50 miles: red wing, MN, to stillwater, MN

the weather was a carbon-copy of yesterday’s: sunny, warm to steamy, & tailwinds. the hills, tho’, were much hillier … steeper, longer, & more prevalent. but the countryside was its same beautiful self.

the 1st of today’s 3 bridges was just out of red wing; there were no shoulders on the bridge to shield us from early-morning weekday traffic, but we rushed across without mishap. here’s a photo of the lovely wisconsin roadway we traveled on the other side.

we caught sight of some llamas in a field as we passed by. loving animal photos the way i do, i stopped. here’s a photo of the farmer & one of his 3 llamas. he said the llamas are pets, tho’ the owner shears them & sells the fur to local fiber artists. this llama is named louis vuitton.

here’s a mug shot of louis vuitton. she was very curious about us interlopers.

here’s the baby llama; almost all his fur had been shorn recently.

just a little further along we came upon a field of miniature horses. the following photo is another in my series of equestrian nostril shots. i think this little horse wanted me to rub his forehead some more.

not long after these animal encounters, we came upon this dreaded sign. i know it means a steep downhill, which, next to bridges, is one of my least favorite cycling experiences. marilyn tells me that bikers call this sign ‘truck on a wedge of cheese.’

soon we crossed today’s 2nd & 3rd bridges; they were no problem at all. whew! they brot us back to minnesota.

at about 35 miles, we stopped in the little town of afton. we asked a local her recommendations for a lunch spot. she suggested the catfish saloon at the historic afton house inn. we found out it didn’t open ’til 11:30, & it was only 11:10, but later we were so glad we waited.

we never expected a gourmet menu at a saloon, but it turns out the chef is a frequent guest on a weekly TV show featuring well-known minnesota chefs & their food. our waiter, bob, is a great fellow. he’s been national dart-throwing champ several times. here he balances our empty soup bowls.

at bob’s suggestion, i selected goldie’s almond-encrusted walleye with seasonal vegetables. it’s named after goldie hawn, who has visited here & tried that dish & loves it. here’s a photo. the little pink ribbon-tied packet is the lemon wedge …. so you can squeeze it without the seeds getting onto your fish. what a delectable dish it was!

we managed to roll out of the catfish saloon after an hour or so; we checked out the shoreline near the saloon. it’s a beautiful harbor, as you can see.

the tailwinds gave us a mighty push up the road the last 10-15 miles to stillwater …. actually, we’re staying in a suburb, oak park hts, which is a busy highway lined with chain restaurants & motels. biking those last 3-4 miles to the americinn was a little harrowing, but we made it.

jo ann mentioned a riverboat cruise, so as soon as i showered, i started checking around for cruises & other sightseeing options in stillwater. at 3:30, we took a cab downtown, bought tickets to the 5:00 pm trolley car tour of historic stillwater, & tickets to the paddlewheeler riverboat dinner cruise starting at 6:15. we had a little time to kill before our trolley tour, so browsed along the lovely shops of downtown stillwater.

in front of one shop, i came across a man sitting on a bench with his pomeranian, abby, in a carry-all. what a cute pup!

another time i almost fell across tulear, this viszla, who guarded the door of the outfitter’s shop that we went into for a few minutes. i guess “guarded” is too strong; she just liked sleeping in the patch of sunshine right inside the shop’s door & didn’t want to bother moving when shoppers entered.

out on the street again, i heard a bell gonging, & there was a woman along the street’s edge rocking a big black bell. i asked what she was doing …. & she told me that she’s the self-appointed town crier. the bell is out in front of her shop, country charm antiques. she comes out to ring the bell on the hour … & has been doing that for 18 years. she told me she rings it because she absolutely loves this town. we loved the town, too, & we’d been there only a couple of hours.

it was nearing 5, so we hustled back to the trolley stop. the tour of historic stillwater was fascinating. this was a very prosperous lumber town; the mansions are quite stunning. but WOW the hills! more than once i wondered about the brakes on our trolley.

we got off the trolley & walked a short distance to the riverboat dock. here we are enjoying our dinner on the deck with the beautiful cliffs along the river behind us.

by the time we turned around & headed back down the river, the sun was starting to sink below the trees. you can see the beautiful late-day colors of the water & trees behind these bikers along the boat railing.

in this photo, you see a riverboat like ours in front of us going under the traffic bridge, with its center section lifted in the air to let us pass underneath.

i had called a cab to be waiting for us at 8:30. we were quickly whisked back to our motel after a wonderful afternoon & evening seeing the sights of stillwater.

tomorrow we ride about 50 miles to cambridge, MN. i don’t know any particulars, since our map meeting isn’t ’til tomorrow morning at 7. but maybe i’ll start looking now for touring & boating options in cambridge! we like seeing as much of these lovely towns as we can in the short time we have to spend in them.