June 21, 2018
Day 34 Sand Lake
Sand Lake, MN
Slept like the dead at the Bunkhouse. We were up a good hour before the other bikers, but they were up later. We were rolling at about 8 into a somewhat chilly morning. It warmed up nicely though. We went through a few small towns, making our way north past more northern forests. Only one minor vehicle encounter, when a guy pulling up to a stop sign blared his horn at us for turning left onto the road he was coming down. Never mind that we had the right of way. After 40 miles of mostly busy road, we were treated to another chunk of bike path in Hinkley. We would take that for about 30 miles...if it were open the whole way. At about 15 miles, there was a detour due to a bridge repair. So 4.5 miles on the road and an extra mile to our total. Seems like such a minuscule amount, but any extra miles are never a welcomed thing. (Suck it up buttercup as my brother would say.) Eventually we closed in on the cabin, where another Appalachian Trail friend and his family are spending their summer vacation. Brett (aka Boy Howdy) and his wife Betsy greeted us at the door, brought us a couple of beers and led us into Minnesota lake shore paradise. We walked down the long stairs to the dock and splashed our feet in the water for a while, watching their young son pull in sunfish every few minutes on his little fishing rod. A few of them, as well as a bass they’d caught earlier were grilled up for dinner, along with burgers and brats. Brett grabbed the hamburger rolls to grill them as well, but realized they weren’t sliced. Who does that?? The package said they were unsliced to “protect the flavor”. Um, ok. Betsy made an amazing strawberry cake for dessert. We certainly made up for any calorie deficit tonight! After dinner, we made our way back down to the lake and paddled out to watch the gorgeous sunset. (Jon chose the paddle boat over the canoe...active recovery?) What a wonderful place with wonderful folks.
Today's ride: 72 miles (116 km)
Total: 1,779 miles (2,863 km)
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