After a quick trip to a nearby gas station for a comfort break we lined up for our pre-ride photo. We'd ridden less than a mile when we came upon several trees down over the Paul Bunyan State Trail. We had to dismount and walk around them. I could see highway workers getting out of their trucks with chain saws, so I'm sure the trail was not blocked for long.
When we got to Nisswa we took a break. The blue Babe was on the corner near the old train depot.
The trail meandered among many lakes. This section of the state is called Brainerd Lakes, and I understand why!
Finally we crossed the Mississippi River; it is much larger now than it was up at the headwaters!
The last 6 miles of the trail, through Crow Wing State Park, was a blast! It was just hilly enough and curvy enough to be a challenge. Then suddenly we were at the end of the trail! And it ended abruptly.
We went to lunch after we loaded our bikes into the trailer just outside the park. Then we had the long drive from st. Mathias to Red Wing. It was almost 4 hours, made a little longer by a stop at a scrapbook store in St. Cloud. Diana took the photo below on our way to Red Wing, MN.
When we arrived at the Golden Lantern Inn we all wished we had booked 2 days there! It's a wonderful place on a quiet street, and is the home that the founder of Red Wing Shoes built in the 1930's for his family. It remained in the family for 3 generations, and has been a Bed and Breakfast since 1992.
We put our stuff in our rooms and walked to town for pizza. This is a great place--we really wish we had more time here. There were large boots on the city streets, and we passed a lot of churches in the 6 block walk to the pizzeria.
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