The plan was to meet John at the Holiday gas station in Hayward at 8:00 this morning... I was ready and packed. I woke up early, showered and was on time, until I took the first picture of the trip.
Nancy wasn't home this morning to send me off, so I used a mini tripod and the self time to get the, "start of the trip" picture. I put on my jacket, helmet, and gloves, and headed down the road. It was a nice cool 56°F this morning. A hoodie under my mesh jacket was perfect. 7 miles later, I realized that I had forgot to grab my camera.. DOH!!!! So, a quick u-turn and 10 minutes later I was back on my way.
I ended up 15 minutes late, and when I got to the gas station, John was standing on the side of the road watching for me.
We took highway 77 west, through Minong and Danbury. An hour after we started, we crossed the St. Croix River into Minnesota.
77 turns into MN 48 at the river. We followed 48 to Hinckley, MN.
A little fall color and an old stone railroad viaduct...
We turned south onto I-35, and got off the interstate 3 miles later at highway 23. Another hour later, we had a gas stop in Milaca, MN.
Foley, MN...
We continued down 23, through St. Cloud, MN, past Willmar, MN, to highway 7. Then west on 7 to Montevideo where we stopped so John could take the liner out of his jacket. It was getting warmer, HOT actually.
From Montevideo, we headed west on US 212 and stayed on it all the way to Faulkton, SD. Along the way, I saw a bank clock that said 95°F !!
We were seeing a lot of butterflies on 212. When we got to the motel, the staff was telling us that because of the fires in Montana, the butterflies migration path had moved east, into SD. There were lots of them.
Here's one in the parking lot...
479 miles today. Another 250+ miles in the morning. We should be in Belle Fourche in a little over 4 hours after we leave here. Twisty roads tomorrow!
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