Beds are wonderful - especially when they are indoors.
I slept in, undisturbed, until about 9am. My gear was dry, not subjected to the relentless dew that permeates everything. And I felt well rested.
Julia and I went over some route possibilities one more time, before I took off around 11. She insisted I fill my bags with provisions: dried apples, granola bars & peanut butter sandwiches.
Thank you Julia. I'll say it again, you and your family are wonderful. I feel like I've known you for years.
I didn't plan to log a lot of miles, a short 30 mile afternoon ride would be plenty. All I needed to do was get close to the Root River Trailhead. On the way out of Rochester, I stopped at one of the local breweries: Kinney Creek Brewing.
Their beer was solid, and they had a wooden stump that you could hammer a nail into.
The staff was super friendly and loaded up my helmet and water bottle with stickers. I also noticed a sign hanging on the wall beneath some bags of popcorn:
Happiness never decreases from being shared.
Yet again, another instance of Pay it Forward.
My afternoon ride ended in Chatfield, a small town with a big park. Most of the midwest towns have parks disproportionally sized to their population. Or at least what I am used to. Maybe their park-to-resident ratio is normal and the west coast towns are lacking.
Such a pleasant ride.
But unlike a lot of the parks I've camped in, this one had very little tree cover, making it hard to find a secluded place to pitch my tent.
Once it got dark, I setup next to the ice hockey rink - the second rink I've wild camped at on this journey.
Joe