August 29, 2023
Day 107 - ending near Prior Lake, MN
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It was a beautiful night for sleeping and a beautiful morning. Woke up at 6:30am, worked some on the report, then packed up. I talked with my wife as I was packing, using my phone in speaker mode. That seemed to make packing go really quick.
My destination for today was Cleary Lake Campground southeast of Prior Lake, Minnesota. I think I've mentioned it before, I planned ahead of time every road and trail I would be on for this trip. Every turn I make is a waypoint loaded in my GPS. Today's route contained 68 waypoints. Without uploading today's GPS track file to a computer, I really can't tell you all the roads I was on. I can't even tell you all the towns I went through. I know some of them: Maple Grove, Plymouth, Minnetonka, Shakopee, and Prior Lake. These are all towns northwest, west, and southwest of Minneapolis. Just like yesterday, there was riding on highway shoulders, bicycle paths, bicycle trails, residential streets, and sidewalks.
I did some Google Maps searching on restaurants serving breakfast in the area before I left the campground this morning. Peg's Countryside Cafe was listed as not too far away, but it wasn't on my planned route. So I made a new route for the first part of my day to get there. That route I can tell you: Brockton Lane to 97th Avenue to Fletcher Lane to MN-55. I arrived at Peg's at 10:35am, exactly an hour after I left the campground.
I was hoping the restaurant had customer wifi. They do, but it wasn't working much better than the one at the KOA Campground. So I went ahead and uploaded yesterday's report using the cell signal - at least it's 5G here. I had the 2x2x2 for breakfast. I'm surprised how many restaurants have that as a choice on their menu. I'm glad they do.
Outside after breakfast I was going to call the park office that oversees the campground I was planning to be at tonight. Reservations are required there ahead of time. A house was being demolished this morning right next door to the restaurant. Because of the background noise, I decided calling from there wouldn't work. So I left at 11:42am riding east on MN-55 to get back on my original route. It was much quieter along the highway, so I stopped and made my reservation with Three Rivers Park District for one night walk-in tent camping at Basswood Campground, site #1.
My noon alarm went off 5 minutes after I got off the phone. 9.0 miles so far.
I passed a sign saying I was in Minnetonka at 1:40pm. There were lots of lakes to get by today and this town had a few. At 2:14pm I passed a Dairy Queen that was so conveniently close to the bike path I was on that I went ahead and stopped. This was my supper. A very early supper. This Dairy Queen has good wifi and an outlet at every table. I charged my phone while I ate.
I was back riding after "supper" at 3:11pm. I had to make a few detours due to roads being closed or bike paths being closed, but my pre-planned route was working OK. I did press a lot of intersection crossing walk push buttons today. I made one more stop before I arrived at the campground. That was at a Holiday gas station. I like their cellophane-wrapped three cookies for $2.99. I bought a pack, but now I'm wishing I'd bought two.
One of the detours I had to make today was right at the end getting to Cleary Lake. Since I wasn't approaching the lake the way I'd planned, I was kind of lost and ended up going part-way around the lake on a path. That path was crowded with people walking and bicycling! But I eventually found the campground and Basswood site #1. I didn't check all around, but I think I may be the only one doing walk-in camping tonight. The ground here sure looks dry. I didn't even attempt to use tent stakes. But it's supposed to be another beautiful evening. There's certainly no breeze at the moment. Just the quiet background insect noise, and occasionally noise from a jet overhead.
Tomorrow is planned to be a longer day, but with not near as many waypoint turns.
Jeff
Spent: $18.01 plus $5 (breakfast) + $15.03 (supper) + $5 (lemonade stand donation) + $3 (carnival stand donation) + $2.99 (cookies) + $21.48 (campsite) = $70.51
Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 3,975 miles (6,397 km)
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