is on the fritz. At first I was unhappy about this, but later realized that I will ride downhill much faster if I don’t know how fast I’m going. Admittedly, the downhills here are not huge, but still – at home, I’d have been braking. May have to consider this…
Truly, the end of the road... after that it's all water.
It was cold this a.m., the fall nippiness in the air. I felt good after being on the bike, stopped in at the now-open visitor center… I was the only person in there, and the ranger seemed thoroughly bored. I don’t know if he was actually playing Solitaire, but I bet he would, if he could.I had a much shorter drive today to Bayfield, WI. It was sunny!
Bayfield, WI, where my parents honeymooned in 1967.
Got sunnier the farther I went. Got beautifully sunny when I got to Lake Superior. So nice to see sunlight again. The whole drive up the coast of Wisconsin is lovely. I got into Bayfield about 3 this afternoon and found a hotel and am delighted to realize I can leave my car alone for the next two days. I can walk to town, take a ferry to Madeline Island, and use my bike to get around there. That’s a great feeling after 3 hard days of driving. There’s also lots of farms/orchards around here, and it’s the start of apple season. Can’t wait. But in the interest of not using my car, I think I will leave that til Friday on my way out of town.
Garden at my hotel with Lake Superior in the background.
Did I mention that in Iron River there’s a meadery/cider shop??? Ooh. Annie declares she needs to stop. I haven’t had anything to drink this whole trip, but I may make an exception for the meadery. Sweet!
Bayfield seems surprisingly liberal for Wisconsin – I’ve seen a lot of Obama signs, and other telltale signs: there’s recycling in my room (whoa!) and an emphasis in the restaurants on local foods. Maybe it’s just that it’s a farming area. I went to a place called Maggie’s for dinner and had some broiled Lake Superior Trout and local chargrilled asparagus and oh can you say it was divine. I went to dinner early – I’ve been mostly on a big breakfast/early dinner schedule – and so the place was mostly empty. What is it about (older) Midwestern men where they have to dominate the conversation – not just of their table, but of all around them? Seriously, there’s one other couple in the restaurant, I’m three tables away, and the guy starts asking me about what I’ve ordered for dinner and how it is and so on and so on. If I weren’t familiar with this, I think I’d have been more annoyed, but as it was I was pretty much amused. The guy also had all these questions and requirements about the food – he’d never had trout before, and he’s easily in his 60s. He had a bypass back in February, as he mentioned while he was busy carrying on his conversation, and then I watched him pour an easy two tablespoons of sugar into his cup of coffee. Well, these are the kinds of things I wanted to see…
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