To Rushford and Back

We have been working up to this bike ride all week, each day taking a longer and longer ride.  It is a 36 mile round trip plus whatever side trips we take to Rushford and back.  We put 39 miles on the bikes today!  This trail is paved the whole way with parts of it obviously older and rougher, but the scenery is beautiful.  This part of Minnesota is highly agricultural.  We rode past fields of corn, soy beans and clover and the milk cows were having a mooing conversation as we rode by.  We spotted several deer, chipmunks and squirrels scooted across our path and John saw an eagle soaring overhead.  As we paralleled the Root River most of the way I enjoyed the many varieties of wild flowers in full bloom.  This is a favorite river to canoe, kayak or tube.

We sped through Whalan without stopping for pie but we did stop in Peterson to visit their museum housed in the old railroad station. The docent was bored so she followed us all the way through the two buildings.  They had a nice collection of ‘stuff’.  Rushford also used their old railroad station for a visitor’s center and museum but their museum was closed. They did have a nice picnic area where we had lunch.  The ride back wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be although we did stop several times to give our bottoms a rest from the small bike seats!  We may not be able to walk very well tomorrow!

After dinner at the Old Village Hall we stopped at the Parkway Bar because they had this great sign hanging over the bar and I wanted a picture of John sitting under it.