L’Etoile du Nord

May 23, 2019

Grand Forks, ND to Erskine, MN

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Jackie’s avg speed: 8.2 mph
Scott’s avg speed: 10.4 mph
Weather: cloudy, 50 degrees, northeast winds 15 mph

By 08:15 we had said goodbye to our generous hosts and were on a county road heading east toward Crookston, Minnesota. The only clue we were in Minnesota was the number for the highway sign. After crossing a bridge, we were on County Road 9. That bridge, though very new, had no sign like bridges usually do, but it straddles the famous Red River which creates such havoc in Grand Forks with periodic flooding. And the road is County Road 7 on the North Dakota side. We guess the local residents know which state they are in.

Apparently there are big wind turbine plans afoot in western Minnesota.

All through North Dakota people had been telling us how winter was hanging on longer than usual. Our first miles in west-central Minnesota were just as chilly and blustery. We knew we were in sugar beet country as we went by a processing facility. The odor was not sweet though. We stopped at the Irishman’s Shanty Café in Crookston to warm up and have lunch. We were still in calorie surplus after our down day, but we applied ourselves capably to a Reuben sandwich, split pea and chicken noodle soups, and mozzarella sticks.

After lunch, we resumed our eastward route on Highway 2. It is still four lanes in western Minnesota, two in each direction with a wide shoulder, although the asphalt surface has not been renewed for some years. All the way to Erskine the shoulder was split by horizontal cracks every 15 feet or so. We focused on the positives and tried not to let the regular lump-lump ride annoy us too much.

The road runs east west, but at times bent a little south, then back up north, which provided some respite from the wind coming straight at us from the east. The “occasional sunshine” that was in the forecast was fleeting, so we kept our cool weather gear on. The Star of the North is more humid than Big Sky Country Montana or Legendary North Dakota. That might be a consequence of Minnesota being “the land of 10,000 lakes” declared on Minnesota license plates. It felt pleasant to us, like spring.

We are big fans of asparagus but couldn't find it on the menu at the local bar/grill.

One thing we both noticed was how consistently the two-mile stretches of Highway 2 this day had been adopted by various community organizations. (Scott and I are members of the Swanlakers organization that cleans up a stretch of Highway 209 in Montana twice a year). The Crookston Atheist Community adopted a stretch east of Crookston, and four different branches of Jesus Is Alive adopted sections farther east. There might be an interesting story about that. Other sections were adopted in honor of people like Tori Sannes, a nursing student who died at the age of 21 in a car accident in 2011. A lush green verge free from trash is a joy to ride beside. We thank these volunteers for their service.

We got to Mentor, seven miles west of our destination in Erskine about 16:30. Scott could see I was dragging from seven hours on a narrow bicycle seat, so he dangled a sure fire motivator in front of me: Dairy Queen. A chocolate dipped cone and chocolate sundae revived us for the last hour. Oddly though, the 'closed for the season' sign was still in the window. The manager said a freezer had been placed in front of the window and a stub wall built on one side so they could not remove the sign. They plan to have someone move the freezer out to retrieve the sign. If folks are coming out with ice cream cones though, you know it is open.

One mile east of Erskine we hit some road construction and the road became two lanes, one in each direction. We still had the wide shoulder so it did not affect us much. The sun came out when we got to the 2 Annes RV Park and selected a tent site. The place is not new but is clean and decent enough for $20/night, including showers and laundry facility. The campground has three listings on the internet, two of which are invalid. Anne is the current and valid contact, accept no substitutes.

Anne is an energetic and friendly Welshwoman who grew up in Denmark, then somehow ended up in Minnesota and invested in this campground. She and her Kiwi fiancé spend their summers managing the campground and winters relaxing in Florida. We had a great conversation that lasted all of 10 minutes and covered a lot of territory, including Denmark and Nazi Germany.

The proprietress said she only owned the property two years and still had upgrades to make...

Before she departed to greet other new arrivals, she gave us good advice about the Deuce Bar and Grill. We showered and changed out of bike tights and headed to the Deuce. We had a wonderful $10 pizza there, enough for two, then came back to the comfort of home. Still no mosquitoes, but the temps stayed in the mid-40s. We felt spring in the air.

A sign at the Deuce Bar & Grill promoting a community festival.

Interesting. A Russian quick stop and shop. Unfortunately closed for the day.

Sunset over Cameron Lake, Erskine, Minnesota.

Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 944 miles (1,519 km)

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