Little Falls, MN

We made it through a day without a single flat!!!!!
Everybody had to jump out of bed this morning as we were sleeping on the basement floor of the first Baptist Church (it was far too hot to sleep on the pews as planned) and they were planning on providing us with breakfast at six thirty. Normally the first step into the outdoors in the morning is brisk and uncomfortable, but going to the trailer this morning at six twenty the air was already warm. That is when we knew we were in for quite the day.
As we munched on the breakfast provided (coffee cake, some sort of egg dish with “jimmy dean sausage”, cereal, and toast) the members of the congregation pulled out pictures of the past SPS Cyclist groups which had stayed with them. Renzo saw that Grant Wilson was wearing the same jersey which he had been wearing and announced “Now I am going to wear that jersey everyday!”.
About to head off, as we were doing some superficial bike work, a reporter approached us, asked us a few questions, and took our picture for a story in the Battle Lake Review. By eight fifteen we were on the road and headed for Little Falls, MN. The first thirty miles went by with only two wrong turns, and a bit of a cross wind. The sun was already beating down on us, making us feel like our skin was being seared. Ellie and I were prepared for the sun, keeping our shoulders covered, as we had been completely scorched the day before (sorry Mom). I now have a Neapolitan on my back (chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla).
Snack dragged on for quite a while, now becoming a pattern, as we enjoyed some ice cream in Parker’s Prairie, MN. The ice cream was nothing like we had ever seen before though. It was soft serve, but in many, many different flavors, and you could mix any two you wanted. We had a field day with that (Ellie devoured a Peanut Butter Cup with Maple), and also scarfed down what was left of Parker’s birthday cake. Talk about a sugar rush.
That sugar wasn’t all that helped us through the next thirty-five miles. Although we are embarrassed to admit it we played Harry Potter themed 20 questions for an entire THREE HOURS!!! It made the time fly though and was thoroughly enjoyable. The next thing we knew we had three miles to go and Parker was exploding towards us as we were waiting at a stop sign. “WE WERE ON NATIONAL TELEVISION!!!” We all got a kick out of hearing that for a whole 15 seconds we were seen on Fox news in Austin, TX by his grandfather, but had to get over ourselves and head to lunch.
The final stretch provided multiple stops, but the most important was the grazing buffalo. Ellie told us all a little joke “What do buffalo eat for lunch?... Buffaloni” which she found quite entertaining, before we got on the criss cross fence to take a picture with the buffalo. I was scared the buffalo would charge at any moment, but as everyone had been assuring me, they did not and we left unharmed.
At last we made it to the end of the day at the Episcopal church in Little Falls, MN, which helped us find homes to shower in, and gave us a great meal. Now we are all settled into our sleeping bags ready for a great night sleep and a shorter day tomorrow.