Wayzata to Waverly

- 57.85mi
- 8.5AvS
- Partly sunny, 70s.

Last year I was taking week-long tours at the spur of the moment. I was unemployed the entire summer, and learned most of what I know about touring for dollars a day. This spring, I probably won't get out for more than three nights at a time, but it won't cost me anything more than staying at home would, and I intend to take every opportunity I can to prepare physically for when I leave in mid-July. I'm still planning on catching RAGBRAI on the way out, after all - I'd like to be able to keep up with the pack while hauling a heavy trailer by then.

Yesterday I brought my trailer to work, got off at 7pm and spent the night at a rest stop on the Luce Line trail. It was a bit too close to a house for my comfort. A light from my camp site would like be visible from what appeared to be a kitchen window. Every sound I made seemed a bit too loud, and I had a rough time sleeping.

Aside from June bugs noisily colliding with my tent, the night passed uneventfully. I packed out at 5:30 in the morning, glad that the people across the trail did not seem to be such early risers, and set off for a day of lazy meandering. For such a long day of biking, I didn't go far. After less than two hours of riding, I stopped at a bench off of the trail, and stayed there for at least an hour reading while the dew and my shoes dried. The weather report seemed to change by the hour - mostly cloudy, warm, probably no rain, now a sunny day, or maybe not? The sun came out while I waited.

Much of the day passed in the same fashion. I stopped for a while in each town of the day. A very talkative woman in Watertown kept me there for longer than most. I biked through Delano North to South, East to West then back again a few times trying to find its riverfront downtown, which I eventually did, before turning around again and going back to the highway and having a lunch of free samples at Coborns. Through Lake Rebecca regional park, I took my time on paved bike trails.

I reached my intended camping site at 4:00. The county website listed it as having a primitive canoe campsite, but I could find no sign of such a thing. Perhaps it was somewhere under the flooded Crow river? With so much of the day left, I decided to pass it up and look for a better place. After more wandering about, getting lost, and a stop to ask for directions, I came upon Humphrey Arends County park, and decided it would do. Again, the canoe campsites listed on the internet where nowhere to be found, but this park looked like a more inviting place to spend the night.

---

Whats that I see?

Oh. Hey there, miss.

A much better place for stealth camping, about 10mi west of the rest area. It's visible from the trail, but far out enough that no one would likely notice. Even on a warm and sunny morning, I saw only a bare handful of joggers and a single cyclist out here. That, and a cow munching alongside the trail.

No Llamas here :(

This appears to be some kind of nasty, partially rotted, soft root dragged out from the lake. The piece the looks like a birds foot was longer than my arm and looked more like, well - a monsterous bird foot.

I'm not actually sure how long this fellow was lackadaisically trotting along behind me before I noticed him. He didn't seem keen to get much closer.

The purple on the roof looked more like a growing fungus than flaking paint.

All the sheep save those snoozing under the trailer where raising quite a ruckus by the time I moved on. I took a video, but forgot I had my radio on and the sheep where barely audible over it.

Hey there, fellas.