As Larry and Jane had kindly offered to cook breakfast for us this morning we allowed ourselves an indulgent 0630 alarm. We arose to bacon, eggs, coffee, tea, orange juice and toast with jam which was like a dream come true. After a quick navigation check with the help of Jane and her map which helpfully had the contour lines drawn, we took some pictures with our kind hosts, said our farewells and departed.
Only a slight headwind today as we headed Southeast along the Mississippi, which kept us cool in the muggy heat. An overcast sky helped a great deal. Rolling hills and dense greenery was reminiscent of the UK, and as we approached Lake City and the river widened it looked more like an estuary than a river; Steep cliffs lined the banks, the river widened into the distance like an estuary mouth and a number of sailing boats and other water craft enjoyed the calm water.
We stopped in Red Wing for lunch, trying our first Arby's (a commercial sandwich shop chain). It was fairly uneventful cycling today, which I suppose is a good thing, and the time went fast with plenty to look at as we went. It was a quick 33 miles after lunch along the River Road through Lake City to Wabasha. We managed to get a toot of the horn from another Amtrak and later a large tug boat pushing two barges! We decided to stop early in Wabasha, close to our 75 mile target which gave us a little extra time at the campsite to go for a dip in the Mississippi before we cross it tomorrow. On seeing the quality of the water, Jake and I limited ourselves to a quick paddle, but Owen went all out for a swim. Luckily the showers were close at hand.
Tomorrow we cross the river and follow its course along the other bank, avoiding a section of interstate on the West bank kindly pointed out by Jane this morning. We should leave the Mississippi behind us tomorrow as we enter into Wisconsin on our way to Chicago.
Edit: On finishing writing this post yesterday we were approached by two gentlemen. One, Thomas, worked at a local bar and pointed us in the right direction for a couple of beers to celebrate our 2000th mile and the crossing of the Mississippi tomorrow. The other, Daniel Lee Richard Tougas, was canoeing down the Mississippi from St Cloud where we stayed with Stephanie, all the way to the delta and the Texas coast! We joined them at Slippery's, a local haunt with good craft beer on tap. Thomas treated us to a round and we shared stories. Thomas had been walking in Brecon, a favourite place of mine for hillwalking. Daniel used to be an Air Force mechanic working on F4 Phantoms during Vietnam.
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