The KOA campground at Bemidji was quite good. My campsite was big with lots of grass. My only neighbour was an older woman living out of her car. The I was hesitant to leave. But the forecast for the next day was rain. Today was suppose to be good and I wanted to get out ahead of the bad weather.
I spend a lot of time looking at the weather forecasts. Being on a motorcycle and camping, the weather plays a big part in the planning.
It was nice to pack up in the warmth and when everything was dry. I was out of the campground by 7 am. The Great River Road heading south was well marked and really nice.
Mississippi River
I was amazed how the Mississippi River gets big so fast. A lot of rivers drain into it.
Rain
By noon I could see dark clouds on the horizons. But the forecast was for no rain! I tried to outrun it. I thought I was doing it. Soon, however, the clouds surrounded me outside of St. Cloud, Minnesota. I wanted to go further than this.
I stopped for gas. As I did the torrential rains hit, as did the lightening. I stalled as long as I could under the canopy without the gas station telling me I had to leave. The torrential rain turned to just rain for a second. I made my break.
Motels
I punched in my GPS possible lodging locations. There was a Motel 6 nearby. When I got there it had changed ownership into some other name. It didn’t look appealing.
I tried a couple other places that also didn’t look great. By this time the rain was getting to me as I worked my way through St. Cloud.
I finally found Nights Inn. It looked clean. It was cheap. And the clerk was really nice.
So there I held up for the rest of the day.
Secretly, it was actually quite nice to be in a hotel. Even if it was still above my budget. I had been camping for quite a while now. I took full advantage of a nice bed, air conditioning, and TV.
Route for August 18, 2016
