International Falls, Minnesota to Baton Rouge, LA: July 10th, 2012

Total miles biked 87.18
Ride time 6 hrs 30 minutes
Avg speed 13.3 mph

Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota

We had a great day of biking today! Starting out from Aitkins at 5:55AM along route 47. The route was exceptionally flat starting out but we knew we had a long day so we chose to do the first 22 miles to Malmo before having breakfast. We continued on another 18 miles to Isle and then took a break at a convenient store. The highlight of our day was our accidentally coming across the Adventure Cycling Bicycle Bunkhouse just north of Dalbo. We were on our way by when somebody called out "come on in" so we did. The bunkhouse is owned and ran by Donn Olson - its an approx. 100 year old barn that has been converted into a bunkhouse for bicyclist that will hold about a dozen bikers at one time. However, he has hosted as many as 22 at one time by putting some of the bikers up in the basement of his house and the hayloft. Donn Olson is very friendly and outgoing type of a person and does this all on his own for the benefit of long distance bikers. We had a very nice visit and he told us of having people stop in from all over the world. He has a little black book that he has all of his over night guest sign which was interesting to see. What a special person he is to invite total strangers into his home! By the time we were done visiting with Donn it had warmed up considerably so our last 15 miles to Cambridge got to be kind of a grind. So after 87 miles we checked into the Crossings by Grand Stay Inn & Suites and went for a very refreshing swim in the pool. We will go and get a bite to eat this evening yet and then get a good night sleep! What a great day! If you go to You Tube and type in "Adventure cycling bicycle bunkhouse - Dalbo" you can see Donn and his Bicycle Bunkhouse!