I was about to finish my Lake Huron tour with a nice town called Mackinaw city where you cross a bridge up north so that you can pass the strait between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, I was a bit dumbstruck by the local tourists. The city was fully packed and my plans to have a nice breakfast were thrown to the lake so to speak. I wasn`t going to have a cup of coffee at a fast-food so I have crossed the bridge only ending up with another fast food shop, unfortunately so local tourists spillover effect. Due to covid, no seating inside was available so I had to sat on the roadside tarmac and finally done with my energy (ridiculous amount) intake and hit the road again. My scenery of ‘Lake’ just changed from right to left side. The geography is absolutely breathtaking. As much as I have enjoyed Michigan even when I was riding on the highway to gain some mileage, I have got bored riding in the Land of Cheese, Wisconsin. I have to admit I did like the fried cheese.
Slowly but surely, I was approaching my memory lane. I’ve worked at Cargill Inc., Minneapolis back in 1999-2000. During my time, we traveled up and down the state to do some sightseeing. One of the places we visited was Taylor’s Fall and I was there just in time for coffee. At the state park’s gate, I saw myself, housewives, and kids strolling on the banks of the river and taking pictures. Time really passes quickly. I have scooped up extra energy (dessert) with my coffee as if I needed it and start riding again. It was unusually hot weather and riding with all the riding gear did not help either. By the late evening, I was at my hotel checking in. I have chosen a hotel near Eden Prairie where we lived for almost 2 years. I just couldn’t wait the next day to visit our small townhouse.
Our house at Eden Prairie
As I was riding to Round Lake, after 20 years Eden Prairie became greener than ever. Flash of memories was coming and going as I was glancing at the GPS so that I don’t lose the route. The bombing of the Twin Towers while we were building houses for homeless and poor people downtown, wildlife around our house, the first night when we jumped out of our beds when the train passed for the first time. Freaking cold and winter that last till the beginning of June and red cheeks of my kids when they play outside in that cold weather, go Vikings!, Timberwolves, etc. We did enjoy and adopted our state in a short time. I was in disbelief when I saw the protests and racism and all that was happening in my old town in 2020. This cannot be our state as I was murmuring when I was watching the TV in my home in Boston. So I had this mixed feeling as I was approaching Round Lake.
Round Lake
Humans generally tend to be conservative and look for similar and unchanged surroundings and situations or lifestyles in short. When I was strolling around the lake, I was happy and flooded with memories. I remembered the tours that I’ve made with my son when he was 5 years old, eating pizza at the bank and all that Canadian goose shit that you cannot avoid stepping on.
Our house was the same color, almost identical to 20 years back facade. I quickly took pictures so that there will be no false alarms from neighbors and went back to my hotel to pack. It was time to continue my journey. I was happy to see my old town again. In the morning I hit the road again for Sioux Falls. My next destination was the Badland National Park. I have been to South Dakota 2-3 times but missed the park, so I was eager to see it. Riding to Sioux Falls was ok not exciting. As always I didn’t plan for my stay earlier so I used Air b&b app for a room. At the last minute, the owner of the room canceled on me as I was standing at the door. After cursing and looking for a reasonable hotel, I have managed to book one. I liked the city as I rode downtown. In town, there was almost an art sculpture on every street. Yes, definitely I liked this place, promised myself to spend more time but next time. The second day was incredibly boring, I was riding like a straight arrow to the west, no winding roads, nothing. I wish I had Dixie Chicks’ song ‘Wide open spaces in my telephone, perfect song for the road. The joy of the day was the camping site near Missouri River: Snake Creek Recreation Area. It was almost decades that I didn’t swim in a river. It was so refreshing especially due to unusually hot weather. After a refreshing swim, I started to prepare some food and drink for dinner. Next to me in a motorcaravan, a gentleman in his late 50’s started to playing his guitar. Hallelujah was the song. What can I ask for more? A nice scenery, dinner, music and accompany. Without his permission, I refrain from giving his name but he introduced himself and quickly we became friends and talked for hours literally. We did have breakfast together and went our opposite ways. He was concerned with my broken leg so, throughout my journey, he always checked on me if I was all right. When I see people like him, I am filled with joy and optimism about humanity. All during the night, there were incredible gusty winds and couldn’t manage to sleep. I put up the tent right under a tree because that is the place reserved for me and I was afraid that either Leeloo was going to fall and/or the branch that was hanging right on top of me was going to break. Somehow with 2-3 hours of sleep, I have managed to make it to the morning.
Time to ride again…
Minneapolis to Sioux Falls Ride
Sioux Falls to Missouri River Snake Creek Recreation Area