Today’s ride started early with light winds and temperatures in the mid teens. Our morning route took us on blue roads that ran south and parallel to I-92 on our way to Minneapolis and St. Paul. We headed south on Hwy 29 and picked up Hwy 55 at Glenwood. We encountered numerous lakes and small towns along the way. Every town had American flags in evidence, usually a small park in honor of veterans and tidy well kept homes.
Minnesota’s state official caption is “Star of the North”, however it’s unofficial nickname is “Land of 10,000 Lakes” which apparently is no exaggeration as there are 11,842. Today’s ride included a sample including Lakes Minnewaska, Koronis, Maple Lake, Buffalo Lakend Lower Lake.
We passed through Paynesville, Kimbal, Annandale, Buffalo and picked up Hwy 12 at Delano. This turned into I394 which took us to I-94 and from there to the state capitol in St Paul. After a 90 minute break to check out the capitol we headed south on Hwy 10, crossing the Mississippi at Hastings, before picking up Hwy 61 into Red Wing for the conclusion of today’s trip.