How can the weather continue to be so nice? Another sunny day with a good tailwind although by the end of the day the temp was 94 degrees! The gently rolling terrain was marked with many drainage dithes. The road kill count is mounting--2 pheasant hens, a flattened (but unpainted) possum, 2 skunks and 1 racoon. Ever since we left Cannon Falls the crops have looked strong except for a mini-drought area around Hanska. The dominant crops are corn and beans thanks to the government assistance programs. Let's hope the next Farm Bill includes more support for conservation efforts. We have seen only a smattering of alfalfa, oats, wheat and sugar beets and we haven't seen any wild parsnips since Mankato. The counties are mowing thistle to reduce these numbers. We had a great example of Minnesota nice today. I stopped at a farm home to see if the bikers could rest on their shady lawn. She of course said "yes" and when the fellows arrived she brought out Gatorade for all plus a $20 donation to the MNLA cause! She and her husband were so interested in the trip and she knew all about Honeycrisp apples as she worked at an orchard in Madison Lake. It's incidents like this that really make the trip so much fun! A really great day was made even better by attending the very nice picnic provided by the Buckley family of Redwood Falls Nursery. Around 30 nursery friends attended and a good time was had by all. Our good biker friends Tim, Stan and Paul left us but some of them will join us again in Duluth or Forest Lake.
