Gray Overhead with Blue Skies on the Horizon

Woke up this morning to the news of the devastating tornadoes in the surrounding areas.  We had thunder, lightening, and rain during the night, but not tornadoes, thank goodness.  The morning was cool and glum, which made me indecisive as to how to dress.  When in doubt, under dress and be slightly cold before 'take off'.  Today, was a recovery day....a day to ride gently and let the muscles relax and, well, recover.  It was a 56 mile day, with some added bonus miles because I missed a turn.....seems to be a reoccurring theme, doesn't it? 

My first stop was once again to the flood gates to watch the gushing water of the Mississippi River.  Because of the ran, the engineers were opening more gates while we were there.  Warning whistles and red lights flashed in preparation.  It was an incredible sight.  A local told us that in July the water is so low that one can walk across it on rocks and not get your feet wet.  Not today! If you compare the video on yesterday's post to this one, I think you will be able to see how much the water rose overnight.

My bike at the flood gates

The summer home of Charles Lindenberg is located here in Little Falls, MN, right on the Mississippi. It is now a state park.  His father immigrated from Sweden, where he was a big wig in the Swedish government and quite wealthy.  So his son was born with a silver spoon.  Do you suppose if his son,  the Lindenberg baby,  hadn't been kidnapped, he would be so well remembered?

Anyway, the weather was perfect and the ride down The Great River Road and Nature Rd was very pretty,,,and easy. 

Early morning spin down the Great River Road, which runs parallel to the Mississippi.

A Mississippi tributary swollen over its banks.

Blue skies on the horizon

On the road, dogs often chase us.  Some just bark at us from a distance, some run to the property line and stop there to bay at us, others chase us snapping furiously.  Today, a german shepard mix bounded out from a yard.  He didn't bark, but did chase us.  At least, I thought he was chasing us.  Instead, he ran beside us for over two miles; he wanted to be part of the fun!  We stopped at a restaurant, and he tried to join us there, too.  He was a young dog, very sweet, very friendly and well trained.

I asked some locals that came in behind us if the dog was still out there, and they answered, "you mean the speed bump?".  Not funny.

Gotta get to bed.  106 mile tomorrow....I'm not even gonna proofread this--I should, though.  I've had a lot of interruptions tonight.