Cross Country Day 42 and 43: Frontenac State Park to Lake City

Today did not go as planned

12 miles.

Yep you read that right. 12 miles for two days. It was a tough couple days. Josh fell ill and Manvel ended totalling his bike when he swerved to miss some kids running in the road. So Lake City it was for these past couple days. But what an adventurous stop it was. We had a great dinner out on a patio facing the river and the city campground is perfect for tenters. There's no rvs and you can only bring your car in to drop stuff off. The camp staff was super nice and brought us a huge batch of firewood to use.

With it being the holiday weekend we were worried they would be full. But no! We even got choices on where to camp and ended up getting their prime spot right on the river. Couldn't get much closer if we tried.

I've felt over the course of this trip that I've had several moments of grace. Where the timing of trial seems to be just a little to coincidental with a moment of blessing. That happened again today. Jason and Edie came just in time to help us out! I called around and got connected with the Specialized dealer rep I know back in Sioux Falls, and quickly the crew was on their way to Rochester to see if they could find Manvel a new bike. Jason and Edie also brought my girlfriend Madison along too! Man I've missed her! She's going to be here for a week!

Day 43 brought us an unexpected opportunity to explore. With some vehicle assistance (ooooo ac is so nice) we went back to Red Wing to ride the Cannon Valley trail from Red Wing to Cannon Falls. It's about 20 miles each way. The trail is super pretty and winds along the Cannon River. We saw tubers just drifting along having a grand time. We learned at the halfway mark that Cannon Falls was having a fair! I LOVE a good fair. It's some of the best days of the summer and the whole town shoes out. We ate fair food and walked through the exhibit halls. I really liked looking at the 4H projects and the garden exhibits. The local Knights of Columbus chapter was serving brats and pork sandwiches. Kraut (thankfully) optional. Jeff and Madison like kraut. I think it's terrible.

It was then time to head back as rain was expected. Madison and I dashed in the front. The trail was smooth and mostly downhill. Not that it was that much of a hill to begin with. After we got back to Red Wing, Edie gave Madison and I a ride back to Lake City, and we all had supper in a bar converted from a bank!

Storms were a brewing though, and we heard our tent had been in trouble. Severe thunderstorms rolled through with weather warnings of 60mph plus winds. After a quick ride back to the campground, Madison and I dashed about a quarter mile (remember the no cars part) to the campsite in the drenching rain. By the time we got to the tent we were completely soaked. We could see the wind whipping the waves into large whitecaps on the lake. We quickly dashed inside and held the tent against the wind. It was stressful and honestly I wasn't sure if how well the tent would hold. But hold it did and after the winds had passed we laughed and had the last of the coffee cake from the morning. We took some time to reassess what really needed to stay dry and what could get wet if we had leaks or other failures through the night.

These are trying times now but I hope they will make for great stories in the future.

Slowly the wind calmed and it was time for bed. I was thankful, soaking wet, and very very tired.

'till next time

-Matt