It was tough to leave the incredible hospitality of Kathy, Russ, Krista, and their owner Fluffy the wonder cat.

Clad in my WABA socks, I rolled out at 7:30 headed north through Saint Paul. 

Near Como Park I picked up a side trail that had a well-divided path for pedestrians and bicycles. Maybe The Wharf back in DC can adopt signs like this.

This lead to a rail trail that extended well over ten miles. The weather could not have been better so riding in a tunnel of shade was the bomb.

I stopped at a trailside bike repair station to give my tires a shot of air and clean and lube my chain. The Mule appreciated the TLC.

We cut over to another trail that took us directly to the Lower St Croix River in Stillwater Minnesota. Stillwater was a lovely town. It had a house straight out of the Addam’s family.

It would have been my favorite but for this one, whose owner had terrific taste in baseball teams.

I would not have seen those houses at all but for the fact that the bridge across the river is out. It is being converted to a bicycle and pedestrian bridge.

The new bridge is beautiful and has an awesome side path. Unfortunately the people at Minnesota and Wisconsin DOT didn’t bother to put up any signs telling you how to get to it. I spent about 45 minutes going up and down hills until I found the secret entrance.

Finding my way on the Wisconsin side of the river wasn’t any easier as the local roads near the bridge are all being reconfigured. Another half hour was wasted wandering about.

I finally got on the road to Osceola. It was 14 miles away and breakfast had been burned by my engine. Did I mention there were hills? Well, let’s just say that my granny gear got more use today than it has in a week.

I arrived in Osceola and took about an hour break for lunch (at 2:30) and to buy food for dinner. The food store gave me a senior discount and I didn’t even buy Polident.

I re-crossed the river to Minnesota where I was greeted by more hills. Lunch had not kicked in and I was bonking pretty bad.

After ten miles I made the turn for the campground. After 1 1/2 miles there was no campground. The Google informed me I should not have turned. After retracing my steps and obeying my Google Maps master, I found the RV park. They charged me $35 to camp. As I started rolling my bike away from the camp office, the manager called out to me. He goofed. The campsite was only $10 for bicyclists.

It’s time for dinner. PB and J on flour tortillas, apples, and pretzels. Basically my food choices came down to what was easy to transport.

Total miles today: 80.5

Total tour miles: 1,649.5