Winter Walk

Winter at Mosquito Junction

Building a Forest Road

Hey everyone-
I hope that you all are doing well and are happy as ever. Recently we purchased forty-one and a half acres in way northern Minnesota. This is part one of our building a field road and the process of deciding where to put the camper and an eventual Tiny Home for our retirement.  

Part One

Part two is where Elissa and I both get down...down on the ground. We work ourselves to the bone widening the area and deciding where to put the camper eventually. Thanks for popping by.

Part Two

Day Five Ride Across Minnesota

Day Five Ride Across Minnesota

If you are interested please go to this link to start from Day One. LINK

The last day of an adventure can be a really sad day. You know the end is near, you know you have to
 go back to work, you know you have 24 hours to fill yourself with the spirit of this adventure, this life, 
this moment.

We woke up at Borders Inn and Suites went out and had the continental breakfast. There was 
something about us that made the rest of the guests stare and wonder. I don’t know if it was because 
we went out in our biking attire, the helmets, the massive leg muscles, how intelligent and beautiful we
 and all bikers are, or how tired we looked. Probably the ladder. 

After breakfast we loaded up our bikes, checked out, and walked them out the door of the hotel. It was
 another chance for people to stare, but this time I’m pretty sure they were just jealous. That’s okay. 
They can be. It was a great adventure. 

We got on the road and maneuvered ourselves around the early morning semis, trucks, cars and a 
sleepy city awakening and going to work. 

Leaving Faribault was pretty easy from where we were. We just got on this road which led to a bike 
path which led to another road and we went from there. Cycling on a country road is really a great vibe.
 Sure there are cars zooming by but there’s also cattle, fields, forests, deer, meadow grass waving in 
the wind and a quiet which finds you and stuns you to the very core of your being. Here you are riding
 your bicycle through this majesty trying not to think about this being the very last day you will be here 
doing this. The last day of our adventure trying my damnedest to bear witness to everything happening 
to be in this moment of existence.

It wasn’t long before we got to my mother's house in Northfield but of course the Google lady got us 
lost inside the city. My mother had coffee and rolls waiting for us and plenty of hugs and joy. It was a 
grand moment when I could help her not be worried. My Ma tends to worry each and every time Elissa 
and I go out on an adventure, so I could see not only the joy on her face but the relaxing from worry too. 

After about an hour we left our panniers their and rode naked of baggage toward Cannon Falls. There 
is a trail which leads from Cannon Falls all the way to Red Wing. In my humble opinion it’s one of the 
best we were on.  Tree canopied with cliffs and a raging river which accompanies you from trailhead to 
trailhead. There are lots of wonderful places to stop and rest or take photos to show off your journey to 
friends and family. The half-way point is called Welch. Which I had mistakenly thought was a town 
which might have ice cream. Imagine my surprise to find it’s a ski spot but in the summer. Don’t get 
me wrong it’s pretty as a bug's ear, but I was sort of hoping for ice cream. **sad face**

We hung out there briefly and reflected on how our journey was but eventually we got stupid with 
excitement and left for the finish line. 

When we rode into Red Wing we were feeling tired of the road and excited for the burgers we promised
 ourselves. My Ma was there to pick us up so we loaded our bikes on her bike rack and left for supper. 
Well wait a second it might have been lunch I can’t remember?

This has truly been one of the greatest adventures of my life. I’m half tempted to write a book about it 
in the first person. Thanks for coming along and witnessing this adventure with us. It’s really been a 
great time having you here with us. It’s a lot like having you here in the house sitting and chatting. 

Wishing you all the best always. 

   Trevor and Elissa Marty 

Day Four Sakatah Singing Hills Trail

Day Four

Day four started with a potty break because what we had for breakfast didn’t agree with us. 

It was some sort of egg scramble, smoked Salmon thing. It looked good in the pictures. **shrugs 

shoulders**. If you go here LINK you can see last weeks blog or here LINK to get to the first of this 
series. 

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn and Suites in Mankato Mn. We figured why not we are on vacation 
anyway. To be honest though it could have been any hotel we didn’t care so long as it was clean, and 
they let us bring our bicycles in the room with us. 

While in Mankato we went to this Mexican restaurant and had these huge burritos. Neither of us can 
remember what it’s name was, but we do remember it was pretty good though. The next day we found
 that we don’t like riding in bigger cities as much as we like riding in the country. 

A country road’s curves and hills are very seductive a lot like a flamenco dancer. mother earths hips 
swing pendulously over the miles. A city is more staccato and way less flowy. (Yes, ‘flowy’ is now a 
word because I’ve used it.) Having said that though I also have to say we didn’t get lost on the way 
out of town at all. We just had to endure the early morning traffic of a city waking up and going to work. 

There is a bike path which leads all the way from Mankato, Mn to Faribault, Mn. called the Sakatah 
Singing Hills Trail and it will lead you through Sakatah State Park which is a great treat. 

The trail has a multitude of geologies and ecologies along it. You will travel through dense forest and 
then through meadows, and fields. Forty one miles of bike path with little or no traffic to interfere with 
you. Several little towns and ice cream shops also dot the landscape between the two cities if you 
have a sweet tooth and need a moment to rest. 

Finally it opens up on the Faribault Trailhead. 

That night we stayed in Borders Inn and Suites which is a wonderful old hotel. 

The next morning we started off after breakfast and that’s another story. 

Day Three and the Big Highway Bicycle Blues

The video as always is at the bottom of the page.

We woke up in the most comfortable bed in the Air BnB we rented in Mountain Lake, Mn and 
lazily put our stuff together. If you remember from last week we’d gotten a flat but having fixed 
it we were curious if it stayed inflated through the night. To start this series from Day One go to 
this Place. The new tube had stayed pumped all 
night and we were in luck. The sun whispered it’s promises for a beautiful Summer morning. 
Like most mornings its kisses were hopes for an even better day. This turned out to be one of 
the most memorable days on the road. 

Shortly after starting out we stopped for a drink of water and a staring contest with a cornfield. 
While we were so engaged a lady in spandex riding a very expensive bicycle zoomed by so fast we 
barely saw her smile and the two finger salute she gave as she touched her helmet. 

     “Well, that’s not something you see everyday.” we said and went back to our staring contest only 
to be interrupted by a gravel truck with a hangover. So we swapped some spit (that’s kissed to all of 
you single folks out there) got on our bikes and meandered down the country road at comfortable ten 
miles per hour.

Now some folks will sit right there in a comfy chair and tell you that one country road’s as good as the 
next. We know better but we let them think that. It just means there will be less people on our beautiful 
Rubenesque roads stretching into forever. My Minnesota is filled with just such beautiful roads as 
these. It turns out that a group of cyclists who were traveling across the country happened to be on 
these same 

byways. Which meant every so often we would get passed by someone. They tended to be older, male,
 and had huge muscled legs. They were going from Washington State to (I think) Massachushetts. To
 make it on time they had to do one hundred and twelve miles a day. UN-Fing-BELIEVABLE. There is 
still hope for me.

The first town we entered St James and were we glad it was there. We got to stop at the local grocery 
store. We bought egg salad croissants, blueberry muffins, and a liter of water which we shared. These 
are the best places gang. If you ever end up riding like this or just driving through a small town go to
 the local places. While I stayed outside Elissa met several people one of which ended up donating 
money and told us to buy a burger or something when we got to Mankato. We ended up with burritos 
in Mankato, but thanks to that lady. 

After leaving the grocery store we ran into those folks on bikes again and just ended up chatting and 
we ended up going the same direction to Mankato. It really was fun to bump into people going the 
same way we were; as a matter of fact, it was because of them that we disobeyed the Google Maps 
Mistress and stayed off of MInnesota Highway 60 for a little while longer. 

 We ran into their Sag wagons occasionally, and I really wish we would have stopped to say howdy to 
the people driving. For that matter I wish we would have thought to interview a couple of them, but we 
didn’t. Oh well live and learn right?

This was the day we hit our hundred mile mark. It’s funny because those other travelers were doing 
more than that every day but it took us three days to just get to a hundred. Hey we’re not shaming 
ourselves it’s just a funny thought. 

Madelia, Mn came as an oasis to a camel for us. We needed a break and some food. You burn tons 
of calories while doing this sort of thing so it is said that you can almost eat anything darned thing 
you want. Which we did. Anything which was intriguing went “in my belly” to quote an Austin Powers 
movie. We sat under a tree and ate two pieces of pizza each, a giant kitkat each, and there was 
something else I can’t remember and a lot of water. I have to say I really felt naughty eating like that 
because I never ever do.

Back on the road and getting so much closer to Mankato and our arch nemesis the Big Highway Bicycle
 Blues. Minnesota highway 60. 

On the map it looks mundane and gentle. A short cut diaganally through a large portion of the state, 
but it’s not. It’s a snake, a lier, a hell of a good road if you’re in a car, truck, or tractor trailer but not on 
a bicycle. When we eventually got to it we loved the shoulder. It has a huge shoulder while almost 
none of the other roads on our journey did. It had gentle hills, and large vistas for viewing the world in. 
It also had wind. Oh but not just from in front it was from all around. Wind from the semi’s going near 
eighty miles an hour just six feet from you. Zoom zoom zoom. I saw a map once which stated Mn 
Highway 60 had ten thousand vehicles pass every day. We were only to glad when our turn off came 
and we back to our gentle country roads.

Mankato has a lot of bike paths going hither and yon and if you ever get a chance to stop there and 
try them I really recommend you do just that. The good towns folk have spent a lot of money to keep 
the paths in good shape as have the people of Minnesota. Everywhere you go here you can find a 
nice bike path. It would be worth it for you to make a trip. 

After we got here we found our hotel, had supper and went to bed. We had riden more miles then 
we’d ever expected we could do. Sixty one miles in one day one bicycles. This was big for us and 
we loved it. 

Thank you for spending your time here with us today. We hope that you will return next week when 
we ride the Sakatah Singing Hills Trail. 

Thanks for popping by. 

   The Marty’s

Day Two 'A Mesozoic What?'

Day Two “A Mesozoic What?”

Today started with a nice big sleepy, ‘How do you do?’. We both slept better here than in Pipestone 
for some reason. It was probably due to the fact that we’d just riden our bikes a fair distance. 
To start reading from the beginning go to this LINK .

We got on the road without much problem thinking and hoping for a breakfast place but there wasn’t 
one; as a matter of fact, there wasn’t anything but road from Avoca to Mountain Lake. 
This turned out to be the hardest day of the whole journey; although, it wasn’t the largest in terms of 
miles at all. 

The fun thing about riding your bicycle across the state is the speed. You’re going around ten miles 
an hour with all of your bags and really tasting life. The smell of summer on a Minnesota county 
highway as you straddle the road between Soybeans and Corn fields will never leave me. For me this 
is the smell of freedom all mixed in with a hot road and the sound of bicycle tires and gears traveling 
across it. Cycling through my home state of Minnesota is an experience I won’t soon forget. 
Meeting her people, seeing nature in all of it’s abundance and groovitude (my own word), breathing 
her air as we cycle through the southern parts has been one of the joys of my life and a truly wonderful 
adventure. 

Having said that I will also say that this day held adventure for us. 

The Google lady took us on about ten miles of gravel roads. In the video you’ll hear me talking about 
four miles and then at the end it’ll seem like I’m exaggerating but at the point I said four miles I didn’t 
know we were about to turn onto another gravel road and then yet another. After a while it sort of gets 
to you. It’s harder to ride so you burn more calories, and work way harder riding in gravel. Elissa has 
a road bike so it was very difficult for her and as it turns out she ended up with a flat when we finally 
arrived in Mountain Lake.

Just before bed in Avoca we’d decided to get an Air BnB in Mountain Lake and it was a good thing too 
because the people whose house it was helped us with the flat, gave us some grilled tater tot hotdish 
(I grew up in Minnesota and never ever knew you could do that. It’s way better than in the oven.), and 
provided a wonderfully perfect country setting to rest our bodies. Not to mention the first shower in a 
few days which was nice as well. We are forever grateful. 

Mountain Lake seems to be a town which like so many other rural towns is slowly passing on. 
The people there are wonderful, the setting is picturesque, but the kids grow up and move away. I 
mean you can’t blame them. The world is a big place full of adventure and when you’re young and 
full of piss and vinegar that’s what you want to see and that’s what you should see. I just wish they’d 
eventually go back so we could keep these tiny towns alive. 

When we got into town we were starving so we stopped at a place called, “King Egg Roll”. It’s right 
on the main drag across the street from the grocery store. You can’t miss it. Oh boy I don’t think food 
tasted so good...well actually we were so hungry we should have used our snow shovels for spoons. 

If you get a chance you should stop there, it's a great place. 

Here is the map for this weeks adventure followed by the video. Please feel free to share this with all of your friends. Lets make this a movement and see where we can bring it.

Here is the video for this week's adventure. 

Peace, Love, and Groovitude

   The Marty’s