Day 23

68 Miles
I hit snooze when my alarm went off. I was comfortable. Sleeping on the ground was beginning to feel natural. When my alarm went off again, I heard thunder with it. I grumbled and got up immediately. I began to pack up, but the rain beat me. It started slow. It began to increase. I unstaked my tent and carried it still assembled in full to a pavilion. I packed my gear up under its shelter. I felt clever. I waited for a bit to see if the rain would slow. After about 35 minutes I resolved that I was stuck with it. I had a 60 mile day planned. I donned my rain gear, which I had only worn twice before. Normally I skipped the rain pants and just wore the jacket. But it was near torrential when I took off. I didn't want to start my day off like that.
My route followed the Mississippi. The road was lined with hundreds of dead frogs. They lay splayed out on the pavement. Most were weren't even squished. I wondered how those ones met their demise. I rolled into a small town and sat in the rain for a bit. I was hoping for cell service. I had none. I moved on to my delight, directly after the town was the Minnesota border. Six states down, six to go.
This part of the river was home to a wildlife refuge. I stopped at the wildlife viewing area. I didn't see much wildlife. The only cranes I saw were moving dirt along with bulldozers and trucks. It was some project to help restore the river to its natural state.

The humidity hit quickly after the skies cleared. I finally had cell coverage and contacted my usual bunch before heading on. I stripped off the rain gear. It wasn't meant for physical activity and created a personal sauna. I wasn't into that.
The ride was much flatter than the previous day. When there was a climb, it was lofty, followed by lofty inspiring views and ridges to cruise along on. I strapped my wet shoes to the sides of my panniers to dry. I thought it made me look the part of hobo much more to have a shoe dangling off each side of my bike. They dried quite quickly in the hot sun.
As my day was coming to an end I accidentally passed by my intended campsite. I was rolling into Winona Minnesota by the time I realized it. As it turned out I was happy with this accident. Winona brought McDonalds and a super cheap hotel room. And thanks to Melissa who had given me a little extra money to "do something nice" I could afford the food and motel.
The motel was just as nice as the one I had stayed at a few nights prior but half the price. I could live with this.