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Day 194 - Friday 7-26-02 - mileage today 45.4 - MILEAGE TO DATE=7,960.75
From New Albin, IA to Homer, MN

We entered Minnesota today. We spent the cycling along the Mississippi. The upper Mississippi is an incredible sight. I never realized that there were islands in the middle of the river. I just never pictured it. Both sides of the Mississippi, the Wisconsin and the Minnesota sides are rugged and heavily wooded. The further north you go the less populated the river gets. Surprisingly the river is used heavily for transporting goods from one place to another. We see barges loaded being pushed by tugboats up and down the river. I really don’t know how they can navigate the river as well as they do. The captains are very skilled.  The river has a series of dams and lochs, in order to create depth enough for the barges. The lochs are a way for the boats to go from one level of the river to another. We are really enjoying this part of the country.

Day 195 - Sat. 7-27-02 - mileage today 58.9 - MILEAGE TO DATE=8,019.65
From Homer to Lake City

MYRON--SLOW DOWN; YOU’RE SCARING ME

Last night I had a dream, where Myron was riding down a dirt road and I was on the back of his trailer. We passed an airport where a bright red helicopter was just taking off. It was unlike any helicopter I'd ever seen before. It was short and wide. It didn’t have a tail or tail rotor. It had a large black turbine on top that could rotate, sending the helicopter in and direction very quickly. I could clearly see the pilot and he could see me. I waved. He took off circled around and followed us. Myron was cycling really fast and there was a bridge coming up. I yelled to Myron, " Myron, slow down; you’re scaring me"  I could see we were going too fast and that we were going to miss the bridge. In slow motion I could see that we're going to hit the other side of the ditch. Just then THUNDER. I woke up to lightning and thunder. I got up to see the sun was just rising. I walked over to the banks of the Mississippi, looked to the east, and watch the reddest sunrise I've ever witnessed. As I stood there in amazement I turned around and watched a storm building in the west. Within minutes It was raining. I went back to my tent and fell asleep in hopes to find out if I lived thru the crash.

Today will be our last day on the river. We've been cycling along the river for several days now and we've thoroughly enjoyed it. The upper Mississippi is truly and amazing sight. It dictates a culture all its own that permeates to those that live along her banks.  Myron stopped into a cafe a last night. He came back with this:

THESE ARE EXCUSE NOTES FROM PARENTS WITH THIER ORIGIANAL SPELLING COLLECTED BY SCHOOLS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY---

1. My son is under a doctor's care and should not take P.E. today. Please execute him.

2. Please excuse Lisa for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot.

3. Dear. School: Please excuse John being absent on Jan.28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and also 33.

4. Please excuse Gloria from Jim today. She is administrating.

5. Please excuse Roland from P.E. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.

6. John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face.

7. Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in his growing part.

8. Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday. He had a cold and could not breed well.

9. Please excuse Burma, she has been sick and under the doctor.

10. Please excuse Jimmy for being. It was his father’s fault.

11. Sally won't be in school a week from Friday. We have to attend her funeral.

12. My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent a weekend with the Marines.

13. Maryann was absent December 11-16, because she had a fever, sore throat, headache and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick, fever, sore throat; her brother had a low-grade fever and ached all over. I wasn’t feeling well either. Something must be going around, her father even got hot last night.

Day 196 - Sunday 7-28-02 - mileage today 47.3 - MILEAGE TO DATE=8,066.95
From Lake City to Dennison

It was hot by 8:00am. We only have to go to Northfield today. That should be about 55 miles or so. I decided I would go to church today. I haven’t been in a long time. Someday, I might tell you my experience. I caught up with Myron at about 2:00 and he was telling me about a long hill he was climbing in the noon heat. There was o wind to cool him and there was no traffic or homes. It was a hot, lonely, long hill. He when he finally reached the top he saw a little girl along side the road selling lemonade. I said are sure it wasn’t a mirage. No, he said she was real and so was the 5 glasses I drank. About the time Myron was done. The girl’s mother came out and said, “What are you doing. The girl had set up shop without permission. There were no other houses around or auto traffic. But with the help of a hot cyclist, the little girl did okay before mom shut down the business. Myron told me the story as we rested and dried out our equipment in a park along side the road. at about ! 3:00 I slowly continued down the road in the heat. I stopped in Dennison about two hours later for a cold drink in the Conoco station. Not more that twenty minutes later Myron showed up. We sat and talked for about ten minutes. I said I would continue on to Northfield, which is about ten miles down the road. I jumped on my bike and started out a minute later I turned around and went back. It doesn’t look to good out there. A storm is quickly building. 

Not more that ten minutes later it was pouring, thunder and lightning. It lasted about 30 minutes. Jennifer the clerk at the station is a weather nut and wants to be a storm chaser. She closely followed the weather reports on the radio. She said that there is another storm on the way that is much bigger than the one we just went thru. I considered cycling into Northfield, but my better judgment said no. I would be a fool to try. At that point Chuck walks in. Now we are all together and everybody is ok. It didn’t take long for the next storm to build. It was amazing to watch it form. By now we are in a Tornado watch, and we heard of a tornado on the other side of the state. We are listening to the radio with complete attention. The storm has dominated our focus and conversation. The radio now says that we are in a tornado warning not watch. A tornado warning as I understand it is when one has been spotted. Jennifer said if a tornado hits we would have to close the store and go into the cooler. The cooler is the strongest part of the building.
We are in wonder watching the sky is turning green and the clouds overhead are boiling like a pot of water on the stove. All around us are clear skies it is just above us that all the clouds have gathered. There was a man and his little boy in the store looking at the movie section when a big bearded man ran in and said we have to go NOW. There is a funnel forming overhead. Lets go. They all ran out of the store and quickly drove off. Now the phone is ringing. It was Jennifer’s mom asking if she is ok. Yes I'm fine she says. Her mom said a tornado hit ten miles away. We know the radio gives us warnings. It is all that is on the radio. It gives you all the instructions as to what to do. Everybody get inside and stay away from windows. Get into the strongest part of the house if you don’t have a cellar. The wind was wild outside, it is swilling and from all directions. The rain is traveling everywhere, up, down and sideways, it is everywhere. The phone rings again it is the owner saying there is a tornado two miles from the store.

All traffic has stopped. Nobody was in the store. Jennifer said if we lock up, you can stay but you have to promise me you wont steel anything. We wont we replied. We are just thankful to be here where it is safe. OK, Jennifer said. Keep in mind this all takes place all within a half hour and the storm quieted just al fast. At about 8:00 we decided to cycle back a mile to a farmhouse where Chuck had sheltered earlier. We rode up and Jenny met up in the back of the house. She quickly greeted us and told us we can stay anywhere we want. We decided to stay in the barn. After we set up Rick and Jenny invited us into the house for coffee.

We stayed and talked with our new friends for several hours. We find Rick and Jenny very personable people. We really enjoyed our visit. Rick works for Best-buys as a location scout. and Jenny is a commercial real estate developer. She is also the co owner of the Archer House Hotel in Northfield.

Day 197 - Monday 7-29-02 - mileage today 17.7 - MILEAGE TO DATE=8,084.65
From Dennison to Northfield

Thanks to Rick and Jenny, We had a great night sleep in a dry safe barn last night.  We gathered our stuff up and cycled into Northfield. We went to the Archer House and Jenny let us shower and clean up in an empty room. We also secured camping in the park with the permission of Gary, the police Chief. We all kind of split up and did our own thing. We had a meeting time and place set up. We are really looking forward to having Shiangold join us tomorrow.

Day 198 - tue. 7-30-02 - MILEAGE TO DATE=8,084.65
Day off in Northfield

WELCOME SHIANGOLD

Myron rented a car and will pick Shiangold up at the airport in Minneapolis. Shiangold arrived at 6:13 am. Shiangold is another friend who cycled with us two years ago. He is from Taiwan. He had a 24 hour travel time to get here. He will cycle with us to somewhere on the west coast. Shiangold’s real name is
Hsu Ching Hsiang but we have such a hard time with Asian names we call him Shiangold. Why Shiangold? Because it is the name of his business. Hsu, owns several jewelry stores in Taiwan.  We are really happy he is cycling with us on this trip. Of the nine people who finished the Trans-Am trip two tears ago we will see 8 of them on this trip. After Myron and Shiangold arrived back from the airport we went into town. Myron and I had a twenty-minute interview on the radio at 9:30. Then we joined Chuck and Shiangold for breakfast. After breakfast we drove to Minneapolis and to the Mall of America. We drove around the city for a little while and returned back just in time for another storm.

Day 199 - wed 7-31-02 - MILEAGE TO DATE=8,084.65
Northfield, Minnesota

We planned to have an extra day off so that Shiangold can sleep. His body clock is 14 hour off. We used the day to lounge. We found out that Jesse James and the Younger gang robbed the First National Bank on Sept. 7, 1876. Due to the bravery of the town’s people, the robbery was a failure. It was the last bank the notorious outlaws robbed.  The part time teller lost his life refusing to open the safe. Other town’s people ran and got their guns and had a fierce 7-minute gun battle with the gang. Several of the gangs’ members lost their life on the streets of Northfield. Days later a posse in pursuit caught up with the James gang and killed several more. Jessie and Frank escaped to the east coast. The remainder of the younger gang was imprisoned in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Day 200 - Thursday 8-1-02 - mileage today 73.0 - MILEAGE TO DATE=8,157.65
From Northfield to Gaylord
200 DAYS ON THE ROAD

Myron and I will have to do something special to celebrate our 200th day. Shiangold and I are slowly making our way towards Gaylord. We decided to stick to smaller roads, while Myron and Chuck stayed on the larger roads. Come to find out there was a detour on the route Myron and Chuck took. They ended up having to cycle an extra 15 miles. OUCH. Today is Shiangold’s first day cycling with us and we had moderate to heavy headwinds all day. He asked a number of times if this is the way the trip would be. Jokingly, I said it was a good day; just wait until the winds kick up. He looked real concerned and said WHOA, not good. I later told him that we would have head wind but not every day. It was too late to have a celebrity dinner so we will have a belated 200th day breakfast celebration tomorrow.

Day 201 - Friday 8-2-02 - mileage today 57.3 - MILEAGE TO DATE=8,214.95
From Gaylord to Cosmos

COSMOS GENTLEMENS CLUB

We had a perfect day to ride. The temperatures were in the upper 70's and the winds are light. Shiangold and I rode together once again, stopping at many photo opportunities. The rolling hills with farms dotting the landscape are very picturesque. We even stopped along the way to video a crop duster flying low right in front of us. We stayed in Cosmos. I think the full name of the town is Cosmos Starship. The town of Cosmos has 562 people in it. As we entered Cosmos Myron saw a Juice Bar and thought, Oh boy that is great I can go get a smoothie. Upon closer inspection Myron found that it was a Juice Bar and Gentleman’s Club. We all got a laugh at the thought of, Myron hanging out there. We stayed at the park in the center of town.

Day 202 - sat. 8-3-02 - mileage today 38.0 - MILEAGE TO DATE=8,252.95
From Cosmos to Spicer
BREAKFAST ON THE MILKY WAY

We slept in the city park under the water tower. The water tower has a rocket ship on top. You have to remember we are in the town of Cosmos. Cosmos has an eccentric array of residents. Some even say that they have aliens living amongst them. All night there were all kinds of people milling around town. One person was even setting off bottle rockets, maybe trying to get back to the mother ship, I suppose.  All the streets in town are named of celestial bodies. In fact we had breakfast on, “Milky Way St." After breakfast we met Earl. Earl was telling us that Cosmos is the only town in America with that name and the only town that has a Post Master that cant read. Earl was giving Myron directions, when someone came along and said your not getting directions from Earl are you? She said you’d never get there. She then took the map from Earl and turned it right side up. It has been said that Cosmos has visitors from space living amongst them. Most people point toward Earl when they say it. While standing outside the cafe we met John. John is 99 years old. He still gets around fine. He has a cane but he really doesn’t need it. He says it is for the girls at the Gentleman’s Club. He doesn’t have that old man shuffle that some old folks get. He walks just fine. One of John’s friends told us a story about John’s new truck. John drove around in an old Chevy pick-up truck for years. John's mechanic told him that he needs a new truck. The old ones body were about to fall off. John's friend went to the Ford dealer with him and John just couldn’t find what he wanted. The salesman said, do you have something against Fords. John said, "no, I bought a ford once; in 1926, and as I recall it was a good car".
What is it then the salesman said? John said, "Well I don’t know how to drive an automatic".  So finally John drives out of the dealership with a new Ford Ranger 5 speed standard. We all watched with amazement as John walked to his truck and jump in and drive off at the ripe old age of 99. We didn’t drive off but at 9:30 we rode off. We rode right into the path of a Thunderstorm. At about 10 miles out we had to take refuge in barn for two hours while the storm did its thing. We cycled into Grove City for lunch. It is there where we met Robin. Robin invited us to stay with her and her husband Don.