Another early 6:45 a.m. start--perfect biking weather all day although we did finish the day with temps in the 90's. Starting out with flat terrain (farming country--monster fields of soy beans and small grains) we transitioned to beef cattle, hay, forests and lakes. The landscape was gently rolling--we've been spoiled with all the flat country! One of the prettiest sights was a big field of sunflowers all leaning toward the morning sun. It reminded us of the beautiful fields of sunflowers that we saw in Provence a few years ago. Along the way three sandhill cranes, a jackrabbit and two deer and a fawn were spotted. One of the most unusual sights was a horde of about 75 geese crossing the road (I had to stop for them) going from a grain field to a pond! Other interesting spottings were five apiaries each of which contained 30-40 hives, eight old, abandoned threshing machines setting in fields in sharp contrast to three huge spanking new combines waiting to get to work. Another Minnesota nice story--Gordie and John saw an older woman watering her peonies so they stopped to chat with her. She called her brother to join the group and he was fascinated with their bikes. They learned a lot of interesting facts from them. For example farm land is with around $600 an acre--in just recent years wooded hunting property has gone from $50 an acre to $300 an acre. We biked 80 miles to Bemidji and then drove 75 miles to Grand Rapids. Local nurseryman David Lang and his wife and Bonnie and Chuck Johnson of Lake Washburn (retired Bailey employee) came over around 7p.m. for a nice visit. Only three more biking days left. Time surely goes fast when you're having fun!!
