Aitkin

Last evening was eventful.  After posting our blog, we went to the restaurant next to the hotel.   The bartender took a liking to us and gave us free beers and then reduced the check further by giving us a motel discount.  The euphoria of that kindness evaporated at 3 a.m. when a band of motorcyclists decided to roost after a night of drinking.  Joe asked one of the women to be quiet but about an hour later the noise started again with pounding on a door.  Before Joe jumped into action he sized up the 6 foot 4 inch monster in leathers and tattoos and decided to just slink back into our room.  The next morning hotel management was apologetic for the noise and reduced our room rate.  It was great that Joe lived to see some financial benefit from his disturbed sleep. 

The first part of our route was 50 desolate miles with no services and no cars. Joe likened it to cycling in Kansas but with trees.  Our ride started with cold temperatures and overcast skies.  By mid-morning the sun came out and we got to ride along the Mississippi River. Both of which gave us pleasure.

Our first and only stop was at Palisade Café in the town of Palisade.  One of our guide books reported that the café had the best pies on the entire River Road.  We could not let this claim go untested.  After viewing all the pies in the case and making a selection we agree that the quality of their blue berry pie is outstanding.  Just for the record we ate our pie before we ate our sandwiches and promised to test additional pies further down the road.   From Palisade we only had to cycle another 20 miles to Aitkin.  In hindsight we should have stayed at the café and eaten pie all night.  Our 20 mile ride was directly into a 15 to 25 mph headwind and took us 3 hours to reach our hotel.  

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