From Fountain to Lanesboro to Whalan.

I've been here before, from the other side!

Some of Hashem's beautiful artwork.

LOTS of broken trees from the Derecho winds that came through 2 weeks ago. Awesome job of clearing the trail.

Click on this foto and the n zoom in just left of center. You'll see something spraying down. They were spraying the field using a large drone!

Lanesboro's Stone Arch Dam was built in 1868! It is still in use today providing electricity to supplement on high usage days.

The corn is tall here!

Took a lovely overnight excursion to Lanesboro,  in southeastern MN. Beautiful rolling farmland with quaint towns. Went for a tour of the local Amish community and an evening bike ride to Whalan, on the Root River State Trail. About 9 miles out and back. In the morning we went the other way and went as far as mile marker 4 (where we stopped the 1st time we were on this trail from its beginning in Fountain). See much earlier picture. So we have now covered the 1st 16 or so miles of it.

Took a lovely overnight excursion to Lanesboro,  in southeastern MN. Beautiful rolling farmland with quaint towns. Went for a tour of the local Amish community and an evening bike ride to Whalan, on the Root River State Trail. About 9 miles out and back. In the morning we went the other way and went as far as mile marker 4 (where we stopped the 1st time we were on this trail from its beginning in Fountain). See much earlier picture. So we have now covered the 1st 16 or so miles of it.

Checkmate! At a resort outside Whalan on the Root River Trail.

I didn't realize that selfies reverse everything! Evening ride from Lanesboro to Whalan.

Gershon and me at the Root River, MN.

Went on a nice ride with Shoshana this afternoon. Only 4.5 miles due to the high heat and humidity. We biked by Cedar Lake (pictured) and on to Theodore Wirth Park, where we picked up the Luce Line Trail and did the long hill.  Shoshana did great!

Shoshana and me with Minneapolis skyline in background

Went on a lovely bike ride with my 10 year old granddaughter this evening. We went 6.5 miles in a little over an hour, with a few stops for pictures and water.

Sculpture at Cedar Lake

Me and Shoshana at Lake of the Isles

Thunderstorms for breakfast. I wanted so much to bike to Lunch and Learn! At the beginning of the day I asked HaShem for weather for biking. At 11:15 the sky cleared and stayed that way until after the Lunch and Learn! Here are some of the gardens in our neighborhood. 

This morning, Gershon and I went for a bike ride from home. Beautiful weather and lots of wildflowers.  Saw one monarch butterfly.  Got a bit lost trying to  follow the Cedar Lake Trail detour, but managed to get home. Saw many amazing homes and gardens. I just couldn't stop every 3 minutes or so to take pictures. We went 7.7 miles in a bit less than an hour and a half.

Bee balm (lighter purple) and other wildflowers along the trail.

Water lilies in channel between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles.

The home of Nordicware is right down the street/trail. Great Outlet store with fun cooking demos!

Despite the wonderful morning rain and overcast day, the afternoon proved fine for a bike ride in the Lake Minnetonka area. No rain, no blazing sun and an amazing 56 degrees!

Gershon and me outside the Minnetonka Drive-In. Old fashioned with outside delivery to your car.

Warm one, today. Nevertheless, I did a short ride to a Lunch and Learn. Afterwards, I took a longer way home by a good up hill and, what my friend calls, The Place of Higher Calling. It's an artsy repurposing of old phones. Boy do I miss them!

Me at the Place of Higher Calling.

Gershon and I had a nice paddle on the Little Iowa River.

At the 4 mile mark. It had been mostly downhill. Return trip mostly up, but thankfully railroad bed. Trains don't do well on steep hills.

If you get your milk at Kwik Trip, it may come from here!

Trailside Holstein dairy!

Gershon and me on the Root River Trail on Wednesday.

It's been a crazy week and a half! Sunday before last, we made a whirlwind car trip to Atlanta and returning Wednesday and then it was get ready for Sunday's camping trip! So I had a week off from training. On our camping trip we got a lot of exercise: 10 miles on the Shooting Star Trail on Monday (pictured below), an hour of kayaking on the Upper and Little Iowa Rivers on Tuesday and 8 miles on the Root River State Trail.
 

Field of coneflower and other wild beauties.

Tanya Rodnyansky and me at Shooting Star State Trail trailhead. We rode for about 10 miles through Lake Louise State Park and back to our campsite.

Butterfly weed

Gershon and me at Six Mile Marsh trail.

Me and our high school graduate, Aviva, on Cedar Lake.

It's been awhile!  The weather has been too wet and there have been many end of school events. We got a kayak and I've been doing a bit of paddling. Today, however, the weather was just right for biking, so Gershon and I hit the Dakota Rail Trail and did 10 miles. Saw a hummingbird in a tree top, some swans or pelicans (weren't close enough to distinguish) and heard lots of birds. We took a brief side trip on Six Mile Marsh Trail with lovely prairie flowers. A baby turtle crossed our path.

Thank you for your support.

Shoshana on the flats.

Today I road with my granddaughter, Shoshana, who wants to do the ride with me. We practiced on hills today. 

Today I tried out a suggested trail that I think might work! I just have to find the turn off for the lake I wanted to end up at. I overshot my destination, but the park I ended up at was quite nice with a covered pavilion with picnic tables, a nice big playground and trails for strolling or scootering.  It was a 13.5 mile ride and I did it 1 hour and 38 minutes. Easily done on 2 hours, which means we don't have to start early in the morning!  Yay! If we start at 10 we can be there by lunch time. 

Parker Lake, where I ended up.

Marsh teeming with Redwing black birds.

Correction! Shame on Bubbie (that's me). My Shoshana doesn't end with an 'h'. Wish I could blame it on spell check, but I can't. 

This evening, Shoshanah and I biked around Lake of the Isles, twice. Nearly 6 miles in 1 hour, with a couple rest and drink stops. Beautiful evening. Shoshanah did a great job!

Bloom on a tree.

That 'pencil used to be a tree that died.

Shoshanah(my granddaughter) and me.

PS So many trees are blooming and greening up. There was a lovely, cooling breeze bringing the scent of lilacs. Thank You, HaShem, for this delight full world. Get yourself out and grab some!

On Mother's Day, I took a delightful ride trying to map out the prospective ride path for the MinneTour de Simcha.  Did about 8 miles in 80 minutes, including breaks to find my way and get information.  When I got home, I received a call from my almost 10 year old who wants to do this ride. She wanted to know when we could go riding, so we went in the afternoon for around 4 miles. What a day! I guess I'm getting a good start on training.

Nine Mile Creek boardwalk.

Nine Mile Creek

Me and Devorah Connor at Lake of the Isles this morning. Beautiful homes and gardens along the way.

Spring has sprung. MN gardens are blooming.

Thank You, HaShem for helping me get the bikes rolling, so to speak.  Eight ladies showed up to participate in planning our ride.  Tentative date for our ride is August 10 and I'm working on mapping out a nice ride of 10 to 18 miles.  Hoping more will join in, but we are off to a good start. Heading out for a quick morning ride in the neighborhood to enjoy all the beautiful greens and blooms - magnolias, daffodils, tulips, redbuds and some of the lilacs. Enjoy your day!