It's A Dakota County Kind Of Day

October 2, 2022

Lebanon Hills Regional Park Campground

I wasn't lying when I wrote all that stuff about blizzards and cold temperatures in a Minnesota October. In fact, we got some pretty cold temperatures in the last few days of September, including frost and a nighttime low of 34-degrees.

However, you could say I committed the sin of lying by omission. The part I left out was the weather report for the upcoming days. It was looking pretty nice--far from the horrors I was portraying on the last page--though I am aware that weather forecasters sometimes get it all wrong. This time, I placed my bet on their predictions because I WANT them to be true. So I got The Feeshko's okay and hastily put together a plan to start riding.

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Suddenly, my departure day was upon me. I scrambled to get everything packed. I keep most of my gear in one place, so I seem to think I can be ready to ride off to wherever in about an hour. In reality, it takes much longer than that.

Adding to the problem this time was that my favorite football team, the Minnesota Vikings, were on TV already at 8:30 a.m. (Central Time). That's because they were playing in London. {London is a pretty famous town in England where it was a more like, 1:30 p.m.}

I pulled myself away from the game at half-time and started pedaling a little before 10:30. The weather was everything the weather forecasters predicted. After ten minutes I was already peeling off my long-sleeved shirt. That was about the same time my picture-taking commenced. I was at a little sculpture garden that features the work of a local guy named Dale Lewis. He specializes in making art out of scrap metal and found junk.

My first snowman sighting of the trip and my first pig-wearing-a-jet-pack sighting of the trip. It was also my first sighting of a crow hovering over a woman holding a gun that shot flowers out of the barrel.

Will the wonders never end? Here is my first Curling athlete of the trip, PLUS a transplant from Easter Island.

In almost the same place, I saw my first bald eagle of the trip. Sorry for the blurriness.

From there, it was impossible not to notice the corn and soybean fields had turned brown and the leaves in the trees were starting to get colorful. I wasn't expecting that feature, but I'll take it.

Before long, I detoured to Dakota County's Spring Lake Park. It's a really nice park and it was too close to ignore. I'm glad I didn't ignore it because I saw some other picture-worthy things. I made an exciting video too.

Spring Lake is a wide area of the Mississippi River, created by the Lock & Dam #2 in Hastings. The view would be even better if not for the view-blockers.

I panicked a little bit when I came across those people lingering on the bridge because I couldn't slow down fast enough while squeezing a brake with one hand and holding my phone in the other hand. That's why my video ended so abruptly. Yeah, I was a little shook up about nearly ramming into a bunch of hikers at a pretty good downhill speed.

I exited the bike trail and rode away from the Mississippi River Valley on this gravel road. It truly calmed my nerves.

I rode the next few miles without stopping for a single picture. I was proud of myself, but maybe not as proud as I was when I first started bike touring and I would ride 70-miles without stopping for a single picture. That's when I had the mistaken idea I could describe everything with words. CRAZY!

The non-picture drought ended when I came across the first mountain of my mini-tour. I call it Mount Landfill. Mt. Landfill is about 1/4-mile long and has about 150-feet of vertical relief--totally made of garbage. I doubt Mont Blanc, K-2, Danali, Aconcagua, or any of the other great mountains of the world can claim to be made of garbage. Too bad for them.

This rooster caught my eye. It was selling eggs. Only after taking this picture did I notice the birds in the foreground.

If they are prairie chickens, they were the first ones I've ever seen. And I wonder if their eggs are the ones Red Cobb Poultry is selling. Are prairie chicken eggs good for frying in a skillet? These are the things I need to know.

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The next several miles were ridden with high speed determination. I went through the suburban towns of Rosemount, Eagan, and Apple Valley. The roads were busy, but they mostly had wide shoulders, bike lanes, or both. Thank you, Dakota County, for having good cycling sense.

I made it to Johnny Cake Ridge Road. What an interesting name for another bike-friendly road. I don't know what a Johnny Cake is, and I really don't care, because I don't eat cake, but why would anybody name a road after a cake? Just wondering.

It was in this area that I first started seeing some very un-Minnesota-like animals.

I've seen moose in northern Minnesota before, but none of them had a pair of humps like these moose. I have to believe they've grown them over many years of suburban living.

When I dove into one of the local lakes, I could not believe I saw a rare Minnesota shark. I was not afraid. I was a high school and college wrestler. If it came to blows, I have the skills to subdue such a predator.

Alright, I have to admit that those weren't wild animals out there at the intersection of Johnny Cake Ridge Road and McAndrew's Road. Actually, I spent a couple hours at the Minnesota Zoo. I went to the Milwaukee Zoo on my tour across Wisconsin last spring, and I enjoyed it.

By comparison, the Minnesota Zoo doesn't have as many animals, but it has larger habitats, which seems more humane. Still, I would have liked to help every one of those animals to escape their prisons.

From the Minnesota Zoo, it was less than a mile to Dakota County's Lebanon Hills Regional Park Campground. I hadn't been there before. I mean, why would I want to go to a campground in a Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb?

Here's why: The campsite was as nice as any state park or national forest campsite. And I quickly messed it up like I do at state park and national forest campsites.

After camp was set up, I hiked around the area, wrote in my notebook, and enjoyed the evening. It stayed pretty light long after the sun went down, thanks to a perfect half-moon shining through a bank of clouds. When the clouds cleared out, the moonlight was even more intense.

I made a late dinner. Then it was time for bed.

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Today's ride: 32 miles (51 km)
Total: 419 miles (674 km)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	6

Mike AylingA busy day!
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Mike AylingIt was a busy day, but more than that, it was an enjoyable day.
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2 years ago

Bill ShaneyfeltJohnny cakes! Years... no, many decades since I heard about them as a kid in school.

https://wildernessroad.com/the-history-of-johnny-cakes/#:~:text=The%20modern%20johnny%20cake%20is,are%20made%20across%20the%20world.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Bill ShaneyfeltThanks for that link. Now I know that Johnny Cakes are corn-based pancakes. I'm surprised they're so famous on the east coast and not here where corn is king.
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2 years ago

Emily SharpGlad you had such a nice day. Pronghorns are my favourite North American animal - though I think it would seem odd to see them not in some huge, wide open space. Your tent site does look inviting. One thing I loved about camping in RV parks and state parks in America was that you usually had a picnic table at each site. It makes things so much easier. You generally don't get picnic tables here at caravan parks or in any public land site, so it is a luxury when you come across one!
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Emily SharpYes, the picnic tables are the best part of camping in a real campground vs. wild camping. My favorite North American animal has always been the mountain lion. I actually saw one on my first long bike tour from Seattle to Minneapolis. It was a major thrill.
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2 years ago