I Love Cows (and their milk) And Cows Love Me - At the Forefront of a New Craze in Touring Destinations - CycleBlaze

September 9, 2024

I Love Cows (and their milk) And Cows Love Me

Sauk Centre, Minnesota

Most people consider the beginning of their day to be when they wake up in the morning.  According to official time protocol, however, a new day begins at midnight.  On this day, I found myself adhering to the official standard.  I woke up shortly after midnight and, while using the great outdoor restroom, I looked up into the sky and saw a big display of bright stars.  It was awesome, and I don't use that word indiscriminately.

I tried to take a picture, but my phone doesn't work for that kind of photography.  Instead, I settled for a picture of my tent, which was illuminated by the only light I brought with me--a red taillight.

Awesome!
Heart 7 Comment 5
Rachael AndersonIt’s really great being somewhere where you can see the stars!
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Gregory GarceauTo Rachael AndersonTrue, a dark sky full of stars is a marvel of nature.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Nancy GrahamTo Gregory GarceauOh yes, and most of us seldom see that as we are flooded with light pollution in towns and places not in the forests.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Emily SharpI tend not to camp in the red light districts... but you know, what happens on tour stays on tour, I guess.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Gregory GarceauTo Emily SharpGreat joke, I wish I would have thought of it myself.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago

I went back to sleep for a few hours and woke up to another cool morning (50-degrees F.)  I made coffee and took a short hike to warm up.

At the trailhead, there was a sign that took me by surprise.  It had the figure of bike rider with a slash through it.  Even though I only intended to hike the trail this morning, I felt like the sign was directed at ME.  That's because I have ridden my bike on state park hiking trails many times in the past.  It's fun. 

I was slightly offended.
Heart 1 Comment 2
Emily SharpIt doesn't apply to you - you have hands and your bike has handlebars, so go right ahead.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Gregory GarceauTo Emily SharpYou always seem to notice things like missing hands--like that Ishpeming, MI lumberjack in my U.P. journal.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
My cartoon alter-ego, G-2, was offended too. He thought the bike riding figure on the sign looked too much like him.
Heart 5 Comment 0
After my hike, it was time to pack up. I took a picture of this caterpillar before flicking it off my pannier. Admit it, you would have photographed and flicked it too.
Heart 5 Comment 3
Bill ShaneyfeltTussock moth caterpillar. Handle gently, hairs will make you itch and they knock off easily.

Possibly a whit marked, but really not sure... They seem highly variable.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Gregory GarceauTo Bill ShaneyfeltYes, when I flicked the thing, I did notice how the hairs went flying all over. At first, I thought my flick had disintegrated the little fella.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Emily SharpIf in America, yes, I would have flicked it.

In Oz, no way - I would have escorted it away with a stick. None of the fuzzy wuzzy caterpillars here are kind - they are all poisonous and painful if touched.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago

On the way out of the state park, I took a picture of a water tower built by the W.P.A. in the 1930s.  It seemed worth a photo because it was a little different than most of the water towers I've seen in my bike travels.

Heart 7 Comment 1
Emily SharpLook at that stonework above the door - awesome. My maternal grandfather was in the CCC and my aunt has some of his journals. I think it'd be cool to go and check out some of the places he worked.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
There was also a W.P.A. picnic shelter made out of logs.
Heart 6 Comment 0

The first town came a couple miles after I hit the road.  Little Falls has the distinction of being the home of the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum.  Even though I'm not a fan of the "sport" of fishing, I thought such a grand monument would be worth a visit . . . or at least a picture.

I was wrong.
Heart 4 Comment 0
The Catholic church was pretty nice though.
Heart 7 Comment 0

Little Falls has a population of 9,140, which is 10 times the combined population of the other three towns I passed through today.  The first ten miles west of town were straight and flat on State Highways 17 &18.  It was busy, but it had a wide shoulder.

When MN-18 turned south from MN-17, the shoulder shrunk from 6-FEET wide to 4-INCHES wide.  It was fine though, because the reduction in shoulder size was commensurate with the reduction in traffic.  Plus, the drivers in both directions were very polite.  I was polite too.  I waved and/or smiled at everyone. 

A lone swan swimming across a calm pond. I love this image.
Heart 7 Comment 2
Rachael AndersonWhat a beautiful photo!
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Gregory GarceauTo Rachael AndersonIf only my phone had better clarity when zooming . . .
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
I wasn't so enamored with this image of hundreds of swans staring at me from the inside of a barn. [My team of editors just informed me those birds are turkeys, not swans. Still sad though.]
Heart 2 Comment 0

I gotta tell ya, I expected endless fields of corn and soybeans from the route I planned for today.  Much to my sense of happiness, it turned out to be full of varied, and often beautiful, landscapes.  I LIKE corn and soybeans, and I got plenty of that.  But I also got nice stretches of cattail-lined wetlands, forests, several lakes, green fields of alfalfa, and even a few hills.  Man, I had fun.

NICE!
Heart 7 Comment 1
Emily SharpAnd so much nicer when it is not raining - yay!!
Reply to this comment
3 months ago

The first of the 300-population towns I came to was Swanville.  I liked it.  I found its city park for a snack break.  I drank half a bottle of water and ate two big handfuls of almonds in the shade of a picnic shelter.

I thought it strange that the picnic shelter had no picnic tables until I noticed they had been moved to another area of the park.  While in my noticing mode, I noticed there were basketball hoops at both ends of the picnic shelter.  Then I noticed a basketball sitting on the concrete floor.  To my surprise, the basketball was fully inflated. 

Naturally, I had to shoot some hoops.  I didn't do so well from three-point range.  My free-throw percentage wasn't that great either.  But I made almost all of my layups.

I made the layup and am waiting to grab the rebound.
Heart 7 Comment 3
Karen PoretDon’t tell Steph Curry 😬
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Nancy GrahamHappy to see that you follow your shot for the rebound. You had good coaching ;’-).
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Emily SharpSo nice for winter - no slipping on ice or the ball getting wet from a puddle and freezing your hands. No shovelling out the free throw line to be able to practice.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Swanville had a cool water fountain, but there was no way I'd stick my head in that lion's mouth for a drink of water. Lions can kill a man in a matter of seconds.
Heart 6 Comment 0

Moving on, I continued southwest on Highway 18.  I was liking it more and more.  Then I came to a hill.  It was probably the biggest hill of my entire tour so far, which isn't saying much.  Yeah, this last day-and-a-half has been embarrassingly, yet enjoyably, flat.

There were more hills after that one, and some more nice scenery, but I didn't take any pictures for the next several miles.  I regret that now.

My picture drought ended when I came to the next town of Gray Eagle.  With a population of almost 400, it was slightly bigger than Swanville.  Gray Eagle didn't have a public basketball court, but it did have an attractive lake.     

Bass Lake. Son of Bing Bong is posed at the end of the fishing dock.
Heart 6 Comment 0
Gray Eagle also had a Viking statue. I have Scandinavian heritage, so I felt worthy to strike a Viking pose.
Heart 6 Comment 1
Karen PoretA cousin, perhaps?
Reply to this comment
3 months ago

The next town was Burtrum.  If my memory is correct, I think the sign said it has somewhat less than 300 people.  I zipped right through, but I wished I had taken a picture of the sign next to a small church that said something like, "Join us for an old-fashioned hymn sing-along."

The date of the hymn sing-along was back in August, but the sign was still up.  If I had been riding through here on that August day, I'd have loved to see that spectacle.  I might even have sung a few hymns, but the other folks in attendance probably wouldn't appreciate Church of the Great Outdoors hymns as much as I do.

************

My Delorme Map of Minnesota indicated there was another town on my route called Spalding.  If there was such a town, I totally missed it.

************  

Way before I ever started posting pictures of my travels on the internet, The Feeshko (my wife) used to criticize my photography.  She didn't like my scenery pictures.  She told me they needed to include people to give them more perspective and personality.  

With that in mind, I included G-2 in this photo.
Heart 5 Comment 5
Karen PoretPlease tell The Feeshko I saw her name on a sign today ( in the NL), but since it was raining so hard I didn’t think she’d care I declined to photograph it.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Gregory GarceauTo Karen PoretAre you sure the sign didn't say "Frisia"?
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Karen PoretTo Gregory GarceauPositive! That’s why I was so surprised!!
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Gregory GarceauTo Karen PoretI knew I should have copyrighted the name.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Karen PoretTo Gregory GarceauAgreed! Think of the “ payoffs”😮
Reply to this comment
3 months ago

The title of this page promised something about my mutual respect and admiration with cows.  The following pictures and video should address that.

Cow picture #1.
Heart 4 Comment 0
Cow picture #2 has some longhorn cattle. They might be immigrants from Texas.
Heart 5 Comment 0

I made it to Sauk Center and got a campsite at the Sinclair Lewis City Park.  (That might give a hint to the second famous Minnesotan I hope to meet on this bike trip.)  My site was right on Sauk Lake.  I set up my tent and wrote about my day. 

My campsite
Heart 6 Comment 0
I hadn't seen a single cloud all day. I prepared for the worst when these thunderheads moved in.
Heart 1 Comment 0
It seemed appropriate to end this post the way it began--with a picture of my tent.
Heart 6 Comment 0
Heart 0 Comment 0
Rate this entry's writing Heart 11
Comment on this entry Comment 3
Rachael AndersonI love the video of the cows!
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Emily SharpAnother nice day and a good way to end the day - in a tent! Those cows obviously don't get handfed or supplemental feed since they didn't start following you, thinking you were bringing hay. Glad you made it up that big hill, too, I was worried for you.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago
Gregory GarceauTo Emily SharpThank you for your worry, but it wasn't necessary. I conquered the hill with moderate effort, and if I had a USA flag, I would have planted it at the top for an ironic photo op.
Reply to this comment
3 months ago