Water Water Everywhere

Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes. So far, we've probably seen a dozen, and we've only traveled just over 50 miles. As soon as we got to lake country, the hills became hillier, the lakes were everywhere, and the scenery felt more like what you might find at a resort.

Here's Pat's first picture of lake country. Lots of trees, lots of boat docks.

We came through the town of Cormorant Lake, and the boys immediately pulled into a grocery store to buy goodies, even though Pat was sitting in her car not more than another 50 yards down the road. She doesn't carry a stock of ice cream sandwiches, I guess.

Anyway, it was an easy ride ... only 53 miles, from Moorhead to Pelican Rapids. Pelican Rapids is on the Pelican River, and is celebrated for its 25-foot statue of a pelican, Pelican Pete.

We are staying above the Riverview florist and gift shop, courtesy of the owners, who have given us the run of their apartment while they go to a country cabin for the weekend! As you can guess by the name "Riverview," the back deck and window of the apartment look out on Pelican Pete and the falls. The town is an artsy little town with a good cafe, good galleries, and so forth ... very pleasant place to spend the night ... reminds me a little of a smaller version of Aspen in the '60s, or of Basalt in the '80s ... places in Colorado where I spent a good deal of time. One other interesting thing about Pelican Rapids ... a paleo-indian woman's skeleton was found near here, and is thought to be the oldest human skeletal remains discovered in America.

One thing I missed out on yesterday, because my mind was just too numb to write a blog post ... the three boys went on a tour of the regional scouting headquarters, and the TV cameras were there to follow along. Check it out. Ryan does an excellent job during his brief interview! Bryce also did an interview on another TV station, but we haven't been able to find a link to it on the station's Website, so Ryan is our TV celebrity of the moment.

Tomorrow, we navigate the Minnesota Central Lakes Trail, 55 miles of paved dedicated bike trail! What a treat that will be! Been looking forward to this segment of our journey for months, and I finally get to see it in person! Hope the pavement is smooth, the wind is at our backs, and hope that the other 30 or so miles on the roadways are as good as the trail will be (hopefully).