Meeting Rover

If you haven't met me before, I'm Gromit. Marilyn takes me along on trips and sometimes lets me ride on her bike.



Through Marilyn's reading of journals on the Crazy Guy on a Bike website, I met Rover who travels with Denise. Rover is quite good at playing around on the computer keyboard so he often helps Denise write journal and blog entries. We've been corresponding via email for about a year or so. Denise and Rover write great journals and Denise's photographs are breathtaking. Check them out at from the eyes of Denise Goldberg.


Well, when Rover heard that we were planning to visit New Hampshire and would be flying into the Manchester airport, he suggested we meet. So Marilyn used her gps and Google maps to locate an appropriate Dunkin' Donuts and we all got together. I brought my friend, Hutch, who usually rides with John and the three of us had a nice time. Marilyn, John, and Denise spent a lot of time drinking coffee, nibbling on goodies, and talking about cycling, hiking, national parks, travel - and who knows what else. It was really fun to meet in person (or in dog!). Here is a picture of Rover, Hutch, and me.


You can read Rover's blog entry about this event here. He's about to go on a great trip to Newfoundland. Lucky dog!

Minnesota Sampler, one more ride and home

After picking raspberries to take home, it was time to leave Jo's hopitality (Thanks, Jo! Wasn't grad school just a couple of years ago????), we started for home planning a stop near Mankato for a bike ride on the Sakatah Singing Hills trail. With just a few missed turns we managed to find a trailhead and hopped on our bikes. The tailwind made for a quick five miles east. Knowing we still had at least five hours of driving ahead of us, we turned around and rode the five miles back to the car.

The ride was short but a nice way to break up the drive – we just wish it had been at the half-way mark instead of only an hour or so from Minneapolis. So back in the car, and home we went arriving in time to unload, eat a grilled cheese sandwich, and unwind.

All in all, we were pleasantly surprised with all that Minnesota has to offer. There are many more bike paths to explore – long enough, perhaps, for some credit card touring!

Minnesota Sampler, Minneapolis

Jo's house is conveniently located a short block from a commuter bike path. We hopped on our bikes and were soon pedaling toward Calhoun Lake. The tailwind was nice but we knew what we would face on the ride home! We stopped at a nicely designed map to get our bearings, but why wasn't there a simple sign to indicate where to turn off for the lakes? We went too far but were given great help from the one recumbent rider in a group o 'mature' riders. He was going our way and just had us follow him. Once at the lake, just a couple of minutes' ride, we were glad to find public restrooms, then we headed off around the lake.

We quickly learned that the bike and pedestrian trails around these popular lakes are separate and that there is one way traffic for bikes. We enjoyed the nice houses, relatively light bike traffic (It was a weekday.) and watching the sailing lessons on a very choppy lake! The best part of riding in a circle is that the headwind was difficult for only a short time. Then we rode to Lake of the Isles where we discovered the REALLY nice houses. We also noticed funny green bags around the small trees. Since you simply cannot read labels from a moving bike, we stopped and learned that they were inverted cone-shaped plastic bags with a zipper down the side and completely open at the bottom to be filled with water. Apparently the water stays in the 'bag' long enough to provide fairly slow watering. It is labor-saving and only needs to be filled once a week; maybe we'll get some when we plant our new trees at home!

After a tour around Lake of the Isles, I decided to ride a bit farther. A look at a map showed me where I wanted to go but once again, with no signs, I ended up in the wrong place. Suddenly we were back at Lake Calhoun. Huh? Well, knowing that we had a headwind in our future, we decided to head back to Jo's house.

After a shower and a sandwich, Jo took us to the new Guthrie Theater for a tour. The architecture was fun and BLUE, and the views of the Mississippi were excellent. We saw another bike path and dedicated bike/pedestrian bridge just waiting for us on another visit. There was also a good view of the rebuilt I-35 bridge that collapsed two years ago.

The new bridge

A well-designed window at the Guthrie

The evening included supper at Panera Bread (I LOVE the chipolte chicken sandwich...) and a trip to REI to pick up some pants I'd ordered. Shipping is free to any REI retail store and Minnesota has no sales tax on clothes!

Minnesota Sampler, Duluth and onwards

We woke to gray skies and quickly packed up camp. Then we walked along the breakwater on Artist's Point and purchased breakfast at the 'best doughnut shop in the world' and the Holiday gas station (that iced coffee!). And, yes, they were pretty good pastries!

Even though the skies were gray, the drive back down the North Shore was beautiful and we made a couple of short stops. We headed into Duluth hoping to see a big ship or two. Canal Park had easy parking and a very good Army Corps of Engineers museum. There we found out no ships the were scheduled to pass under the bridge until early evening. For anyone who has read the book, The Shipping News, it was fun to see the free, daily bulletin of the shipping news. As we walked back to the car the gray skies opened up and we quickly decided that putting up the tent in the rain wouldn't be fun, so we called Jo in Minneapolis to see if she would let us visit a day early! Thank you Jo! Our drive was a few hours longer than planned but that was just fine! We later learned that we would have endured 1.5-2 inches of rain if we had camped. No thank you.

Minnesota Sampler, Grand Portage

This is the actual trail the voyageurs walked!

Part of the reason for the side trip up the North Shore was to visit friends, Barb and Bern, who spend summers at the Grand Portage National Monument. Bern is a seasonal employee who does interpretive work being a voyageur or Northwest Company agent. Barb volunteers and usually works in the library. Our visit coincided with their day off so we were treated to a personal tour of the new visitor center and the reconstructed fort, Ojibwe camp, and voyageur camp. We saw how birchbark canoes are made, though the resident canoe builder was off in the Boundary Waters on a 1,000 journey with one of his creations. We even learned how to start a fire with flint and steel. Barb and Bern took us to lunch at the local senior center and then for a hike to High Falls, where the other side of the Pigeon River was Canada. Along the way Bern could tell us the name of every plant. Wow.

It was a wonderful, sunny and warm day. Visibility was good and we could see Isle Royale in the distance from several viewpoints. The Park Service does a wonderful job with reenactments and many locals are hired for interpretive work including teenagers in a great program. It is off the beaten path for many tourists but a delight to visit with no crowds and plenty of opportunities to get questions answered and learn about the area's history.

When we left Grand Portage it was in the low 80s and we never glanced at our car thermometer but as soon as we opened our doors there was a noticeable difference. It was about 20-25 degrees colder with a real nip to the breeze even though the sky was still a clear blue. Huh? Good, old NPR came through with as short feature story about the unusual weather for the day. Apparently, it was warmer on the North Shore than in the Twin Cities, a rare occurrence due to the wind patterns. Then, in less than an hour, the temperature dropped 25 degrees and things were back to normal. That temperature drop had happened to us during the 35 minute drive and we never realized it. I'm quite happy that the unusual weather was NOT some ice storm or snowstorm in July!

Minnestota Sample, Wolves and Lake Superior

To Ely and North Shore





The first stop was a Holiday gas station for coffee. I love their 'make it yourself' iced coffee. The only problem is that there is no iced decaf so I have to ration the caffeine!





Soon we were driving through the northern woods to Ely, about an hour or so away. The planned stop in Ely was the International Wolf Center. Interestingly, the Nuvi gps indicated the center was located in town, right at the spot where the sign indicated ¾ mile further. It is getting harder and harder to trust that gps...





We arrived just as the center opened. One main exhibit was closed for refurbishing, but just watching the wolves was great. There was always someone available to identify which wolves were visible and to provide answers to most questions. We watched a movie about saving the endangered red wolves and then attended the Wolf 101 lecture and slide show. It was all very interesting and the six wolves in the enclosure were all fairly active.








Driving through town we had noticed a coffee shop with free wi-fi, so that is where we headed next for a sandwich and email check. Then it was another drive through the north woods, this time on a narrower, windy road that took us to the North Shore of Lake Superior. Though we felt like we were driving due north, the shoreline is in a northeast direction which made me slightly disoriented directionally for the whole time we spent there. The first few miles were through stands of birch that had been damaged in a spring ice storm. Some trees were bent over, on others branches and even trunks were stripped bare, while others appeared to be undamaged. Interesting. It reminded me of a June snowstorm in Vail one year that snapped whole aspen trees. We stopped once to hike up to some waterfalls and take a few pictures as the sky was blue and the scenery wonderful.





As we came into Grand Marais, Nuvi the gps wanted us to turn left when the 300 site campground was obviously on the right. Ahem. We were given a list of campsites available and told to look at them. Only after choosing one did we find out that it was $5 more a night because it was on the water. Actually, there was NO water view, just a nearby path to the rocky beach. At least the bathhouse was the nicest in the park. Each night in this city campground cost as much as two nights in the Gilbert city campground.

Minnesota Sampler, The Mesabi Trail

The Mesabi Trail

The Mesabi Trail brochure shows the elevation changes so we knew that if we rode any direction from Gilbert it would be downhill. That meant a tough uphill at the end of our ride. That's not our favorite plan, so we packed up the bikes and drove to Mountain Iron. The trail map nicely displays all the trailheads, so a quick programming of the gps and we were off. What the gps didn't tell us was that if you don't merge left fast enough, you end up in the middle of Virginia with road construction blocking all of Nuvi's attempts to get us back on track. It gets really annoying to hear that voice saying, "Recalculating..." The trailheads for the Mesabi Trail have kiosks with maps, and instructions on how to pay for the Wheel Pass. It was $5.00 each for two days, well worth the investment to have such trails developed. However, there seems to be no enforcement. Hmm. This trailhead had a NICE blue port-a-potty, clean with no odor and even waterless hand sanitizer. We headed west with plans of visiting Ironworld in Chisolm. According to the map we would have one hill of up to 8% but lots of other ups and downs for about 15 miles. It was cool with a light wind and blue sky. We rode through aspen groves with abundant flowers along the trail. The trail is often within sight of the highway but with enough trees, flowers, and hills that that the highway is not noticed often. After about nine+ miles we arrived at Buhl, the town with the unacceptable campground. We rode to the swimming lake and discovered the locked bathrooms and no water. Good thing we DIDN'T stay there! We rode on, including up the 8% hill and came to a junction. The town of Chisolm to the right and Ironworld 2.5 miles to the left. We turned left and rode downhill with a pleasant tailwind. At another junction after crossing under the highway we followed the signs that said 1.5 miles to Ironworld. Now we were riding uphill into a headwind, it was past lunch time and when the odometer passed that 1.5 miles, there was no museum in sight. We slogged on up, then through the fairgrounds and finally into a big parking lot for the Minnesota Discovery Center but no visible entry. Huh? We rode around a bit, took a picture of the miner sculpture, and finally found an employee who told us we had to ride way around the to the south to find the entrance. Okay, off we went, knowing that the museum had a restaurant and bathrooms! By the way, between the printing of the trail map and our visit, the museum had changed its name. The museum was interesting, especially the special exhibit on animal poop! However, the BLTs and fries and homemade potato chips were excellent. There were outside exhibits of a Sami house (think Lapplanders) and homesteads. However, we both felt the need to get back on the trail, especially if the return ride was to be as much work as the first part.


As we began to ride through the fairgrounds, we realized that the gentle wind of the morning was now much stronger and would be a TAILWIND most of the ride back. Wahoo! We had one stretch back into the wind and that 8% grade hill along with quite a few other smaller hills, but that tailwind was a gift. It was a great ride back. Oh, we saw exactly 10 other cyclists on what ended up being a 38 mile ride.

Minnesota Sampler, to the Mesabi Iron Range

Today was to be for driving. We leisurely packed up and drove east to the first local cafe we found, which was in Lake George. There we had typical cafe breakfasts, oatmeal and muffins for John and eggs and hash browns for me. Yum.



We continued east surrounded by forests and occasional lakes. At Grand Rapids we stopped at the Forest History Museum but decided not to go in. We've both been to the Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon and the Camp 18 restaurant near the Oregon Coast has old logging equipment and great photos. So we continued east into the Mesabi Iron Range where the Mesabi Trail was often visible from the highway.



We stopped at Nashwauk to check out the city campground but we didn't want to camp right out in the sun so we kept driving east toward the West Two Rivers campground near Mountain Iron. The GPS got us on the right road though not exactly to the right spot but the area looked great as we pulled into the office area. Well, a group had reserved the WHOLE campground. The clerk showed us a list of area campgrounds and phone numbers so we gave the cell phone a try. Not much luck getting the phone to respond in this area! Time to just drive to whatever we could find.



It was back west to Buhl for their municipal campground near a small lake. We found the campground, all seven sites with one port-a-potty, and some locals pulling in that convinced me to drive on. No way was I staying there. It was probably a good thing because the next day we stopped at the lake for a potty break, only to find the bathrooms locked and no water!



Back on the highway, traveling east again to the city of Virginia. I cursed the GPS for not having a link to the visitors' centers in each town, but fortunately found the correct address in the Mesabi Trail brochure. What is it about some visitors' center employees? They don't seem to know much about their towns? How hard is it to give a ballpark figure for hotel rates? I admit they did find us a campground with sites available in the next town of Gilbert.



With the address for the Gilbert city campground, Sherwood Forest, in the gps we headed off. $17 a night for a grassy site with some shade and clean bathrooms was a good deal. We signed up for two nights and then noticed that almost everyone else in the campground had ATVs. Apparently there was an ATV park right near the park. However, the campground had rules for ATVs and they were all left on their trailers or parked quietly. It was still dangerous to walk on the campground road because of elementary aged boys on fast bicycles! In spite of the Mesabi Trail right alongside the campground, we didn't see any other cyclists.



It was too late to go for a ride, so we walked into town to find something to eat. The main street was VERY quiet except for a dad and two kids, one driving an electric kid-sized ATV. There were a number of sleazy looking bars and one nice looking bar. A closer look at the nice bar showed a side door with nicely dressed people entering. A restaurant? Yes, so we headed in. Who would expect to find a nice Jamaican restaurant in Gilbert, MN - a mining town that had seen better days. The prices were a bit higher than we had planned on, but my Mediterranean Medley pasta was enough for two more servings the next night!



Oh, the campground was on Ore-be-gone, a large pit lake, so named because after mining, all the ore was gone! The whole area had a number of pit lakes with beautiful blue water contrasting with the reddish soil (think iron!) and the green forests.

Minnesota Sampler, Lake Itasca

The beautiful sun of the previous day had disappeared behind banks of gray clouds. It had rained some overnight and the wind was picking up. We had new two-way radios to use while riding and remembered that they picked up the NOAA weather channel. A quick check confirmed that there would be a few showers and some wind but Alexandra and William decided to head out as they needed to get some miles under their wheels. None of us moved too quickly; we kept finding topics of conversation to share! Finally around 10:00 they rode away and we had to decide how to spend our day.

We could ride the one-way road around the lake but knew that all we would really see was forest. Now, there is nothing wrong with forests but riding in the wind and possible rain to see more trees just didn't excite us. So, we played tourists, got in our car, and drove to the main Visitor's Center. Then we went to the historic lodge and hiked a loop trail. The trail passed through a boggy area and we were rewarded with views of the state flower, the Showy Lady's Slipper, and a log cabin. We had to keep moving, though, because the famous Minnesota mosquitos and other biting insects were excited to see us. After the hike we found wi-fi in the lodge lobby and got caught up on e-mails.

By the time we got back to our campsite, the sun was trying to peek through some of the clouds so we went for a short ride. We headed south to a viewpoint and quickly discovered that bike trail was not a fun ride. It was narrow, hilly, with an uneven surface, cracks, frost heaves - and lots of traffic. There is a busy bike shop right on the trail and many tourists rent bikes for an hour or two, then head off on the trail. After a few miles we'd had enough and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing around our campsite.

Minnesota Sampler, to the Headwaters of the Mississippi

The coffee shop called us back for breakfast of yummy muffins and coffee. Jitters is right on Main Street, the one made famous by native son, Sinclair Lewis. Then we drove north to Park Rapids, observing the change in terrain and vegetation. Fields became fewer and farther between and forests began to take over. A stop at the visitor center got us a list of campgrounds, but our Internet search told us they would be pricey so we headed straight to Itasca State Park. There we got a campsite in Bear Paw Campground. We were right next to the lake and the bike path. The only real downside was the poison ivy all around the perimeter of the site. It seemed to be VERY common here, so we just learned to avoid anything green beyond the grass.

After setting up the tent, we sat down to lunch. Shortly, a couple on heavily laden touring bikes came by on the bike trail and we jumped up to greet them. After nice conversation, they headed off to find a picnic area and visit the Headwaters of the Mississippi. We finished lunch and got on our bikes to ride to the Headwaters ourselves. Marilyn kept an eye out for those tourers and located them in a large picnic area. Alexandra and William were soon invited back to spend the night in our campsite. It had to be a better offer than stealth camping somewhere outside the park, especially with the newly remodeled showers available!

The ride to the Headwaters was only a couple of miles but was certainly up and down. Bikes aren't allowed at the actual Headwaters which is probably wise. Even on a Wednesdays, the area was fairly crowded. A number of people were scrambling across the rocks that divide the lake from the river (well, stream at that point!), but I chose to wade across the sandy stream. The sun was out, the water was cool, and the wading was delightful; John stayed on shore with the camera. A short ride further on took us to a new Visitor Center that was well done. The information was outside under a covered area. The ubiquitous gift shop and snack bar were inside; however, the snack bar doors were locked at 3:56 when we decided to get some ice cream. Oh well, we didn't really need those calories. On the way back we decided to ride to the other campground then over to the office to buy some ice. It was a definite uphill to the campground but the road to the office had some REAL hills! At least it was all downhill once that block of ice was loaded onto John's bike!





We rode back to our campsite, listened to NPR (Minnesota has excellent NPR coverage except in the far north), then made supper. Later, Alexandra and William, the cycle tourers arrived back at our site, set up their tent, and made supper. All the while we shared wonderful conversation, then they shared music. They carry a flute and guitar with them and sing at churches and anywhere else they are welcomed. Their blog is Pilgrim's Report.

Several hours after we all went to bed, we discovered that William had left a container of cookies outside their tent which were found by three raccoons at about midnight. Who knew that raccoons could be that noisy! All of us woke up and we even turned headlamps in their direction but it didn't stop their activity. The next morning all that was left was a scrap of paper. That bit of paper is probably still there as it was surrounded by poison ivy! Apparently, raccoons don't have to worry about that.

Minnesota Sampler, Lake Wobegon Trail

After breakfast at the picnic table overlooking the lake, we put some snacks in our rack boxes and hopped on our bikes. We could ride directly out the campground, up a short hill and onto a spur trail leading to the Lake Wobegon trail. The pedaling was fairly easy but constant, as is typical of rails-to-trails. Most of the terrain was slightly rolling and varied from cropland to prairie. There was a light cloud cover which was nice. With more open space than treed canopy, it could be an intense sun if there were no clouds.


We stopped briefly at each town: West Union (horrid outhouses), Osakis (nice lake), Nelson (don't blink), and finally into Alexandria. We found that Minnesotans just call it Alex. There we rode right to the old railway station now a restaurant. We got a table outdoors, under an umbrella, overlooking the lake and right next to our bikes! The beef noodle soup was excellent but we should know better than to order popovers that come without a wait; they were soggy.


After a photo session in front of a GIANT Viking (what is it with Minnesota towns and giant wooden figures?), we headed back to Sauk Centre. Uh-oh. I guess that gentle railroad grade we thought was uphill to Alex wasn't. Can a trail be uphill in both directions? Maybe that little headwind we now had was a tailwind we never noticed this morning. Maybe it was just a longer ride than we were used to, but the ride back was a lot more work. We were slower and took a couple of extra breaks. When we got to our campsite, the odometer read 52.7 miles – a personal best for both of us!


We made a quick trip to the local coffee shop for ice cream (John) and a smoothie (Marilyn) so we could check e-mail and investigate campgrounds for our next stop. Showers revived our weary bodies and big salads with banana bread filled our tummies. After a nice walk along the lake, it was early to bed. Ahh.

Minnesota Sampler, Nebraska to Minnesota

We left home around 9:30 a.m. or so.and headed north northeast, first through Sioux City and LeMars, IA , stopping for lunch in Worthington, MN. The rest of the afternoon we drove north, arriving in Sauk Centre at 5:00. We found the city campground right on the lake. The nice homes across the lake reminded both of us of Melrose Bay in northern Florida, just a block or so from John's parents' home. After setting up our replacement LL Bean tent, we made a quick trip to Walmart for bananas, bagels, fried chicken, and some other grocery items. Across the street we found a small, folding table to replace the one still sitting in our garage. Hope that's the only thing we forgot, but knowing us.... There is a pleasant breeze and almost clear blue skies. What a nice dinner setting! A bike trail runs right behind the campground and meets up with the Lake Wobegon Trail about ¼ mile away. We're headed there in the morning – still haven't decided if we will spend tomorrow night here. That decision has to be made before we ride . Check back to find out what we decided.

Here's a photo of Gromit and Hutch giving us driving advice!

Minnesota Sampler

Tomorrow we head up to Minnesota to sample the bike trails. Our route is a clockwise big circle. we'll car camp and take day rides on the different trails - just enough to learn the unique characteristics of each.

This is Marilyn's bike.

This John's bike.