If ever I could design a great motorcycling day it would be much like what we experienced today. No, we did not hit any big tourist spots. No, we did not set any land-speed records getting to our day’s destination. What we did was ride some really great highways across the interior of Minnesota under some beautiful blue skies with mild temperatures, and just whiled away the 230 miles or so on the way to St Croix Falls, WI.

While we didn’t do much sightseeing, it doesn’t mean we didn’t see things. First let me say, I’m glad that Mason saw the orange barrel in time to avoid it. Those crazy orange barrels are pretty light and are held in place by a weighted base. It appears that one of them wasn’t attached correctly and when the big truck drove past the barrel was sucked from it’s base and rolled across the road in front of my riding partner. I wonder if we could sue the Minnesota Highway Department for the cost of new underwear. It was one of those moments.

About 30 miles or so from our hotel was the Outdoorsman Cafe in Walker, MN. The food was good and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. I didn’t take any pictures of the outside of the restaurant unfortunately. I did find something that brought back memories from times long ago. I know they’re still in use but that surprises me in this day of the …… well, you know how we are about sanitizing now.

Something else caught my eye in Walker. I saw this sign and it struck me as being funny. “Happy Father’s Day Dad. Here’s some boxes of ammo. Go blow some stuff up.” Nothing says love like live ammo. (Read the sign board.)

It wasn’t long before we needed gas in the bikes and to get rid of the accumulated coffee. We stopped at a large Holiday Gas Station and while we sat in the lot, I snapped the picture you see below. I guess in Minnesota lake front property is easy to come-by. In Indiana, property like this would never go unused and would cost about eleventy million dollars.

Today the intercom was pretty quiet. Yes, it was working, we just didn’t have a lot to talk about. I know I was riding in the zone. Mason had put together an excellent route plan and all I had to do was follow his taillights plus keep my bike between the lines. I thoroughly enjoy these days. While I’ve mentioned the intercom, we had discussed that we hadn’t seen any (as in zero) wildlife on this trip. OK – we actually have seen 3 live squirrels and miscellaneous other animals that appear to be napping in the middle of the road. About a mile after the battery in one of our intercoms declared itself exhausted, a doe wandered into our path. We saw it in time to slow down while it ambled across. It was a strange coincidence that we had no way to warn each other. I wonder if deer actually have an intercom jamming device just so they can sit back and laugh in situations like this.

Today’s blog is pretty short but the experiences will stick with me a long, long time.