Day 6 Monticello to Minneapolis 79mi

Today we were joined for breakfast by 3 cyclists(Dan, Hugh, Roy) from Minneapolis who would escort us all day from Monticello to Minneapolis.  From L to R (Dan, Doug, Hugh, Wendy, Roy, Cindy, and myself)

The lunch stop had a Linus outside the entrance.

The group along the riverfront in downtown Minneapolis.

Dan led us through the city on the multiple connected trail system that exists.

Waterfalls and lock as viewed from the iconic Stone Arched Bridge connecting St Paul and Minneapolis.

Tonight were invited to stay with Dan and his wife.  Hugh and Roy arrived with their wives. We all enjoyed lively conversation and a spaghetti dinner. 

It was a beautiful day with many sites along the trailways of Minneapolis.  Dan will ride with us tomorrow morning until we are safely on our way to our next destination that will be somewhere in Wisconsin.

Day 5 Little Falls to Monticello MN 77mi

This is my irreverent photo of the day.  This is a 3 word charade that I will leave up to you to figure out.   The MRT signage along the road is supposed to stand for Mississippi River Trail but today stood either for More Rain Today or Monsoon Rains Today.  By the afternoon of a long ride we were having enough of it.  

Our ride today took us further south along both sides of the Mississippi and included Sauk Rapids and Saint Cloud.  

This was actually a display of vintage gas station in someones front yard in St. Cloud that was pretty impressive.

This photo is just a small portion of an extensive English garden, also in St. Cloud.

We dove under a picnic shelter next to this spillway just as the rain started to pick up for the afternoon.  

Our overnight stay turned into a cabin instead of a tent due to the rain at the end of the day.  It was heated allowing us to dry out at the end of a long ride.