Fish, Farms and Flatlands Part 2: Minneapolis, MN to Brighton, NY

From Minneapolis, it was just a quick trip on the local rail-to-trail before entering Wisconsin (home state of Matt's Mom). As we came down a steep hill into the town of Stillwater, MN, which sits on the St. Croix River (this is the river that forms the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin) we were excited about the prospect of a change in landscape. It was a subtle change, but we were glad to learn that Wisconsin has at least slightly more hills and curves in its roads than Minnesota.

We rode across the border in a rainstorm after camping along the St. Croix River, but the sky cleared while we were at the library in Oceola, WI, and we traveled the rest of the day under the blue. We were lucky to find a restaurant that served fried cheese curds (the little pieces of cheese that are formed just after the curdling process- they are really tasty and fresh, and they squeak when you eat them) and a fine local brew (PBR).

It was amazing at how quickly the landscape transformed from wetland, lakes and flat expanses to rolling hills and... well ... cows. We greatly appreciated the change of scenery, and we decided to venture off of our official route to go a bit more directly through the state. We enjoyed really beautiful back roads, even cycling alongside a couple of deer as they bounded through a nearby meadow!

The Wisconsin State Parks we stayed in were very nice. One was on an island in the Chippewa River, right next to a huge old "stacker", which was once used for stacking pulpwood onto barges and rail cars (see photos on flicker link). We were also provided with more mid western hospitality: on our very first day in Wisconsin we stopped in to Donna's Kooler, where we were treated to a nice, cold, melon and some incredible sweet buns (we incidentally met Donna's brother when we stopped for lunch the next town over!). We got a place to get out of the rain, a sandwich and a ride to a campground from Ken Fleishman in Antigo, and we were gratefully kidnapped by the Keenan Family in downtown Shawano (pronounced SHAno). The Keenan's not only took us home for a swim in the Wolf River, they also showed us around the area, made us a lovely dinner, and let us watch TV, which they had just gotten hooked up in their new house.

The next exciting stop was at the ferry that would take us to Michigan, which left Wisconsin at Manitowoc, just slightly south of Green Bay. Dear friend Cristina made the trip up from Chicago to meet us, and brought delicious brownies and banana bread, which we promptly devoured. We found a place to camp through the warmshowers.org website, and although Jon and Pat were headed out of town, they invited us to stay in their yard and use their porch and garage, which worked out perfectly.

Leaving Manitowoc, we ventured across Lake Michigan on the SS Badger, the last coal burning ferry in the US (it took us a little while to figure out why our glasses of water had little black floaties in it). Midway across the lake we happened upon a HUGE storm that let loose exactly when we made port. Having never experienced a tornado, we were convinced that a water spout would appear any moment... it didn't.

Luddington, MI was a nice port town. We were fortunate to stay the night in the local Methodist church. At 7pm the board of trustees were having a meeting just as a sopping wet Anna and Matt walked through the front door. They thankfully let us sleep in the dining room.

As we cruised across the state of MI (only a 3-day ride) we came across more and more local gardens and roadside stands. The Amish and Mennonite communities are very active growers and were present at multiple markets. After spending an evening on the Leroy, MI town green we hopped on a 30 mi. bike path. Local rider Kim Wilson met us in Stanford and offered up his back yard for camping... not to mention his pool. The following morning he rode us out of town the rest of the way down the trail to Midland, MI where we enjoyed the local farmer's market and took photos of a unique landmark, the Midland "tridge" (see photos).

Midland quickly gave way to Bay City which brought us to our nation's edge at Marine City, MI. Next step.... Canada. We took the five minute, 1$ ferry across the S. Clare River into Ontario and headed out once again into...more corn and soybeans! After an entire day of straight and flat (on Bentpath Road, strangely enough) we finally hit Lake Erie, which was such an incredibly refreshing sight. Anna jumped into the water right away, and Matt took a "one step at a time" approach.

The next morning, while eating a piece of Bumbleberry Pie at the nearby convenience store, we had some visitors stop in. The triumvirate, the trio, the triple threat: Deb, Dan and Dutch, who are also on a cross-country ride. It was great to share stories with them about where we'd been, the interesting people we'd met, and the amount of ice cream we eat every day. Being gainfully employed (or gainfully retired) they are on a little bit of a different caliber of tour. For example, in the next town as the rain came in, they headed off to a B&B and we waited it out in the park. But it really worked out well, as we asked to camp at the local Anglican Church and ended up being invited into the home of Rick and Maureen Gilbert, who are caretakers of the church and grounds, random hitchhikers from Iran, and, it seems, traveling cyclists.

The next few days consisted of alternately riding through cornfields and through cottages along Lake Erie, into little port towns, and sampling local peaches, blueberries, apples, currants and of course some Lake Erie Perch. We shared a campsite and a torrential downpour with Deb, Dan and Dutch, and the next night with a woman from Holland on a solo, week-long recumbent tour. Her name was Iris, and she was on a summer trip in between her med school studies- last cycling holiday she took was six weeks through Europe, which sounded pretty awesome. We hung out with her in a campground that a)was full of huge RVs as usual and b) required wristbands so no "outsiders" could sneak in! and c) was having an outdoor showing/singalong/stagger-around to live Phil Collins, Steeley Dan and Earth Wind and Fire concerts. Thankfully they didn't require us to wear the wristbands- I guess we stick out enough.

The next day's ride to Niagara Falls was a nice one, and although it was a little sad to leave the shores of Lake Erie, we knew we wouldn't miss the smell of rotting algae that had followed us for the past week. We met a group of cross-country cyclists who were on an organized tour with a company called Teen Treks- they were headed to NYC from Seattle- clearly an incredibly ambitious group of high schoolers! A bicycle path brought us up into the Niagara River: we saw Buffalo, NY from across the way and continued north to see the Falls from the Canadian side. Niagara Falls is really beautiful, but the development around it looked pretty awful to us- huge hotels, casinos, and insane crowds of people. We took a look and continued on up to the bridge that brought us to New York, which was also packed with cars. Being on a bike came in handy, as we cruised past all the idling folks and through customs without a hitch (the woman only told us she was going to "recommend us for a psychiatric examination", which we are sure is the line she uses with all cyclists).

We are headed a bit further north now towards Lake Ontario, and the riding we have done in NY so far has been primarily on the Erie Canal tow path (although we have still been seeing lots of corn and soybeans!). We rode to Rochester on it yesterday, and it was really interesting to stop and read the history of the canal along the way. The amount of work that went into canal building in New York in the 1800s is incredible, and then trying to imagine all the hours of hauling freight back and forth with mules (they walked on the towpath and pulled the barges through the canal)

We spend the evening with Paul Tankel, a friend of Anna's friend Rebecca. It was great to shower and use a furnished kitchen after a few days of pasta and "one pot meals". We are now sitting in his house publishing this blog while he is at work. Thanks Paul!