6/9/26 LITTLE FALLS MN TO PEQUOT LAKES

69 Miles, was supposed to be 52 or so but a few mishaps with the map apps lost some mileage backtracking. A good day, didn't rain had a tailwind once I got on the Paul Bunyan State trail, in Crow Wing State Park, it all got better til Baxter / Brainerd, where the Bunyan trail and MRT overlap and the MRT goes two directions and the signs just say MRT well you don't know which direction n s e w and you don't know which MRT trail... went around in circles for an hour... lol.... Siri doesn't understand either anyway it was a good day hot but i was in the shade a lot once on the trail, i did 36 miles of the trail and it goes for over 115 if you stay on the heartland trail to lake itasca which is my plan.. highlihgt of the day besides the trail sweet smelling woods deciduous, evergreen and then those white bark trees with the little leaves... Caseys in Baxter i stopped had gatorade on deal 3 for $6 28 oz bottles which is a lot i got 3 and they had one botttle left of a new flavor Lime Cucumber something Lemon... it was so good i drank the whole bottle on the spot lol.... had to get a piece of pizza to soak it up.. got here to pequot lakes the main street of the town is all under construction shut down... you would think they would do a block or two at a time ? but it only goes for a few blocks so anyway.... feeling pretty good othr than saddle sore... I would ride the whole 72 to grand rapids tomorrow take that route up to cass lake bemidji but there are no hotels there or on that route so i may not be able to follow the river road the whole way but i'm ok with that, i am seeing enough and now i'm into lake country they are even more impressive than the river... big big lakes that the river is part of i look forward to them but suposed to have a big rain storm tonight hail and all, see how it looks in the morning i think i may call it a short day at 40 miles to Walker they have a couple hotels there its right on a big lake have a little down time let my sore butt heal up and take time to figure out uploading pics from my apple devices to this google application without giving google access to all my photos... repeat i know sorry it's a broken record with me too..ok getting late see if we have rain gear on in the morning or sunscreen.

6/8/26 - ST CLOUD TO LITTLE FALLS

All rainy to start so i geared up head to toe and then about 15 minutes into the ride it turned to sprinkles and stopped and the sun came out hot. A woman walking the trail said tree down by the bridge and yes there it was, see pics, luckily my experience as a woodsman lol helped me bust off enough limbs and vines to get the bike through... tried SERI in St Cloud for directions to the bike shop and it put me under a bridge across the mississippi and said now turn right... duh... so turned that off... got to the bike shop he had presta adapters and a nice digital air pressure tester and he confirmed my rear tire was only at 45 lbs ! was supposed to be 65 since i have about 75 extra pounds in the saddle bags... well i made 94 mi with it on 45 lbs i should fly today ! then across the street target had the saddle cream i needed so bad and also a flashlight and a mark down cobb salad so i was set for lunch, now took off all the rain gear and slathered on the sunscreen and away i went... was nice trail riding up through the neighboring towns and up the county roads for a while, then it got tough in Stearns county no shoulder rough road cars wizzing by 55 or so well i had to share the lane no place to go but mostly all were very respectful gave me at least 5-10 feeet of clearance of course there's always a few buzz by closer so i was happy to see the sign for morrisson county and a nice bit of shoulder a few feet wide... the miles flew by the river on my right now i could see it behind the houses you know you see between the houses everybody had boats and fishing stuff, and then it turned to farmland like i'm used to back home but more alfalfa and little bitty corn just planted a few weeks ago... then it got hilly as i got closer to Little falls, saw the weyerhauser museum but it was closeed, likewise charles a lindberg state park which is just outside of little falls, didn't know that was his hometown but the house has been preserved and a museum built and the family donated 110 acres for the state park, nice bike path into town which was like so many old river towns not too busy downtown lots of resale shops bars and tatoo parlors, some senior and low cost housing buildings... nice park by the river below the dam i have seen 3-4 hydro electric dams so far i'm sure there are many more from the looks of the river / lake... look a lot like the upper danube above the dams... found my hotel and looked online for something to eat nothing too good no veg and i thought about going to coborns grocery the big chain nearby but you know hot and tired and sweaty dirty didn't feel like getting back on the bike so pizza ranch was next door got a surprisingly good veg pizza on frozen dough but i like thin anyway, and unusual side salad of watermelon and feta cheese with onions, cukes the little ones, and some maters and peppers... quite a good meal but that's one thing about riding all day, eat whateever you want whenever you want burning who knows many calories a day... felt pretty good but for sore saddle parts, but they will be calloused in another couple days that will go away and left knee hurting some got to raise the saddle for tomorrow, the Americinn (wyndham 2 star chain) was good had a tub which my sore parts enjoyed for a while. Oh i met a John on the road 2nd touring guy in 2 days we pull over talk for a few minutes he lives in Brainerd which is on the route he gave me the pros and cons of both routes after the experience on the road today i'm leaning to the shortcut 95 miles trail through the lakes country pick up the river at the top cass lake maybe... he said get some bug spray they are early in the season so not too big yet, skeeters and black flies, but they are feisty... issue with google who owns this blogspot they want access to all my phottos which i don't want them to have knowing how they sell yourr info everywhere so maybe tonight i can figure a work around i'm sure there is one i did it last year with the mac in the UK but i just have the IPAD now with little keyboard so different... anyway, ttyl supposed to rain overnight and heavy storms and rain all day wednesday we will hope for the best...

6/7/26 MRT Minneapolis to St Cloud

It was a good start to the tour, got all packed, checked my bags at the hotel and just missed the blue metro train from Mall of America so 20 minutes to the next one I decided to ride up a couple stops to Bloomington Center where I discovered the banana in my back pocket hung down too low and got squished all in my pocket and in my pants lol lol, what a way to start the day and the tour. Luckily i had brought a couple paper towels for greasy work so i was able to get the most before the train showed up... Rode to the last station down town which is at Target field, the concession workers were showing up for work and a bunch of people with KC Royals gear on were around and on the train so i guess the Royals were in town for an afternoon game, i rode around the stadium and started west out of town, thought about taking a bus to the furthest transit station at Brooklyn Park but i would have to unload all the panniers and bags to get on a bus so decided just roll out, this was my first mistake and I did pass the Brooklyn Park transit center about noon... but I figured it was only 40 miles i was going to Elk River so I had plenty of time, I was concerned about my rear tire pressure i could only get so much air pumped in with my little hand pump and didn't have a pressure guage (presta) or an adapter, it went missing sometime in the last couple months, well then I rode up the river trail a while and was concerned my phone battery was going low this my first time using the Ride with GPS app it seemed to be going down pretty quick and my power pack is usually good for 2 recharges so started using that and thought i'd take a short cut didn't need to follow that path on the river so i saw a sign for the shingle creek traril on a mapoboard and decided i'd go that route, this is when i passed the Brooklyn Parjk transit station... Finally i cleared town and stopped at a Deli for a sandwich and bought a loaf of pumpernickel bread, my plan to buy some cheese later or pbj rather than power bars thought i'll eat more regular food on this trip. Got to Elk River well it was only 3pm or so so I pressed on toward Monticello, the river is so different here it's a place every community has a park on the river and people were out boating or fishing or messing around at parks by the river, got to Monticello about 4 ish I was pretty tired planned to stop but it was a nice big tailwind so i kept on, only another 35 miles or so to St Cloud, and i had a big tailwind Ride with GPS said i would get there about 700 so i went for it, not realizing i had already rode about 50 miles with all the out of the way stuff and not being in shape i started to get saddle sore a bit... But i did make it to St Cloud about 730 and it was pretty empty, St Cloud State University is there, home of the Huskies, they are a hockey power... the Herb Brooks National hockey training center is there... but there were a few places open downtown and i got a burger and fries and na Corona while looking for a hotel, settled on the Holiday Inn express where points + cash got me a nice room for $38, only it was 5 miles back to Clearwater but it was a nice ride and i felt better after having a good meal. You can imagine i was sore and tired when i got there, then unpack but they had a hot tub open til 11 so i went in there for 15 mins to soak everything then jumped in the cool pool and finally got all done about 1230 am... it was a long day and pics a prob but in a day or two i'll sort that... oh i met a guy Jerry from South Carolina on the road he was coming from Seattle going to he didn't know where, maybe Milwaukee... had a nice little chat he obviously had been alone too long wanted to chat forever but no i have to get to my stop by dark so see ya later !

June 11 - Back to London - Journey near the end

We did get out early and to Cork on time for our flight to London, Heathrow airport is an amazingly busy place... Internation departures about every minute and all types of people and languages there. Got the bus to our hotel, then took the 81 bus down to Hounslow to shop a bit, but it was a busy crowded not so nice neighborhood so we cut it short came back and ate at the hotel, now getting early to bed got a 6:45 am Uber scheduled, it's only 1.4 miles to the airport terminal 3 but they say allow 3 hours and we leave at 9:15 so... well 5:30 is early enought! OK goodnight and thanks for reading, we'll be home tomorrow evening. Look forward to my own bed again.

June 10 - Tralee to the Dingle Peninsula and

Last day, we fly back to London from Cork tomorrow morning, about 11:45 and it's 65 miles or so we will be up early for a change and out the door about 8. So it will be an early night. Today tho, we drove the Dingle peninsula past town of Dingle which was good shopping area touristy we stopped looked in a couple woolen mill shops but no sale, almost but the one sweater M liked most had a flimsey zipper on it so maybe better luck tomorrow. Then it was up to Fahan where those beehive shaped stone huts are, they date back oh to about 2,000 BC people were living there in caves and eventually they came up the hill built these round stone forts with the huts inside, the one we saw had 5 hut dwellings inside the stone circle, they kept their livestock in there too for protection from rustlers and wild animals... all done without mortar, they just stacked the rocks one atop the other edging in a little each time til a single stone covered the hole at the top, and that shape kept the water out. Pretty amazing.

Otherwise the sights of Dingle peninsula were pretty spectacular again, long misty mountain vistas ending on a bay or the ocean, with islands in the distance or a sandy beach or rocky outcropping or cliffs... and there were hundreds and hundreds of white sheep dotting the hills everywhere. So we did carry in asian food from Rose Garden it was good and we are all ready set to get on to Cork and back to London tomorrow, just staying in a Heathrow airport area hotel and maybe a little shopping Thursday morning we head back across the north atlantic to home, by way of Charlotte. In the morning theres a shopping place Blarney woolen mills we hope to stop at, they open at 930 and our flight isn't til 1145 and it's 30 minutes to the airport so we should have a spare 20-30 minutes if we get up early and out on time. Lots of pics to post maybe tomorrow night i'll be able to catch up, if not i'll do it on the long flights back Thursday! Be good to see my own bed again.

June 9 - Tralee to Fenit and Ardfert

Tralee town center has numerous shops of all manner, tho it seems pubs outnumber everything else, live music on the street here and there and lots of the pubs offer live music every night, tho variety and quality vary widely, we decided not to do any pub trip after our Edinburgh experience oh once was enough. I have been picking up a regular pint of Guinness for evening time and that's good enough. I went to rent a bike but it's only for the day, not 24 hours, and as it was nearly 2 oclock when i got there i would have to be back by 445 so decided no not worth it, and besides, it was 59 degrees they say, but it sure did not feel like it wind howling in off the ocean, well actually Tralee Bay.

So we took a little drive to see the greenway route, figured it would go along the cost the 7 miles or so.. but no it was not near the coast at all, it was a scenic drive tho glad we saw it, so iffy about the ride for tomorrow. We then drove north to Banna Beach, supposedly the finest beach in Ireland, which is saying something because it's an island with beaches all around, but yes it was quite nice the pics don't do justice. Surrounded by tall grass covered dunes, it was so windy sand was blowing up off the beach across the parking lot, and it was on M's side of the car she could not even get out of the car the wind was so strong. I got out for a few seconds to make a video for the kids... but not for long... a couple pulled into a parking space near us and got out, for about 2 minutes lol then they hightailed it back into their car.. yup it was kinda sunny 59 degrees but it felt like 45 with that wind. We did see a well insulated red headed woman come down to the beach and strip down to a one piece bathing suit, and get into the water for a few minutes, the lifeguard came down from his shack with his life saving gear, barefoot with a swimming suit and a hooded foul weather jacket... he watched her til she came out then went back to his post.

Ardfert was the town on our way back from the beach and there was a ruined old church (cathedral) there, we went in and got an orientation from the guide, it dated to the 12th century, burned ruined rebuilt a couple times and a lot of the stones were used for the above ground burials there, many are above ground cuz the ground is so rocky, lots of old tombstones. They had artifacts carved stones and things going back to about 800 ad they say... Brendan who was born about 400 a.d. or so sailed over and discovered Newfoundland so this about 1000 years before columbus "discovered" north america. It was a good full day and now we are down to our last day in Ireland tomorrow, with a promise of 65 degrees and sunshine....