45 miles

The feeling of “get there soon” has passed, I think. Yesterday gave me a quiet county road (F) which I was expecting to be rough and hilly, but which was not too bad.

The wildflowers were gorgeous today—mostly a soft pillowy yellow with dark green foliage, some black-eyed susans, some light purples, and daisies. There really weren’t many flowers through Minnesota for some reason.

I reached the town of Mercer, and decided to stay at the Loon Lagoon RV park. A lady named Brenda who had a very tough “I run an RV Park” way about her told me in no uncertain terms to set up my hammock over there behind someone’s truck, take my shower, and go into the rec room and watch tv. 

When I say she told me to do these things, I mean she REALLY told me to—the agenda she put forth did not seem optional. She reminded me of a type of person I’ve known before: a stern, no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is director type who takes pride in catching people off guard with the gruff bluntness of a charging bull. While checking in, I told her I was traveling alone, and she asked abruptly “Are you mean?” So I decided to match her energy and quickly deadpanned “I can be.” I paid her the $10 for my spot and felt great about it.

 Today, I’m sitting at a coffee shop—the only one (?) in town. It’s called Looney Beans, which reminds me of Rob’s coffee shop of the same name in Bishop. There’s also a gigantic loon sculpture in town which I will stop to see before heading out. Its name is “Claire de Loon.”

I’m in good spirits. I know there’s a great bike path in my future today. Yesterday I traded in my Normal Is A Setting… book at a free library for a small Sylvia Plath. I’m almost done with my Timothy Goodwin book, Within These Woods. This book has put my own thoughts and feelings into words over and over. It’s been such a good read for where I am, definitely the best one so far. Here’s a passage that I love:

I may not know for sure the exact nature of the relationship between the chickadee and the downy [woodpecker], but what I do know is that I am aware of only a few of the seemingly endless connections between living things on this planet; and even then, my awareness is limited. For example, it is a good bet that most of the trees in this forest have millions of miles of fungal mycorrhizae strands growing around and into the cells of their roots. This is an example of a mutualistic relationship. The fungi get easy access to the plant’s carbohydrates that it has made through photosynthesis, and the increased sponge-like surface area created by the fungi strands increases the plant’s ability to absorb water, an essential ingredient for photosynthesis. This is but one example of the many symbiotic relationships in these woods that often go unnoticed. And this is what amazes me the most as I wander through these woods. I cannot know and understand all of the connections. The endless possibilities of connections are too immense for me to realistically comprehend. This is when the woods become holy to me and exploring them becomes spiritual. 

Now I’m in Boulder Junction. I stopped at Northern Highland Sports and asked if they had isobutane for my stove, which they didn’t, but the man helping me called the store in Eagle River and they do have some. He also gave me a map and showed me where the good camping is near Star Lake. I was planning on going further than that, but maybe today is supposed to be a 40 mile day… 

I bought a birdhouse for Ben at a roadside stand. They were handmade and $3 and made me think of his backyard stylings. I also stopped to paw through an antique store, and they had hundreds of slides that go in these little toy viewfinders and it was exactly what I wanted—many of the slide reels were of national parks and natural wonders, so I bought one for Danielle with slides of the places we didn’t get to visit – the Black Hills, Yellowstone and Grand Teton. I got one for myself too, with a few slides that remind me of some of my favorite places.

As I was standing outside the store, a young woman and an older man approached me. She said in something of a sincere but sort of innocent way that she liked my bike, and I thanked her. The man identified himself as Jim, her dad (or uncle?), and introduced her as Katie. He asked a lot of questions and we talked for a while. We finally parted ways, but I bumped into them again at the antique store and we chatted some more. As I was checking out, they came back toward me again, and Jim handed me a $100 bill, wishing me the best for the rest of my trip. Once again, I was so taken aback. I explained that I did not need money for my trip, that I was funding it with money I’d saved, but they insisted and were both so kind about it. As they walked away I heard Katie say “Sylvie is so awesome!” and it really lit me up to hear her say this. It’s not that I need people to think I’m awesome when they meet me out here. I’m just doing what I want to do. But the idea that I could have inspired someone like Katie today does feel really good. 

This area does seem pretty wealthy compared to where I’ve been, but I can’t get over how two different people did this, two days in a row. Where’s my next hundo coming from tomorrow?