Saturday, June 8, 2019

Day 18: 6/7/19: Silver Lake to Avon, MN


Below is a pic of the sunrise this morning.


Rhonda made me an egg sandwich this morning to fuel me down the road, and it was much appreciated.

Below are some pics of the Silver Lake water tower and of Silver Lake.  For some reason, the water tower reminds me of the tin man on the Wizard of Oz.




It's been awhile, so below is an updated shadow me pic.


I went through Cokato and decided to stop for 2nd breakfast at Broadway B's Dining.



The ladies pictured below were having breakfast there solving the problems of the world.  I don't think I have ever seen a group of women doing this, it is usually a group of senior men partaking in such behavior. A man I know who is part of such a group told me it was referred to as the "liars table." I just wonder what a group of..., uh, young ladies like these refer to their group as.  It was quite enjoyable conversing with them, and their sense of humor was fantastic.


The following 3 pics were taken at the Finnish Pioneer Park.  The Cokato Temperance Hall is a historic clubhouse built in 1896 in Cokato.  It served as an alcohol-free social center in a rural Finnish American community.  It was built by a local Temperance society at a rural crossroads that became known as Temperance Corner.

 Temperance Hall:


Log cabin built in 1866:



Savu Sauna built in 1868 (first in Minnesota):


Saw my first little Grove of Aspen trees today (pic below).


Some interesting information about the Fair Haven Fort below



I was able to get in a little Minnesota gravel travel today,  and it was rather fun. The roads were fairly smooth with a somewhat tightly packed sandy texture. It was neat hearing the crunch of the road surface under my tire as I was rolling along.  The bonus of very little traffic is always good.




Below is a pic of the Sauk River. Most of the rivers and creeks in Minnesota still have high water.


I made it to the Lake Wobegon Trail, a rails to trails path, in St. Joseph and rode on it all the way to Avon. I will still be on that trail for several more miles.


Tonight I am staying at my nephew's and his wife's (Jason and Rita) house in Avon. Jason is a grillmaster and he made some pulled pork for tonight. Rita also made some stuffed baked potato potato salad. I ate 3 pulled pork sandwiches and had 3 helpings of the potato salad. They were both very delicious and I just could not stop eating them. Afterwards, I ate half of a small key lime pie. I'm definitely not going to bed hungry tonight.

Tomorrow, Jason and I are going to a breakfast buffet.  I may have to end my trip here due to the inability to waddle myself back to the bike and get back on it. :)

These last few pics are for Mark.  Now Everytime I see a spinning thingy on a playground, I think of him and have to snap a photo of it.



One more photo - when's the last time you saw one of these on a playground?  I wonder if personal injury lawyers had anything to do with their decline.


Total miles today: 70

6 comments:

  1. We called those spinny thingys Merry-Go-Rounds as a kid. That lake was beautiful!

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  2. You may need to give Rhonda your MN itinerary so she can give you some more egg sandwiches along the route. Those are some of my favorites! And try not to think of all the 'country eggs' you are missing on the trip.

    I don't know if it is a northern thing, but I have seen groups of northern ladies solving the World's problems, too. Groups like that are fun to be around. They were a good sport to let you take their pic. I guess you look harmless enough, Anthony.

    Bless the Finish people's hearts (as we say in the South) with their love of saunas. You MUST take an authentic Finish sauna while you are in the north country. When in Rome....... :D

    We are loving all the pictures of gravel roads and playground equipment. Modern kids just don't know what they are missing. Those merry-go-rounds came with no trigger warnings, safe spaces, or safety shredded bark to land on. Ours was on concrete....and we lived. Need to see a pic of you riding a merry-go-round.

    Enjoy those gravel roads, and still jealous of your journey (except the storms, lightening, and sleeping on the ground.....hahahahahah)

    RB

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    1. You know I'm missing my "Boston" eggs. That group of ladies made my day. They were sitting right next to me, and we're very inquisitive about my trip.

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  3. LOL! I’m honored that I have peaked your interest in merry-go-rounds! They are becoming extinct because of liability issues. Long Live the MGR!

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    1. I think of you now every time I see one, and think, " Which brother would be slung off this one?"

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