Days 29-31: Monticello to Minneapolis, Minn.

We had a few excellent rest days in Minneapolis, and are now back on the road, so I’ll be posting two posts today to update on the last few days.

Saturday morning we had our shortest day of the trip as we rode down the Mississippi River toward Minneapolis. We went off the Adventure Cycling route, so we weren’t completely certain about what the roads would be like. Pretty quickly we began noticing that our route was continuing to follow green bike signs that read “MRT,” which was following the quietest roads along the river. After awhile, we relied on these signs, which took us on a long series of trails, side roads, and a few county roads to take us right into the heart of Minneapolis. As we approached the last few miles, we came upon a section of the river trail that was closed for a festival. As it turned out, we were arriving in Minneapolis on the evening of a massive festival, including the 5th largest fireworks show in the US.

After cleaning up at the hotel in Minneapolis, Niamh arrived from the airport and we started our first 2.5 rest days of the trip, exploring Minneapolis. Saturday night Niamh and I celebrated (a little early) our 5th wedding anniversary, then watched the fireworks on the river, which admittedly felt like a bit of a celebration for our arrival in Minneapolis.

Sunday we took our bikes into the shop for a tune up, and I got a chance to catch up with an old friend from college while Niamh and Ed learned about the history of industrial mills in the twin cities. Monday we explored Minnehaha Falls and the University campus. It was a great few days of rest and recovery, setting us up for the second half of our trip.

Ed wrote this about the trip so far during our break:

Hello to all from sunny Minneapolis where the weather is forecast to be great for the upcoming week.  The break here has refreshed my body and my bicycle (as it got a tuneup at a local bike shop).  We were lucky we didn’t ride on Sunday as there was continual showers and gusty winds with minor tornadoes in the surrounding area.  Minneapolis has been a fun city to explore and the pictures will show some of the highlights.

This has been a great journey and the people we have met have been so supportive and some shocked at what we are doing, it keeps us going.  It was nice to have a weekend to being able to eat a variety of foods not found in small town America diners that we have been frequenting.  The fireworks were phenomenal!!

The coolest thing about this trip is that it is different everyday and you never know in advance what will be different until you get on the road.  Each day the terrain varies, the road quality varies, the weather varies (we now are understanding humidity), the people vary (accents, driving habits, friendliness), the wildlife varies (no more prairie dogs but always deer), the sounds of the birds vary, the color of the water varies, the bug density varies (Saco MT is the winner for mosquito density).  It is this constant change that makes this trip interesting and makes our country unique.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 43 (Saturday), 2 (Sunday), 2 (Monday)
Days off: 2
Trips to the Hen House: 5
Ska covers of “Brown Eyed Girl” at the river festival: 1
Free cinnamon rolls: 2
New outfits purchased: 2

 Niamh and I at lunch Sunday.

 One of the bands playing at the river festival.

 Ed with a free cinnamon roll at the Hen House. We ate breakfast there several times.

 Ed enjoying a brew on Saturday.

 All of us at the falls on Monday.

 On the U of M campus.

 Riding down the Mississippi on Saturday.

 Some of the signs we were following Saturday.

Fireworks Saturday night.