T1 Day 34 (Keelin)

 Day 34: 7/10/2023


It seems that I get the pleasure of writing about all of our longer days.. I don’t mind it though, more cool things to talk about! 

Today we knew was going to be a busy one- we had 98 miles to bike, a morning grocery store and bakery stop to make, and some family to visit with. I joked with Liz and Kayla saying that we needed to perform “express checkout” from our campsite in the morning. headed to the highly recommended Jitter’s Cafe where Liz’s uncle had so amazingly left a gift card for us to buy some baked goods! We have just been so incredibly grateful for the kindness and hospitality of everyone we have run into in Minnesota. Next up, grocery store (the usual stuff here nothing exciting) before we hopped back onto the bike path that we’ve been riding on. We got to Holdingford, MN and decided to take a quick break when this man approached us and told us about his bicyclist cafe/art gallery just down the path. Unfortunately, they are closed on Mondays- but in perfect Minnesota man fashion he absolutely insisted on opening the doors and making us a free sandwich anyway !!! There was no way say no to that!! Realizing that Liz’s grandma was waiting for us a few miles down the road at a dairy queen, we needed to get back on our way. Before long we had to stop for a speedy bathroom break where we met a fellow group of female cyclists that were on a birthday bike ride! 61 miles for her 61st birthday… and for her birthday, she decided she wanted to give us $20!!!!! I love Minnesota. We finally got to dairy queen and had the best time sharing stories with Liz’s grandma and her boyfriend Dick. It made my day to see the smile on her face as we rode up!! After we left dairy queen we had 45 miles ahead of us and it was 2:30 pm. We were determined to get the bicycle bunkhouse in Dalbo but decided to take a break for food in Milaca just 17 miles before. It was definitely hard to get back on our bikes to make that final push but we were soooooo excited for the bunkhouse … and it all paid off when we arrived and saw what an incredible barn we had to stay in. Donn, the owner of the barn, has absolutely perfected the bunkhouse to have exactly what cyclist need. Lots of things in the fridge for free (eggs, jam, PB, bread, butter etc.) and other things that have suggested donations associated (gatorade, oatmeal packets, fruit snacks, candy bars, frozen pizza, ice cream sandwiches, you name it!!!). There were 4 rooms downstairs with 2 cots each and a whole upstairs  open area with tons of cots scattered around. It was incredible. We got in, were greeted by Donn, took showers, route planned a little, and slept like babies (i guess like babies who sleep through the night lol).

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