Ro's Phrase Of The Day:
The mayor of Tyler is really cool. Not only was he acting like a taxi for riders on friday night, but he was helping people take their bags to the gear trucks using his cart (with his dog). Such is Minnesota -- so far, it's really awesome (except for the mosquitoes!!). The rolling hills have flattened out a bit (moderate to easy), and the whole sky was hazy for several hours this morning. It was great for keeping the temperature down, but after a while it was like pedaling in a sauna!!
They don't seem to have the South Dakota "Roadside Parks" here -- they've got "Wayside Rests", so far usually on the shores of a lake. Ro wandered out on the pier at the one in Florence. When we got to Balaton, we passed the Wheels Across the Prairie museum, which had opened especially for us! It's a way-cool museum, but we didn't get to see all of it. Another reason to go back!
We continued on Hwy 14 all the way into New Ulm, and the major difference between Minnesota and South Dakota became apparent -- the towns are spaced within 12 miles of each other! We went through Tracy (a major junction for the railway), Walnut Grove (the childhood home of Laura Ingalls Wilder), Revere, Lamberton (where the roads really were bad, but not as bad as between Sheridan and Gilette), and where Lucille, a really nice lady was leaning on her walker outside her house waving at us), through Cobden and the major town of Sleepy Eye, and down into New Ulm. All in all, a wonderful (if long) day, although we were both ready for a rest day!
We showered and set up the tent and headed over on the shuttle to the Heritage Fest downtown. This place is like Solvang, CA, but German. They had lots of polka and dancing and drinking and eating and horse-drawn trolley rides. A cool place, overall!
Scenery Shots:
