Day 21 of ALAA-Fri, June 3rd, 2011. Minot, ND to Brainerd, MN



Campground at Crow Wing State Park, MN




The (Narrow!) Mississippi River



They call Minnesota the Land of 10,000 Lakes but I have another appropriate name for it: How about the Land of 10 Million Mosquitos! I stopped at Crow Wing State Park to get a campsite and a swarm of 'em attacked me! I grabbed the insect repellant and started sprayin', swingin', swattin', and cussin as I ran into the Ranger Station. They probably thought I was a complete lunatic and, you know what, they were probably right! The two Rangers were standing by the window just howling at my antics to keep the mosquitos away! And these aren't just normal sized Mosquitos but they are about the size of small helicopters!


Today saw me avoiding flood waters from Eastern ND to Western MN. The road I wanted to take, US 2, was blocked by flooding near the geographic center of North America (I dare you to find THAT on a map!) so I had to drop down to Fargo, ND on my way to Duluth. I haven't seen the biggest ball of twine yet but i AM looking for it! :-) MN is nice so far except, of course, for the skeeters. It seems to be a little neater and cleaner than ND. I was on a nice stretch of interstate today, straight and flat, with a strong tailwind. I just set the cruise (actually a basic mechanical throttle lock!) at 70 and ran straight into Fargo. It was a 400 mile day but not so bad with the flat land and tailwind.


The temps today have been pretty nice-from about 70 this morning to about 85 before the sun set. BUT the feedlots are back! And maybe worse than that are the chicken pens or farms or whatever they are called. They are set in neat little rows of buildings that each probably house either next months scrambled eggs or a Chick Fil-A dollar menu item. They have a unique smell-think of catching a rat in your garage and you don't notice it for about a week! Got that smell in your mind? Well, that's about it! Which is worse? Feedlots or chicken farms? I dunno-it's a tossup. Tomorrow looking for Duluth and Lake Superior.