We said goodbye to Jeff at 4 a.m. Kathy took him to the airport to catch his early flight. We slept in until 7am and then made coffee and watched the news report on Trump’s speech given at the National Republican Convention. Kathy returned at 7:30am, and we started to get the bikes ready for the day. Maps, check. Water bottle filled and Gatorade taken out of the fridge, check. Sunscreen applied and packed in bag, check. Snacks put in deck bag, check. Tires inflated to 90 psi, check. Gloves on, check. Helmet on, check. Podcasts downloaded, and earphones in, check. Sunglasses cleaned and on, check. “Let’s do this,” I shout to Matt. This has been my morning mantra that gets me going.
Around noon we pulled into Prescott, Wisconsin. A beautiful small town right on the St. Croix River. We pulled into the visitor station to send a quick message to Kathy. No wifi. We biked over to subway, usually a good spot with reliable wifi. No wifi. This baffles me, since most of the trip if there is not a library in town, we head to either McDonalds, Burger King or Subway. We jump back on the bikes and find a bar and of course there is Wifi! After a short discussion, we decide to call it a day on the bikes and cross back over to the Minnesota side for a quick dip in the river. We find out from Kathy that she has to get some work done on the car and that she’ll be able to pick us up at around 4. For the rest of the afternoon Matt and I soak up the breeze, swim and lay in the shade and discuss our future after we finish the trip.
At around 4:30, Matt’s uncle Bill shows up in his car with Lily and Frankie. He takes us back to his house where we stay the night and visit with him and Matt’s cousin Micah and their dog Edie. Bill has a week long canoe trip that he’s heading out for tomorrow and offers to take us back to Prescott in the morning. For dinner Bill and Micah cooked up a perfect meal of salmon, corn, and green beans. Before bed we eat black cherry ice cream mixed with black cherry whiskey.
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