Tag: Minnesota

Rain Heading South

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.

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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.

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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.

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Route for August 18, 2016

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Entering Minnesota

It was time to ride to Minnesota.

I woke up early to the first day I have had of dew. Fall is on its way! I had to pack up a wet tent. It is time to head south. But first I wanted to get to Minneapolis to change my rear tire, and to go to Itasca State Park to follow the Mississippi River to New Orleans.

Starbucks

Since I was near a major town, my first stop was Starbucks. I actually had to check the door to see if they were open as there was no one there. Back home the place would be packed on a Sunday morning. it was open.

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I have been having one problem at Starbucks in the US. They just got new credit/debit card machines and they will not take my Visa! It keeps saying declined. I think I mentioned this happening in Fairbanks. I called Visa and they said nothing was wrong with my card, but it was the Starbucks machines. Instead of Visa I’ve had to use my Mastercard. Good to carry both cards.

Minnesota

As I entered Minnesota the landscape began to change. Instead of the bald, flat, prairie, of South Dakota, it became more green. Instead of ranching there was more farming. Trees also became more prevalent. Still flat though.

KOA Northwest Minneapolis

My aim today was to get to the KOA in Northwest Minneapolis. It was the closest to Moon Motorsports where I intend to get a new tire. I only pre-booked one night until I could see what the campsite was like. It was great. So I booked 2 more nights.

First thing was to wash my tent and dry it.

Next was to find something to eat. There was a sports bar down the street. Perfect.

Mamma Gs

OK …. now for one of my pet peeves. The sports bar was called Mamma Gs. It advertises itself as an “authentic” sports bar. It does have a unique feature. Outside it has lots of breach volleyball courts and holds tournaments. Pretty cool actually. There was one going on when I was there. It was packed.

OK … my pet peeve. If you are going to call yourself a sports bar, then play sports and not music! The Olympics were on and quite a few of us were watching it on the TVs. But in the background was rock music. I asked if we could have the sound of the Olympics on. Nope! How can you call yourself a sports bar and value music over the sound of what is happening in a major sporting event? Rant done.

Oh … the food was horrible. I ordered fish and chips. It was a slab of frozen fish with tarter sauce in packets. I got plastic utensils to eat it with.

Huuuummmm I am lacking in pictures today. Sorry 🙁

Route for August 14, 2016

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