Days 44, 45 & 46: WI & MN

We arrived at Wm. O'Brien State Park on Sunday, and opted to stay a second night in order to drive into Minneapolis to do some shopping (mainly a trip to REI).  Our plan was to head out today with the thought of reaching St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park.  But when we Googled the park yesterday we found that they don't allow pets.  We attempted to find other camping options, but everything was out of our normal daily riding range.  On top of that, we'd be heading south and the forecast was for strong south winds.

A highlight of the trip from Grandy - passing through Sunrise, MN, the home town of Richard Widmark!

Lana sits on a sandstone ledge overlooking the St. Croix River
with Wisconsin in the background.

Another view of WI from a different vantage point.

A frog hitched a ride on the grill of our van!

The frog, as we were encouraging him (her?) to move on...

It looked as though the best bet for camping tonight would be Frontenac State Park ($31, power - showers and water available), but that was 82 miles south and we'd be bucking a pretty good headwind.  On top of that, there is a big construction project going on just south of Stillwater, which we would have to pass through on our way there.  We decided that I'd hop on my bike and ride that 16 mile leg on Monday (so that we wouldn't have to drive through the construction during the morning rush hour), and then we'd return to our campsite at Wm. O'Brien for the evening.

This morning we got up at first light, piled everything into the van and retraced my steps from the previous afternoon.  We stopped for breakfast and then I headed out.  On top of the wind, the rolling hills have become both steeper and longer, so our plan was to split the day between us.  I'd ride until I thought I needed a break, then Alea would take over, then I'd resume once I felt I had the stamina to complete the day's ride.

So I rode 28 miles or so from Minnesota Highway 36 south of Stillwater to Prescott, WI.  Alea took over until just a bit north of Red Wing, MN (about 18 miles).  At that point I continued on the final 20 or so miles to Frontenac State Park, while she stayed in Red Wing to shop for groceries.

An interesting railroad bridge that crosses the St. Croix and Prescott, WI.

By afternoon the winds were a steady 15-20 mph, with gusts over 30 mph.  So needless to say that by the time we arrived at the campground we'd expended our day's allotment of energy.

Our original plan was to stay here two nights, as yesterday we had planned out the rest of our itinerary as far as Muscatine, IA.  But it turns out that their is no camping allowed at our next planned stop, despite what our Adventure Cycling map says.  That left us with two choices: to ride farther than we'd like to, or to have a series of shorter days and no day off.  We've opted for the latter, and tomorrow we will be aiming for a campground just 30 miles down the road (since the strong winds will still be with us).