Trippin' with Susan Straley

 I was staying at Arbor Vitae Campground and after writing to you all morning, I took off for a bike ride to explore the area and find something to bring to the campfire at my neighbor's that evening. While heading south I passed a sign for Madeline Hiking Trail.  I turned around and rode in.  As I approached the kiosk I noticed an older couple chatting with a woman that appeared about to start her hike.  I locked up my bike and as they ended their conversation I asked the woman if she was just starting.   She said, "Yes" "May I join you or would you rather walk alone." "That would be great!" she said. "I was just about to ask if I could walk with you." Yes! It was so wonderful!  Just as we started down the trail we saw these two dark animals racing toward us.  First we hesitated, should we be afraid? Then we identified them as husky-style puppies.  Their owner walking fast behind them.  "Sorry," she said.   I assured her there was

 OMG!  What a trip! Last I wrote to you I was telling you about the first day of my test fully-loaded bike tour. If you missed that,  here is the link from the post during a break in riding on Monday.  And here is the link to the post sent during the ride on Tuesday. Now that I am at a place with cell service and a bit rested, I will tell you the rest of the story.   I figured out the miles I did that first day:  76 plus miles.  Bike tours do that all the time, sometimes 80 or 90.  But I don't do that, especially not fully loaded with tent and sleeping bag and cooking supplies. George and I did 80 miles one day on our ride from Illinois to Florida.  It was because of an error in my planning.  We were hauling trailers behind our trikes.  Nothing hurt because those trikes are comfortable! We were staying in motels so we were not hauling tents, but I had my laptop.  We were exhausted after 80 miles and we decided to stay an extra day to rest up.  And George kept saying, "I am

 I made it to the falls and pulled into camp at 7:00 p.m. The campground required online reservation and I only had one line of cell service so it took me  half hour to get registered. While biking toward camp I was dreaming of food, a bicyclists fuel, and the last of my snacks and lunch had been devoured a couple hours ago.   I decided I would set up and then ride two miles down the road to get some supper.  But once I was in camp,  there was so much to do.  Then it was too late, I didn't want to ride the country road in the dark after eating.   I got to use my mini propane burner for the first time!  I was glad I had packed a back-packer's meal.  A packet of cajun beans and rice.  I added peanut butter and I my hunger was satisfied. Right now I am writing to you as I am straddling my bike at the intersection of Hwy 2 and Hwy 64.  I was checking the map and saw I had two lines of cell service.  So I thought I would upload some pictures and let you know I am still alive

 I decided to bike to some water falls.  When I googled waterfalls near me, there were quite a few.  It appeared the closest one in the cluster was Kakabika Falls near Watersmeet and White City. I packed up last night and then put my bike bags in the van so I could get an early start.  Google said the falls was 44 miles away and then I have to bike to a campsite which is another 12 miles. This morning I was up and loading the bike by 6:00 a.m. a bit nervous.  I am used to using googlemaps for getting around.  But what happens if I need to re-configure my route and I don't have cell service?  I don't have a paper map, and if I did, even the detail maps don't tell me what roads are passable or bike friendly. Last night I made a turn-by-turn list for me to follow.   First I moved the van to make it harder to steal Lilac if some bad person was so inclined.  I almost knocked over the bike!   Starting from the campground I couldn’t get around doing some miles on Hwy 51.  A