Paul Bunyan State Trail - Brainerd to Pequot Lakes (MN)

The weather forecast for Pequot Lakes suggested that Friday would be our best riding day.  And so it was.  Because we are camping with Dennis and Rita we have the perfect "shuttle service" to take us to the Brainerd/Baxter trailhead and drop us (and bikes) off. This way we don't have to backtrack and can see more of the trail.  After dropping us off at the trailhead located on Beaver Dam Road, Dennis drove our car with the bike rack back to the Pequot Lakes trailhead and left it for us for our afternoon arrival and transportation back to our campground.


On the left Chris is unloading our bikes as Dennis, Rita, and I supervise the procedure.
On the right Chris and I are ready for our 22 mile ride.

This grouping of pics shows the beauty around the trail as well as a picnic table and shelter if someone happens to be caught in rain/snow, etc.  The only motorized vehicles allowed on the trail are snowmobiles.

Rest area on the trail

This is the trailhead at Merrifield. All trailheads on the route provided large paved areas to park and unload bikes.  On the right a sign indicating distances to the next 2 towns.  Our lunch destination is Nisswa.  Seven miles ahead!

We pulled into the North Long Lake public water access to check out the lake.  At all lakes we have visited the DNR have people stationed to check boats and make sure everyone is taking precautions so as not to transfer Zebra Mussels from one lake to another.

Chuck and Connie

When we pulled into the parking area at North Long Lake we met this couple (pic above), Chuck and Connie.  We were friends immediately!  They had two Terra Trikes and ride trails wherever they can.  They gave us some suggestions of trails to ride in Minnesota if time and weather permitted.  They also made dining suggestions in Nisswa.  This was their lunch destination as well.

As we rode this trail, all of which was paved, we were surrounded by trees of all kinds.

Most of the time there would be a lake on our right and a lake on our left.  Pretty soon different lakes on our right and left.  Lakes or marshes were all along this trail.
Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes and on this trail we saw quite a few of those lakes.

The pic on the left had a red-winged blackbird in it. Somewhere.  He was out there but a little camera shy.

This trail is very scenic.  The pictures here were our favorites and can best be seen by clicking on them to enlarge.

The Paul Bunyan Trail is a rail trail and is the longest paved trail (120 miles) in the United States.
Most rail trails use the old train depot as part of a trailhead. Here (left pic) is the Nisswa Chamber of Commerce and trailhead.  Near the bike racks is a bike repair station.  This was new to us. Would love to see one of these at all trailheads.

Big Axe Brewing Company

The pic above is the Big Axe Brewing Company.  This is one of the places that Connie and Chuck recommended we have lunch.  They make their own root beer and cook up a mean hamburger served with home fried and seasoned potato chips.  We had all of the above items!

Our friends, Chuck and Connie, ate here as well.  After lunch we got together and discussed biking in Minnesota and trails in other states that we either have ridden or ones that are on our wish list.
Fun times!
Keep in mind that we are on the Paul Bunyan Trail, that Paul Bunyan was a lumberjack, must of had a Big Axe, and had a blue ox by the name of Babe.  Many businesses in the area capitalize on the theme as tourism is big business.  The pic on the left is a view of the shops on Main Street.
The green building (left) is called the Chocolate Ox and is where we stopped for ice cream after lunch.
The flavor I chose was "This Just Got Serious".  Oh my!!!  Off the charts!
Chris ordered "Turtle", and it was equally delicious!



After our stop for ice cream we went out to retrieve our bikes and found ourselves spectators of an exciting turtle race!  Must have been an end-of-school event because the children were called up by classes to choose a bucket and then when the announcer gave the signal the race began!  Such excitement, laughter, and fun!
To make our visit to this little community complete we found the infamous "Babe", the blue ox and companion of Paul Bunyan!

We are now on our way to our car and trailhead in Pequot Lakes.  It is 6 miles further.

On the left a beautiful marsh and the pic on the right is a bridge over a marsh.
Below is more trail and beautiful skies.  As we come close to finishing our ride temps are close to 72 F.

We began our ride around 10:15am and took our time riding from Brainerd to Pequot Lakes.  We reached the later trailhead around 2:15pm.  Along the way we made new friends, saw beautiful scenery, and enjoyed a perfect day outdoors!

Pequot Lakes, MN

We are in the land of Paul Bunyan and Babe!

Sunday, May 21 we drove over 400 miles from Adel, IA to Pequot Lakes, MN.  Wildwedge RV Park was our destination.  We have not stayed in Minnesota since beginning our RV travels in 2010 and we have been eagerly anticipating a new destination.  In fact, we have several new parks to visit on this two-week excursion on our way to our annual summer destination of Muskegon, MI.

The reason we changed things up this summer is because Chris' brother, Dennis, and his wife, Rita are work camping at Wildwedge RV park this summer.  Work camping means they will work for the campground an agreed-upon number of hours in return for their campsite and several other amenities. There is a 9 hole par 3 course here as well as the nicest mini golf course we have ever seen.  The work campers will also have access to a pontoon boat on one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes!  This is so cool!

On the left, Dennis is escorting us to our site.  On the right is our site as we are pulling into it.  It is huge!  The view from our front window is the most beautiful of anywhere we have parked.

This is a fairly small campground with several seasonal sites along the perimeter and short term campers in the interior.  Pic on the right shows the office/lodge and park host campers.  What a gorgeous campground!  And they had snow 2-3 weeks ago!!!

Our view and the "ding" 

On our way to the campground a rock hit our coach's windshield.  The windshield immediately had a "ding" the size of a half dollar.  After we arrived at the park the ding expanded to about a 3 foot crack.  You can see a little of the crack in the pic above.  That would have to be dealt with.
Also upon arrival as we were sending the slides out, the slide that kept us in OKC in January started sliding out crooked!  We brought it back in, then out again.  It went out.  We set up the rig and settled in for the night.
The next morning we called our insurance company and began the process to repair the windshield.  Then we tried bringing the slide in.  Nothing.  No power or movement of any kind.  This was January all over again!

Mobile RV Repair

 We called a mobile RV repair person to come to the park and see what could be done, if anything, to get our slide back in.  I believe that at this time we witnessed a miracle!  Within 5 minutes this fella had our slide moving!  (The same feat took 2 weeks when in OKC in January)  Not only did he fix the slide, but worked on 2 or 3 other small issues that need attention.  He was GOOD!  He was a blessing to us without a doubt!
After the slide issue we thought the busted glass would be a quick fix.  Not!  It would take 10-14 days to get the glass to this area as it was coming from Ohio.  Not a bad place to spend the next 2 weeks!  So....we bumped the next reservations on our trip and will be delayed only 1 week arriving in Muskegon, MI.
All of this happened on Sunday and Monday.  By Tuesday we were ready to go exploring and sight seeing.

On the right Chris and Dennis playing ping pong on the outdoor ping pong table.  Game on!  These two brothers and ping pong go way back!


In our first 24 hours here one of our fellow campers spotted a bear cutting through the park.  We have been wondering if he would be repeating the visit, but so far he has not.  Keeping my camera close by, just in case!

 Here are a couple of pictures of the creatively-designed mini golf course.








Our time here with Dennis and Rita has been very relaxing and fun.  On the left we have a game of Wahoo in progress.  Our frequent evening card game has been Euchre, a favorite in the north.

This morning I helped Rita make S'mores gift packages for the campground guests who arrive for the Memorial Day weekend.  Sweet gift!  We look forward to a campfire and our own s'mores this weekend as well.
We may have been delayed a week with unexpected circumstances, but those delays have been a blessing of extra time with family, and more opportunities to explore the area!  There is a bike trail nearby, of course!  It is called the Paul Bunyan Trail!  Tomorrow holds more adventures!

Adel, IA (near Des Moines)

Hogback Covered Bridge

We left Campus RV Park in Independence, MO this morning around 8:15 am in hopes of avoiding excess traffic on narrow streets.  As we negotiated those very narrow streets, low-hanging trees, and having a close encounter with 13'4" bridge, we decided that students obviously do not get to class until later in the day.  This worked well for us and produced an early arrival (noon) at our KOA in Adel, IA.  We quickly plugged in, hooked up, set up our coach, then programmed the GPS for the town of Winterset, located in Madison County Iowa.

Clint Eastwood at the Northside Cafe

Northside Cafe Entrance

Our first priority was lunch and we agreed the only logical lunch location was the iconic Northside Cafe from the movie "The Bridges of Madison County".   The town was easy to find as well as the cafe.

Lunch was good ole home cooking.  The cafe looked much like it did in the movie.


After lunch we walked past the courthouse to the Iowa Quilt Museum.

Madison County Courthouse

A glimpse of town

The quilt museum was filled with many Quilts of Valor that were so very beautiful!  Truly works of art.

From the quilt museum we walked to the John Wayne Birthplace and Museum.  Here we watched a short video, put together with many clips from his movies, in chairs from the Chinese theater in Hollywood.



Did you know John Wayne, born Marion Morrison, was in 142 movies and that 83 of those were westerns?  My favorites were the westerns.  My favorite of all his westerns was "Rio Bravo" with Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson.  I could literally watch this movie all day long!




Behind the museum was the home where John Wayne (Marion Morrison) was born.  He didn't get the name "Duke" until the family moved to California and local firefighters tagged him Duke after his dog, Duke, who was a constant companion.

The home was small, 4 rooms, 2 of which were parlors, 1 bedroom, and 1 kitchen.  There was a washroom attached to the kitchen.  We were told that there had also been an outhouse and outdoor water pump.

The Morrison Home

Cedar Bridge

After the quick tour of the home we headed back to our car and decided to drive to two of the Madison County covered bridges.   The first one we visited was the Cedar Bridge, completed in 1883, and is the one featured on the book cover "The Bridges of Madison County".  Unfortunately, we discovered that the bridge was set on fire about a month ago and was badly charred.


The other bridge we visited was the Hogback Bridge.  It was built in 1884 and stretches across the North River.

Hogback Bridge

There were 4 more bridges in the area that we will save for another time.  We had rain, mist, and lots of muddy roads throughout the day.  We also had safe travels from Independence to Adel, many good roads, good food, excellent companionship, love and laughter!  What a great day!