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.