the mighty mississip

hello all,

i have made it to Minnesota!!! this means that i have completed 6 states (nh, vy, ny, canada, mi, wi) and have 3 more (mn, mt, wy) to go. the last chunk of WI was pretty uneventfully except for to thing. the first was a monster thunder storm. the day of the storm started out overcast with light rain, it then cleared up and became a beautiful day. we were stoked with the improvement in the weather and took our rain stuff off. after lunch the sky started to darken and we could start to see the storm in the distance. being in pretty flat terrain that was dominated by farms it was amazing how clearly we could see the storm coming, we were riding directly towards it. when it hit it hit hard it was one of those rains where you couldn't conceive it raining any harder then it was. we were int the eye of the storm the thunder and lighting out of control. we were about 8 miles from a bar, we peddled like hell to get there asap. we figured that we could wait out the storm. we got to the bar dripping wet the storm looked like it was starting to let up. we figured that we would wait it out till it stopped. we hung out for a bit then decided to get back at it as soon as we got back out side the skys opened up in full force again. we waited a little longer then decided to just go for it rain or no rain. we started riding again it continued raining for about another half hr then stooped. soon after it stooped the sun came back out. we then stopped at a gas station for some snacks. we were happy to be out of the rain and thought that our troubles were over but as we were pulling out of the gas station i got a flat tire. i quickly changed it and we were on our way. this flat marked the end of our problem with the rain and that start of a new problem. in the next 3 day i got 5 flat tires!!!!!! after the second one i found that a rock had punctured my tire after removing i thought i had solved the problem. this was not the case at all the flats just kept on coming. yesterday i found a tiny piece of glass in my tire i think that the removal of this fixed my problem because i havent got a flat since but who know. crossing in to mn was uneventfully. the night of our first day in mn we got a little more trail magic. we stopped in dalbo for the night. when consulting the map for a place to stay for the night we noticed a symbol we had never seen. the key informed us that it meant lodging for cyclists only. we went to the address and found out that it was just this guy don olsens farm. three years ago a few bikers asked him if they could camp in his yard, after this he started noticing all the bikers going by he started inviting them in. he eventually called adventure cycling (this is the company who makes that maps we use) and told them to put him on the map. don and his wife were great!!! they gave us beds, showers and let us do laundry. we also got all our questions about farming answered. the day after we left dons was the day that we crossed the mississippi river. i was really stoked to see the mississippi. i love the old mississippi what a river. it was every thing i was hoping for and more. "the mighty mississip, the old mis, the old man..deeeeeeep riiiiiiiver myyyy hooome is over joordan"(name that qoate) well any ways thats whats up im sick of writing so i am gonna go.

shout out to mimi happy b day and to my mother happy mothers day

-NEO