Day 4 Hinckley MN to White Bear Lake MN. 69 miles

     One word for today - PERFECT!
     The roads were great and the weather nice. It did rain part of the time later in the morning, but it wasn't much of a deterrent. I asked one lady about a street and we chatted for awhile. She really liked my rain gear. If anyone is interested, you can get a great deal on them - Glad trash bags. Not much else from today. There weren't many people out today, but I took a picture of one of my new friends, and just look at that great time I was doing.
     Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces tonight.
     I also have to compliment the Minnesota drivers. They are by far the most courteous and bikers friendly motorists I have encountered.

Day 3 Meadowlands MN to Hinckley MN. 90 miles

    Today started out alittle chilly (48) and foggy. That didn't detract from the beauty of the scenery. The day started with rolling hills through forests and continued from one lake to another, half on paved roads and half on gravel.
     The last 40 miles was on a beautiful trail. Before getting on that I stopped at a small country store. I think the lady thought an alien had entered. Lucky for me she had a chocolate milk left.
     All in all, it was a picture perfect day. I did decide to walk around the pit in the path even though it said o.k. - I didn't think a running leap would work.

Downtown Hibbing Memorial Day.....Flags as far as the eye can see....Just like the ol' days

Day 2. Orr, MN to Meadowlands, MN. 79 miles

  This area is known for a number of items:  Iron Ore; Lumber; The Boundary Waters; Hockey; and the largest mosquitoes known to man.....no kidding, when they land on you they leave a welt....BEFORE they bite.  The iron ore range that Beth biked through today is known as the Mesabi Range.....the pictures are from an open mining pit outside of Hibbing, MN.  This is a big time of year for all the fishermen, as the walleye are "on bite" due to the "ice out" just a couple of weeks ago.  Many memories are here, as I went through this area when I fished in Canada for approximately 15 years.  The Hockey Hall of Fame is in Eveleth, MN. and many professional hockey players live in and around this area still.
 
   I had a little more rain early in the morning. After that it remained cloudy with just a few sprinkles. Actually, a great day temperature wise. I did have to put in an emergency call to my SAG.
 Larry fixed my flat and I was on my way. Made it to the hotel in time for a nap.
 

Day 1 Fort Frances, Canada to Orr, MN 55 miles

     These three songs kept running through my head today:
                         I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rain
                         The Eensy, Weensy Spider
                         Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
     Yes, it rained lightly all but about five miles. We were only in Canada a short time, but got to go through customs twice. Coming back I was on my bike and they had me go inside. The officer asked where I was from and I said Des Moines. As he was typing that in, I explained I was headed to New Orleans. At that point , he stopped typing and went into a serious pondering mode and finally said "I think I need to start over." I passed!
     Even with the rain, I was able to make it to the hotel early. The roads were good and the drivers courteous. One even stopped to see if I needed anything.  Oh, that was Larry.
 

OH NO! Here we go again! 2016 version NTS. (North to South)

      Upon completing the cross country bike excursion and on the way home from Philadelphia, I casually mentioned to Beth somewhere in the Pocono Mountains that based upon her successful completion of the US trip, she might want to try the same end to end concept again.  Maybe a top to bottom trip, like along the Mississippi.
   By the time we returned home she was already plotting her adventure for the summer of 2016.  The route is over 1600 miles from the Canadian border of International Falls, Minnesota to New Orleans, Louisiana.  Beth begins riding on the 28th of May.  Stay tuned for blog updates and maybe some fun pictures along the way!