Ride Across the USA: 7/16/10, Fri -- St. Croix to Chetek, WI -- 61 mi/ 2,101 total

Looking back at the village of St. Croix Falls


We were grilling hamburgers for evening meal and Kirk is trying to help the fire along.

I love barns and planned to take a lot of pictures of them but haven't. To me this one says: "Hey, I'm old but I'm still useful!"

Had planned for a 40 mi day but due to campground location, it turned into longer. Sometimes you just go where you need to go. Leaving St. Croix on Hwy 8 was terrible. Road was real bad but it didn't make any difference as traffic was so heavy you didn't dare steer that way. The shoulder was iffy but full of trash so we really had to pay attention. This tends to put a little tension into your shoulders! Kirk had a highway patrolman tell him he wasn't speeding. ha. Traffic finally thinned and once we got on a county road, it was a fairly good one next to the train tracks. Stayed at the Chetek River Campground and J had to talk his way into the last spot. Lot of seasonal campers, packed in like sardines and people everywhere. Pool, miniature golf, etc. and you still had to pay for your shower. At least they had one and we were mighty happy to have a place to stay that night.

Ride Across the USA: 7/15/10, Springvale CG to St. Croix Falls, WI -- 54 mi/ 2040 total

This is what bicyclists that ride in construction zones look like.


Did they have these signs on the other end of the road? Guess we're not too bright!

St. Croix River area is beautiful.

This is what the river looked like when we were camped.

Terrible storm in the area again last night but fortunately they ended up 10 mi E of us. Good roads to ride today and that always helps for a good ride. We get to Stark (pop 60) that there was a detour that would put us in heavy traffic. We decided to gamble and headed out for 9 mis of construction. It was OK for the first 5.5 mi, then it went to gravel at Sunrise. The hill was steep and so much rock that we walked our bikes up. Rode along OK for awhile then we have these guys digging up ground because it was unstable. We asked to go through, OK, so walked my bike and K had to carry his, just like fording a river only this was dirt. Had to drop down 2.5' to walk through the rest of it. Camped at Interstate State Park in WI looking down on St. Croix River.

Ride Across the USA: 7/14/10, Wed. -- St. Joe to CG East of Grandy -- 61 mi/ 1986 total

Happy anniversary! This cafe specialized in broasted chicken and that sounded pretty good to everyone......and it was!!

I only rode 21 mi today but plan to do full day tomorrow. We had some rain but it felt good because of the heat. Kirk rode the entire day and could hardly see at times due to the rain. He had heavy traffic due to detours. We try to stay to the county roads to avoid all the traffic but sometimes it backfires on us. Once Kirk made it to Dalbo, we are now back on the AC route. This is a great campground out in the middle of nowhere called Springvale. Wonderful pool and great showers. We are going out to eat tonight in Grandy as it is J and H's 71st anniversary.

Ride Across the USA: 7/13/10, Tues. -- Osakis to St. Joe, MN -- 52 mi/ 1,925 total

Some of our friends (and you know who you are) would not appreciate this little bathroom. All I can say is that it worked, the shower also, and we've been in worse. Quit being so picky!


The campground (Head of the Lake) was 10 mi from Osakis. We were right on Lake Osakis and it was a "unique" set-up. I didn't feel good today so opted not to ride. Instead I took my bike into Alexandria to find the squeak in my derailer. Had to wait for them to open but they got me right in. Found a small pebble in the wobble wheel, squeak gone and it only cost me $5. It was driving us both nuts. Kirk saw a lot of wildlife on the trail today including a turkey with her young ones in tow. Camped at the City Park ($5) where the Scouts were having a field day. K didn't bother taking camera, so no pix today.

Ride Across the USA: 7/12/10, Mon -- Fergus Falls to Osakis, MN -- 67 mi/ 1873 total

Time to meet some of our great hosts/relatives/friends we've met along the way:

No picture but our nephew and his wife, Rich and Kendal Brown of Bellingham, WA where we had great conversation and excellent salmon.
Camped two nights in the driveway of Gene and Lottie Overway in Bay View, WA. They have an absolutely perfect view of the bay.


Meet Duane and Jan Holter of Priest River, ID who rescued us from the miserable, cold day of riding and provided us with a warm bed for 2 nights and laundry service as well. They live right on the river which was flowing pretty full!!


Meet cousin Gail and Tim Neff of Whitefish, MT. Tim moved his camper so we could park in their driveway overnight. Pouring rain when we put camper up but it was sure good to see them.


Meet cousin Deb and Randy Holtan of Plentywood, MT. Plentywood was not on our route but we drove up to see them, have a meal together and tour their new home. It's beautiful.


Meet Darrell and Josie Dahlberg of Brockton, MT. You can see for miles from their home and we enjoyed the tour of the farm and their equipment. Darrell was also gracious enough to let us drive his new pick-up to Plentywood.



'Ya gotta love the squirrels -- they took out power to the campsite at 7 Sunday a.m. so no electricity and eventually no water. At 10 Sunday night the mosquitoes moved in dive-bombing so bad we couldn't sleep so we sprayed the hootch and went on a killing rampage. Checked tires this morning and the valve went bad on my rear tire, so flat before we could start. Rode on the trail today and we plan to finish it at St. Joe. Trails are boring but you feel safe from the traffic.

Ride Across the USA: 7/10/10, Fri -- Morehead to Fergus Falls, MN -- 61 mi/ 1806 total

We try to take time to keep an eye on the wildlife around us.....

We broke off the AC route on the recommendation of another biker and headed this direction so we could ride the Central Lake/Lake Wobegone paved trail. It is 120 mi long and the longest continued trail in the US. We had strong headwinds all day today, got hot and it was really kind of boring riding in the Red River valley. Wind blowing so hard that I was able to go 14 mph down hill while pedaling. What is your four worst problems while riding? Kirk says hills, wind, traffic and heat. I say wind, wind, heat and hills. Beautiful campsite at Pebble Lake, Delagoon CG. Heard my first loon of trip. J and H not here so we were relaxing, waiting to put up camper as we were watching the clouds. It started to rain so I grabbed our stuff we didn't want wet and dove under the camper. One other camper in park and we ended up under their awning until the tornado siren went off at 5. J and H come flying in and we just ended up with rain/hail.

Ride Across the USA: 7/9/10, Fri, Page ND to Morehead, MN. -- 61 mi/ 1745 total

Kirk on bridge as we cross-over into Minnesota with Red River in the background.


Tranquil scene as we're riding along. Should have stopped and taken a picture when we saw the hawk in the ditch that would not fly because he had a "catch".



Pedaled without much stopping as we wanted to be through Fargo before rush hour traffic and to beat the heat. We had detours and roads that didn't run through, so there was a lot of weaving around to get to KOA compground. Clear sky today and not much wind of any kind and by 11 it was getting HOT. Red River valley is flat and a chocolate looking river. Pretty uneventful day. At the campground we saw another biker and asked him which way he was going. He said north, somewhere. Then we saw his Burley, so loaded I don't know how he pulled it. We're a little slow, but he was homeless. At 11:45 another camper pulled in and set up his fold-down so it was a short night.