Today's route took us through the Garrison Keillor country of the Lake Wobegon books. Holdingford is said to be the town most resembling Lake Wobegon - Hank's Hardware Store looked right, but it is, of course, the sheer everydayness of Lake Wobegon that is important - overlying remarkable and often comical human lives in a universal way. There are plenty of lakes and lots of fishing, I don't remember any cycling but if there wasn't then, well there is now. The Trailside Cafe at Bowlus does a very good breakfast - it's a pleasure to remember it - three egg omelette, hash browns, muffins, with some free fruit thrown in by Jordie... and coffee. Jordie is one of three women who look after the cafe - grandmother, mother and daughter. This is all food we don't easily get from the convenience stores we see on our route. The cafe has a bike hanging up as an emblem outside and usually there are more bikes around. There's also a garden - sunflowers (perennial and a bit like a cactus dahlia), salvias, phlox, sedums - and more, with winding paths and the occasional bicycle. There's a friendly terrier and a cat too. I wish this cafe was near home so I could visit regularly on bike rides. We set off late after playing on the cable ride - as cyclists will....
We took photos of Holdingford and then on to Sauk Center (tricky to pronounce) where we visited Sinclair Lewis' boyhood home. It was nice to see around an old house - period wallpaper, drawings of far away places - St Peter's in Rome, Victorian dresses for his mother, a small table where he could write in a bedroom shared with his two elder brothers, plenty of books and his dad's patented central heating system - it gets down to minus 20 centigrade here in Winter. It was a difficult boyhood since he was bookish and red haired (nickname Red). He was bullied. He did, though, receive the first Nobel prize for literature given to an American. He did write a book imagining an American Hitler called It Couldn't Happen Here. Hmmm, Trump is in the news again.... Then we pressed on, abandoning our lunch for the sake of literature and eventually reaching Alexandria on the bike trail - we shopped then found our way to Don's camping and RV - a serious contender for best value camping of the trip! Showers, toilets in fine condition, and a microwave and places to charge devices - just $20. So a lake of tea.. If you'd like to find us on the map we are here.