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| Robert and I |
First night out on the road from Minneapolis, Robert and I made it 86 miles to Wabasha, where we stayed in the Tee Pee of a warmshower's host, Terry. Terry wasn't home but he let us use the Tee Pee and pool house. We took upon ourselves to make good use of his hot tub and beer collection as well; I don't think he would mind. Terry is a retired airline pilot and has a beautiful house right on the banks of the Mississippi. It was a good end to a pretty miserable day-- we ended up riding in the dark for almost two hours...
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| Tee Pee |
The next day we set out for Lacrosse, WI. We stopped in Winona for some lunch at the local co-op. While eating I checked my email and saw that someone I contacted in Winona on couchsurfing had offered to let us stay. I didn't really want to stop for too long in Winona, so we strapped on helmets and were just about to head out, when I had some second thoughts. It was getting a little late in the day, and it was kinda cold and cloudy out-- not really fun riding weather. Maybe we could stay just one night. So we met up with out host, Chen. We ended up finding the best bar in Winona (Ed's No-name bar) and having a few beers. It was a fun time, but tomorrow, we would hit the road again!
Well the next morning I woke up to a text: Charlie Parr is playing tonight at the Boats and Bluegrass Festival. Now I had heard about this festival from another couchsurfer, and I knew Charlie Parr would be at it, but I didn't think he would be playing until later in the weekend, so I never thought we would actually see him. For those of you who don't know, Charlie Parr is one of my favorite bluegrass musicians. He is from Duluth MN and he really embodies the spirit of bluegrass. In Robert's words "He's pretty much the king shit". And I had been seeing fliers for his shows in small towns all summer across my trip, but I kept missing him by a week. And now he's playing here in Winona tonight! Chen knew some people working at the show and he told us he might be able to get us in for free, so of course, we stayed another day. Spent the day donating blood, hanging in coffee shops, attending philosophy club meetings, and getting more and more excited to see the The Man, CP.
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| Main Stage during the day |
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| Everybody dresses goofy at a bluegrass festival... |
Chen got us in for free a couple hours before Charlie took the stage, and while waiting to use a Port-o-john, who do I run into but my old friend from the bakery, Kat Labine! We had no idea she would be there so it was a great surprise; We all danced it up together at the Charlie Parr show and had a great time. And let me tell you, Charlie was great! Two encores, everyone in the crowd dancing, it was awesome. The venue was pretty incredible as well, very small and intimate, not too many people, good beer for sale and they let you bring in any food and drinks you want. So much fun. But really, tomorrow we will get on the road and make some good cycling progress!
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| My Sunglasses couldn't survives the enthusiasm of Kat's hug |
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| Friends!! |
Well, it would be short ride to LaCrosse, so we might as well go see some bluegrass before leaving... Ha! You can't just attend a couple hours of this party and not stay all night! So we stayed another day. This time we set up a tent in the middle of the shanty town of tents that sprung up next to the venue (the Blue-verville, if you like) and called Robert's girlfriend and her roommate to come down and party with us. The music was excellent of course. The music itself ended at 1:30, but after the show a bunch of the musicians who were (camping right next to us) started up a big fire and jammed until 7:00 in the morning. I didnt stay up that late, but it was great party.
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| Sunset on the Mississippi |
Well it would still be a short ride to LaCrosse, so we might as well go see some bluegrass before leaving... It was now the last day of the festival so we watched a couple shows, and this time we were able to drag ourselves away! We had a real nice ride the rest of the way to LaCrosse and met up with our host, Nicole. We didn't know how to get downtown, but our instructions when we arrived were to "follow the sounds of drunken madness..." We arrived on the second day of the week long Octoberfest celebration in LaCrosse, which apparently people from all over the world come to. Even Germans! And it was absolutely crazy-- Very much like Springfest (or Appleblossom for my Wenatchee people), only 10 times more people! And not just college students, either. The streets were closed and people were everywhere. We had a few drinks, but didn't get too crazy. In many ways it was very different from the laid back atmosphere of the Bluegrass fest; but we had a great time! I didn't get any pictures though so here are some giant pictures I found on google search of giant six packs in La Crosse...
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| Tunnel built in 1870s |
The next day Robert hitched a ride back to Minneapolis. It was a shame he couldn't make it all the way to Madison, but we had a great time! I continued the ride east, but I was hit with three solid hours of steady rain. I was pretty well soaked through after the first 30 minutes or so, and to make matters worse, I was riding on a crushed limestone path (not paved) which was muddy and riddled with apples and rocks large enough to cause a fall if you hit them just right. I took a break in Sparta WI; its a small town that claims to be the bicycling capital of America. I don't think I saw any other riders on the road, but they did have a museum dedicated entirely to bicycles, airplanes and astronauts. I had to check it out!
Next Stop, Madison WI!
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