The loon?

okay, chris, i want to call it a loon.  but it probably wasn't.  it was a black bird about the size of a goose.  i couldn't see any markings, otherwise.  beak was yellowish, and long.  it sat low in the water,  i couldn't see the body at first, only the neck and head above water.  it had something in its beak, i think it ate it.  then the head went down and the whole body disappeared.

after several seconds it came up, swam around a little.  again, as before, the body was mostly underwater.  finally it took off, and i realized it was the same bird i had seen in north dakota.  it took off low to the water and stayed low as it swung a big arc and took off down the lake.  just a couple of feet off the water.

sorry, that's all i have.

7/30 - minneapolis, st paul

a cup of chai and a muffin or scone at some cozy urban cafe.  as many of you know, that's the way i like to spend my mornings.  especially if i can get a 20 mile ride in before hand.  so today was pretty perfect.

the morning started with a light misty rain.  not enough to be a problem, but enough to keep temperatures down.  rode the river road in the rest of the way to minneapolis and found the dunn brothers cafe that jay had recommended to me.  found it in a renovated building in the old warehouse district.  i spent the next couple of hours drinking chai and writing posts.

then, back on the bike to head out of town.  i was going to ride along the river till i came to st. paul, but as seems to happen so often, the signage was terrible and i couldn't find the path.  so i aboandoned that idea and just headed east.  if you look at minneapolis/st paul on google maps, in bicycling mode, you'll see a plethora of green lines indicating bike paths and lanes.  there are a lot.  so i grabbed a combination and rode them out of town.

20 or so miles to the east is the st croix river.  there apparently aren't many places to cross the river.  in wisconsin it is frowned upon to bike on the interstate, so thaf leaves only the bridge at stillwater.  and as the only town with a river crossing, that turns stillwater into a tourist town.  one with a shop that advertises 'german heritage', i might add.  not to mention the prerequisite irish pub.  quite an active river town on a tuesday afternoon.  there were three river boats tied up, as well.

i hate to admit it, but i thought the state line was on the mississippi river, but i was wrong.  the line is  the middle of the st croix river.  around three o'clock, i crossed the bridge, climbed out of the gorge, and entered wisconsin.  seems that cigaretes and gas are cheaper here.  ah the rolling hills of wisconsin.  i forgot what hills were like.  these are pretty good ones, with mild grades that let hou get up a head of steam going down that carries you part way up the next rise.

of course it's still all fields.  corn, a lot of corn, soy beans and dairy farms.  25 miles of country farm road later, and i've arived at my warmshower host, steve o'rourke.  he lives in a trailer park.  we're talking northern european here:  german, dutch, norwegian.  the trailer park is very neat.  steve is a whole other post in itself.

and i'm tired and am going to bed.

7/29

i guess technically, i'm still west of the mississippi.  at least most of the day.  i started on the east side, rode down to little falls and crossed back to the west by camp ripley army base.  checked out the dam at little falls, i think it's the futherest one upstream, unlesss there was one at brainerd i didn't see.  then ate breakfast at the royal family restaurant.  pancakes and eggs, carbs and protein.  and two pots of black tea.  little falls is also the home of charles lindbergh and the accompanying museums and parks.

then down the great river road, the road along the mississippi.  last year we were on it briefly in memphis starting out our bike trip.  a little disappointed that i had a head wind.  only about 5 mph out of the south, so not too bad, but i did have to work a bit harder.  i had arranged a warmshower outside of minneapolis, but had a long way to go to get there.

it's odd riding along a river i minnesota that i associate with the south.  it's a lot narrower here and people build right on the river with docks and all.  the country side is relatively flat with farmland.  corn and soybeans and some crop i couldn't identify, leafy but no pods.  might be beets or some other root.  there are an awful lot of towns named after saints here.  st. this, st. that,  even st. hwy.  and a lot of catholic churches substantially built and nicely designed, even out in small towns.

relatively uneventful ride, just some rolling ups and downs, some construction, twisting through small cities.  found a few bike paths to incorporate.  eventualy, 115 mi later, did arrive at jay heumann's house.  we had talked, and i wasn't going to be able to stay with him.  he and his wife and two girls were leaving for colorado in the early morning, but he called another cycling friend of his to get me a place to stay.  i did spend over an hour with him, though, and he showed me his woodworking and we talked about routes.

jay's friend eric came and met me.  Eric and joan have 3 boys, 15, 19, 24.  he's a lutheren minister, originally from california.  joan is a marriage counselor, born in minnesota.  their house is located on the mississippi.  they have a boat dock right out the back door and a soccer goal against the back of the house.

i ate pizza and a beer at jay's, tortellini, salad, and a beer at eric's.  (and i'm losing weight.)  got that warm shower, clothes washed, and a comfortable bed to sleep in.  very fortuitous, since it rained during the night.  which is keeping things nicely cool.  i seem to continue with good luck as far as weather is concerned, two weeks ago it was 100 degrees here.  it's in the upper 70's now.

tomorrow i do cross east of the mississippi for good, and head into wisconsin.

7/28 - paul bunyan

it's blueberry festival time in lake george and the volunteer fire department is hosting the sunday morning blueberry pancake breakfast.  carb loading, just the thing for a touring cyclist.  karen and don meyer graciously let me sit with them.  we talked for over half an hour, with don wanting to talk about everything from boy scout hikes, geological formations, and flying a plane in alaska to being in the military during vietnam. interesting story:  he was once denied a position in officer training because they thought he was jewish.  after he explained that he wasn't, the position opened back up.  we're talking late 1960's here.  every now and then, karen would get bored with his reminisces and ask me a question about my trip.  then don would go off in his direction again.  very nice people.

with a full stomach, i headed off to find the paul bunyan trail.  this is a 110 mi. long rails to trails, paved, pretty flat.  i rode 80 or so miles of it.  anything that long and flat has the potential of being fairly monotonous and it had its moments, but there were lots of little things along the way.  small towns were spaced around 8 -10 miles.  some with small restaurants, ice cream stores, and statues of baul bunyan.  i had to stop in hackensack for lunch, a small cafe with homemade deserts.  i was born and raised next to hackensack, n.j.  never thought i'd see another one.

the trail runs through the brainerd lake district.  big, blue, and beautiful.  and lots of little ponds and mires along the way.  which led to a couple of sections where i was riding through a constant pelting of gnats.  another where i was constantly stirring up the dragonflies, white bodies with dark wings.  i guess they liked sitting on the warm pavement.  also made me think of how many mosquitos there must be to keep the dragonflies fed.

saw two bald eagles.  they were together and then flew off in separate directions.  that makes four total for this trip.  very disappointed i have not seen a loon, other than the one on a placemat.  they look pretty neat.  but i did see a beaver's home.  can't call it a dam, since it was more in the middle of a pond.

at the end of the day, in brainerd, the trail ended after crossing the mississippi at what was supposed to be a state park.  turned out a little more complicated than that, and by the time i figured it out and found the true entrance to the park, i was irritated.  that combined with my inate frugality led me to go to the rest area on the highway instead.  very nice rest area/visitor's center which even had wi-fi.  so i stayed there, use the facilities, ate, and just before dusk i scampered off into a copse of pine and set up the tent.  wonderful night's sleep on pine needles, safely hidden.  in the morning, back up and over to the visitor center to clean up.

7/27 - minnesota

another beautiful morning in paradise.  a bit chilly, 46 deg.  i started out wearing the long sleeve shirt for the first time, plus the jacket.

grand forks is located on the red river.  the red river flows north into canada.  i guess it drains into hudson bay, but it does not go into the mississippi basin.  two years ago when the dakotas got so much snow, the red river flooded and wiped out much of the minnesota side, i understand.  leaving town, i went along the river levee, crossed on a pedestrian/bike bridge, rode a little along the levee on the minnesota side, then up onto the plain beyond.

mornings are almost always the most pleasant time to ride.  relatively cool, still feeling fresh and not tired or sore.  by afternoon the heat is up, i'm usually starting to get tired having ridden 50 or so miles, and body parts are getting sore:  butt, hands, and lower back.  today was no different.  there was a bit of a northerly wind that got worse as the day went on, but i started out spinning south and southeast, so the wind was mostly with me. 

and it was a good feeling to be in the east again.  by evening i would be literally east of the mississippi.  though i wasn't quite yet, it felt that way.  the plains were flat as can be, planted withncrops as far as you could see.  corn, beans, wheat, and what i finally figured out were beets.   crookston, the first town along the way, had a sugar plant.  and a nice little downtown, but without a restaurant.  so i rolled on, finally reaching fertile, mn.  yes, that is right, 'fertile' is the name of the town, population 850.  La la's was the name of the restaurant in the small downtown.  finally, back to small towns with local restaurants.  of course, it is still a long empty stretch between towns, filled with fields.  i turned east at that point, and never did hit another town in the next 60 miles.  i have  high hopes as i continue to move toward more populous areas.

after a little while, i started hitting rolling hills and minnesota's famous lakes.  i was climbing out of the red river valley and moving into the mississippi river basin.  125 mi. and i reached the days destination:  lake itasca, the head waters of the mississippi.  and in that last 15 mi stretch, i saw a bald eagle, several big hawks, an egrett, and a couple of white long necked geese.  i think i'm hearing loons call out on the lake as i write this.  of course, i don't really know what a loon sounds like, but i can imagine it sounds just like that.

i'm camping tonight in the state park, in sort of a make shift spot.  they were all full, but they're not supposed to turn away cyclists.  tomorrow i ride east 20 mi to pick up the paul bunyan trail, a 110 mi. rails to trails that heads south toward minneapolis st paul.  i don't realize just how far north i am till i look at a map and realize i have to ride south just to get at the same latitude as green bay.

7/26 - Grand forks

this was a good day.  It rained last night, but i was quite comfortable and dry in the tent.  all my gear was protected under the picnic shelter.  and when i woke in the morning, the storm had moved through, the sky was a clear, crisp blue, and the sun was shining.   i only had 20 mi. to go into grand forks, so i took my time, i was in no hurry.  yes, that is me talking.  on the way out, i stopped at the little overlook of turtle river and the 'wildlife viewinig area'.  chris would have loved it, the birds were going crazy in the early morning and ignorant little me could spot 6 or 7 species without trying.

on into grand fork and i found exactly what i was looking for:  an urban cafe, the urban stampede, actually.  my first cafe in two weeks.  located on the corner, in an old renovated building, a block from the courthouse.   i proceded to sit there, update blog posts and pictures, for around 4 hours.  had 2 chai lattes and 2 muffins.  around 2 o'clock, i called my warmshower's host, jennifer, and headed down to her place about a mile away.

jennifer is a 39 yr old meteorologist.  she works the night shift, this week 4-12, next week midnight -8.  i didn't know meteorologosts worked night shifts. basically, she was putting us up, but would be at work almost the entire time.  we got to talk for almost an hour, while she got ready to go to work.

there was another cyclist there, kathrin (yes, dear, i know) hoeckel.  a young german woman, cycling from boston to portland, traveling solo.  from munich, she specializes in education strategies for labor forces, works for an international institute in paris.  she had just spent the year at harvard and was taking two months to cycle across the us before flying back to france.  she had actually been to knoxville, chattanooga, and nashville in her work.

after showering, washing clothes, checking routes, etc. we ended up going to dinner.  we rode the bridge over the red river into minnesota, right across from the downtown.  there is a cabella's there and a group of restaurants that feed off it.  the wonderful thing about riding as much as i am, is that i can eat whatever i want.  we started out at the blue moose with appetizers and beer.  i had two 22 oz. oatmeal stouts.  hmmm.  then we went to a noodle place for dinner.  then we went back to the blue moose for desert.  Cheesecake with raspberry sauce.  then back to the house.

i slept on the couch till seven and never heard jennifer come home from work.  woke up this morning to beautiful day, 46 deg and clear.  packed up, had a cup of tea. i felt really relaxed, rested, and excited to be hefading into minnesota.  mission accomplished.  the other two women got up shortly.  kathrin was ready fairly quickly.  we said goodby.  kathrin headed northwest, i headed southeast, and jennifer headed back to bed. 

So long rt 2

Goodbe rte 2, aka northern tier, aka high-line.

we've spent two solid weeks and almost a thousand miles together. i won't say i'll miss you, but .. but what?

2-lanes through montana, 4-lanes through north dakota.  sometimes with a nice shoulder, sometimes not so nice.  sometimes without a shoulder and just riding in the road.  and those couple of times in north dakota where i had the entire 2 east bound lanes to my own because they were closed to cars and trucks due to construction.  now that was sweet. 

good for relatively fast, straight riding.  ideal for averaging over a 100 miles a day and 'getting through' montana and north dakota.  the milk river and missouri river valleys, wheat fields and pastures, railroad depot towns spaced every 6-10 miles, canola and corn fields, rolling green hills, ponds and sloughs, and a variety of interesting and good people.

and wind, ever changing wind.  fantastic when it's at your back; a real bitch when you have to ride into it.

7/24 & 7/25 camping

well, at least i didn't sleep on my glasses last night.  actually, it was a good night, even with the rain and the strong winds.  i'm in turtle river state park, just 20 miles from grand forks, nd and the minnesota state line.  pretty little park and i'm the only one here in the 14 site 'primitive camping' area, complete with mowed grass, picnic shelter, tables, toilets, and water.  the storm brought even cooler weather, so sleeping was very comfortable. 

the previous night, a different story.  wednesday night i was in the middle of nowhere, just past rugby, nd.  rugby is the geographical center of north america, in case you're wondering.  i could feel it.  10 miles outside of town are fields and sloughs.  i had thoughts of going to a highway rest area that was somewhere up ahead, but i wasn't sure quite how far or quite how legal it would be.  i still had plenty of daylight when i saw a nice little copse of trees, with tall thick grass under them.  to the one side was a pond, to the other a corn field.  i looked around and there were no houses anywhere in site, just a couple of barns across the highway.  so i pulled in, walked it over, leaned the bike up against a tree, and sat down in the shade.  No mosquitos, no gnats, just a few ants.  great.

since i was visible from the highway, i didn't want to put the tent up till dusk.  the tent is green and it blends in pretty well, but i like to becautious in my tresspassing.  so i rested for the next hour or so, waiting for the sun to go down.  talked to suzi, sent some texts, arranged a warmshower in grand forks, and did a crossword puzzle.  but no cooking and no evening tea.  eventually, the sun slipped low and i put the tent up.  just in time, the mosquitos were starting to come out.  i got in and zipped up.

now one of the less enjoyable things while camping, is sitting in your tent seeing lots of mosquitos sitting on the outside of your netting.  at least they're on the outside.  problem is when you're over 50 and need to get up in the middle of the night to pee.  and of course the more you lie there thinking about it, the more you need to go.  finally, it gets to the point where i take a deep breath and get out of the tent and go.  even if they weren't there, i would feel the mosquitos all over me.  i dive back in the tent hoping i got most of them off and lie back down.  no such luck.  soon they're buzzing around the head, must have slapped my ears a dozen times.  i finally dig out the insect repellant and  coat myself with it. 

but wait.  what's this thing poking my back.  a branch beneath the tent?  i reach under me and pull out my glasses frame.  frame, no lenses.  my only glasses, no backup pair.  so i search again and find both lenses.  a little sigh of relief and i put them back in the tent pocket where they belong to deal with in the morning.  i finally got to sleep.

woke up in the morning.  mosquitos are much easier to find in the morning.  i track down and kill the six or so buzzing inside the tent, one has my blood.  i try to ignore all the ones on the other side of the netting, under the rain fly.  then i pack up while still protected in the tent and address my glasses.  it's not too hard to pop the lenses in, but my vision is pretty fuzzy when i get them on.  the lenses must be backwards.  oh, well, i'll deal with it after i get out of this breeding ground.  steeling myself, i open up, crawl out and, actually, it's not bad.  there's a pretty good wind blowing and it must be helping.  i guess the ones on the tent were protected under the fly.  i pack quick and am out of there.  back to the road, i pop my lenses out and reverse them.  much better.

and it's a beautiful day with a strong wind at my back.

July24 - breakfast at the northern lights

before i left stanley, nd and jim conklin's place, we had breakfast.  he took me over to the local restaurant, the northern lights, and we sat at the morning table. the morning table was a rectangular table in the middle of a sparsely decorated room.  there  was a short ccounter that didn't do much to separate the serving and prep area.  three others were already at the table:  joe, bob and betty. 

the waitress, martha, was a big friendly woman.  not much on standing still, she did her talking while on the move.  her ten year old boy was asleep at the next table, with his head down on his crossed arms.

turns out , bob used to be an architectural draftsman.  he grew tired of being his boss's lackey.  i told him i grew tired of being the boss.  bob now works as a manager for a trucking firm.  one thing there is no lack of in the land of fracking is trucks.  apparently there is a lack of experienced truck drivers.  bob says the worst thing is a kid right out of school who thinks he knows everything.  especially driving tankers full of liquid.  he prefers a driver that's scared, says that they're teachable. 

martha doesn't say much of anything.  she's older, weathered skin.  she eats and listens.

i ask about the gas burn off at the wells.  joe talks a little about the dangers of  different gases.  apparently, h2s is deadly.  the drivers all wear monitors.  they talk of deaths on the job in a way that is almost casual.  it would make any official at alcoa or ornl cringe.

Fracking north dakota

adventure cycling, the route planning guys, recommend against going through upper north dakota, 'the northern tier' route, anymore.  they now divert you to the south and basically follow I-94 across north dakota.  i had a big debate with myself about which way to go.  heading south added a 100 miles; didn't like that.  i also wasn't excited about riding along I-94, but i was very curious about this whole fracking business and what kind of effect it was having.  i had read the latest national geographic article and it sparked my interest.  and, then, maybe, i'm just a little contrary.

when the time came to decide, i did what maurice would have done, i headed due east on rte 2.

i was a little surprised at one of my responses:  i don't think the long term visual impact is all that bad.  after everything is cleaned up, the footprint of the pump and storage tanks isn't all that great.  certainly no bigger than that of grain silos. initial constuction is more disruptive.  large piles of dirt fill the landscape and sections of earth are sraped clean, but it tidies up after the crews move out.

the real issues seem to be about the collateral damage.  the big unknown, of course, is what it's doing to ground water.  one person told me that their community's water supply is already ruined and they now get their water from 60 miles down the road.  anecdotal, i don't know what to make of it.

on the other hand, the traffic impact is real.  trucks.  trucks everywhere.  hauling dirt, stone, fluids, water, oil, machinery.  and so there is road construction.  and there are a lot of jobs and not much housing.  there are rv trailer parks everywhere, just thrown up in the back of a companies building or along the highway.  and, of course, there's a bunch of riff raff looking for jobs.

i'm told alot of it is temporary.  once the drilling and fracking are done, and the wells are producing, most of the workers leave.  a crew of 25 +/- will come in, drill, frack, and set up the infrastructure.  once the well is producing, they cleanup and move on. they leave a pad of dirt with a well pump and some storage tanks.  still a little support trucking is needed, but most of the work is done.  i'm told the oil men are already shifting out of this area and heading to fields south of here and in texas.  Some local people were able to take avantage of the rapid growth.  truck dealers (semis and pickups) are doing pretty well, i understand.  others who thought they could will be left holding an empty bag, or apartment buildings.

another interesting aspect is the energy cost to produce this oil.  it takes a lot of diesel and gasoline.  and then there is the off gassing.   not all of it healthy, certainly not good for the environment, including some very deadly gas, such as hydrogen sulfide.  this energy is undoubtedly more harmful to the environment because of the amount of carbon, methane, and other gasses released in producing the fuel before it even gets used.

i'm glad i made the decision to come this way, it's been an interesting education.