Day 10 - Sauk Centre to Alexandria

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Route

Sauk Centre, MN to Alexandria, MN - 28 miles

For details of the route, click here.

Weather

Sky condition:  High overcast
Temperature:  64 to 74
Visibility:  Unlimited
Precipitation:  None
Wind:  Light and variable

Significant Events

Saw two Honda Z600's

Saw a real classic, a Geo Metro

Today's Songs

"Stick Around for Rock and Roll" by The Outlaws

Wildlife Observed

One chipmunk
Deer (a large doe that literally almost knocked Ileana off of her bike)
Red-winged blackbirds
One crow

Today's Ride

Since we had a short ride ahead of us today, the Brit in me decided to have a "lie-in".  For me, that means to sleep in until about 6am...  

Sauk River

Sinclair Lewis home

Nevertheless, we did sleep in, ate a good breakfast at the Palmer Hotel, and hit the trail around 9am.

We continued on the Lake Wobegon Trail, still not encountering the famous Lake Wobegon.  We rode it to the end in Osakis, MN, where it joined the Central Lakes Trail.  This is another really nice trail on a former rail line and it passes through many small towns.  Osakis was but one of these towns.

Local family car

"Osakis - Small Town, USA"

Although I have done some flying over Minnesota and seen the multitude of lakes from the air, cycling past them has really shown me why Minnesota is called the land of 10,000 lakes.  We passed them constantly and they all looked beautiful.

I stopped to take a picture of Lake Osakis and Ileana rode on ahead. As I was about to catch up to her, a large doe bounded out from the left side of the trail and almost knocked her off of her bike! A near-miss!  Ileana took this all in stride and didn't even miss a beat.  I don't think she slowed her cadence or swerved one bit.  It was probably a good thing for the deer that it missed her...

Lake Osakis panorama

We made it to Alexandria pretty early which allowed us time to explore the downtown area. A pretty nice town, looks like a typical small town.

Los Dos Centavos de Ileana

Last night we stayed at an amazing hotel called Palmer House. It's a historic and beautiful building.  Also, it's haunted!  In the lobby there are many stories (in 2 files) of people that have stayed there and experienced paranormal activity! Moreover, it was featured on "ghost adventures" for several episodes!  (Which right there confirmed the validity of the stories!).

So, I went to bed and I told myself that there is nothing  to be afraid of becuase that stuff is not real.

Well, around midnight I woke up becuase I felt the bed was moving!  I told myself just go back to sleep and I closed my eyes and I felt the bed moving again!  I'm not making this up! It felt real! The power of sugestion is so powerful! I'm  glad we did not spend another night there, just in case!