Happy Monday! 

Though blogging from my phone works, I have found that sometimes the words come in as one jumbled paragraph, no matter how I try to format it. So if it does come in as one long sentence, please be patient...I'll fix it up as soon as I can. 

It's about 11pm Tuesday night, and our tent is set up on the banks of Lake Pepin (some GREAT photos tomorrow.) Sunday night at the Cole household, we got packed up and headed out of St. Paul about 6:30 Monday morning. Found our way back to the MRT and the Wabasha bridge, and it was all downhill from north to south - a real pretty bridge - and our Bridge #25:

Stopped at a very cool Holiday convenience store (where they even in June carry firewood for sale)... 

....south of the bridge, and it started to rain! (And it had been such a nice day yesterday.....ack!) 

One thing about all the rain we HAVE experienced, when it does start to rain now, we're really nonplussed about it, and we have a routine worked out that waterproofs everything we have. And again, isn't that like life?...if you have faced a particular adversity, especially multiple times....if that adversity comes up AGAIN, you usually have a process, or a strategy...a MATURITY that allows you to be better equipped to handle the familiar challenge.

(Kids take note....no matter WHATEVER challenge you're facing....more than likely one of your parents has been through it before! Use THEIR experience - you might be surprised at the ideas they have!) Okay.....you want pictures? Here's us in our stylish rain gear! (Okay, maybe Earline; but me....definitely not!)

The South St. Paul Bike Trail was enjoyable as it traveled along the top of the levee - great views of the river - but it was very poorly marked. There were many forks in the road, and it was often unclear which way to turn. Even ran into this detour: 

(Oooo - just saw a very pretty lightning bolt flash in the sky to the south. Wonder if I could catch a picture of it. Oh-oh! Wonder if that's headed this way! Hmmmm.)

We weren't the only ones on the trail - met this fellow toodling down the same direction:

Even saw this flock of buzzards beside the trail.....so who are THEY waiting for.....expired cycliists????!!!!

Met 3 gentlemen at A&W, and one of them made a contribution to GHA....thanks! 

There is a bike trail under construction along Concord Avenue, and one of the locals said the plan was to build it all the way to Hastings (that would be wonderful). For now, though, it's county roads for the MRT, and some of them have a LOT of traffic.

Went past this road bank of bull thistles.......what??!!??

 

Can someone explain this to me? I t looks to me like they were obviously planted.....to hold soil? But when I think of the thousands, or millions of seeds that these thistles will release....the neighborhoods around this area can NOT be happy!

Later on, we saw some beautiful landscaping with some of the development entry ways. Maybe some ideas for the DAH Nursery folks? (Deaf Anointed Hands)....(bet they're fussing at the thistle people!)....

Speaking of Mission Possible, one biblical guy who did a lot of seemingly impossible things was Samson, like killing a thousand Philistines with a donkey's jawbone, or lifting the city gates of Gaza. (Can you think of more?) 

Well, these 2 silos reminded me of the last day of Samson's life.....what do YOU think? [Judges 16:29-30] Like Samson, YOU TOO can do seemingly impossible things!

Arriving in Hastings, we had a chance to look over the bridge we had to cross. Here's Earline studying the bridge: 

What some of you may not know, is that Earline is terribly afraid of bridges, even with a car! So this Mission Possible tour is a VERY BIG stretch for her! To prove ALL things are possible, here's proof - Bridge #26:

She was actually literally crying after we made it over the bridge, but SHE DID IT! (The arms outstretched photo was her idea.)

Made our way over to Prescott, Wisconsin, and coming out of a gas station store, there were this father and daughter waiting for us, curious about the trikes. (By the way, there was a Dairy Queen in Prescott....number 6!)

We went over our first drawbridge as we went over the St. Croix River going into Wisconsin. Yes, you could see right through the grate to the river below!

Also saw this interesting lift bridge next to the drawbridge:

Even met Sheila on her bicycle just on the outskirts of town....Cathy Lemand, isn't this your twin?

Okay....back to the father and daughter at the gas station. Kelly (the daughter, who also owns the tattoo parlor in town) asked Earline if we had a place to stay (we didn't) and she asked her dad if we could stay in the trailer home that she wasn't using! 

Wow! It was wonderful! (Yes, God is good....here's some photos): 

The flat thing on the grass on the right hand side is a trampoline. They got tired of kids falling off, so they dug a hole, and made it safer for everybody. How about that!

They even had a chicken coop that creative Kelly and her sister had decorated up:

The chickens were so proud of their home, they thought they were pets:

They even painted the outhouse (though Earline wasn't so sure about using it, no matter HOW nice it was painted!):

And the back story behind the little box canyon is extraordinary....it used to be literally FILLED with over 600,000 tires!!!! Here's the dad, Dan Geister, who with his dad personally removed about 70,000 of the tires. He said local farmers built up berms with the tires. Eventually, I believe he said it was the county who brought in heavy equipment and removed the rest in 2 weeks.

Many stories and laughs were exchanged, a good night's sleep was enjoyed, and in the morning, they left a contribution for GHA sitting on the seat of one of the trikes!

THANKS guys!!! 

May God bless you MUCH for your warmth and hospitality! 

TGG, 

jon