September 1, 2026 - Aitkin, Minnesota to Little Falls, Minnesota

It got chilly last night and we had the vents open - 59!! Fortunately, that made the ride today a bit better - not too hot. The day started off sunny then some cloud cover as the day went on. Tobey said, "nice riding weather!"

Tobey took this picture for me as we was on the trail since he knows I love quilts!

We're not sure what kind of bird this was that he spotted, maybe an osprey?

We met in Brainerd at the Kiwanis Park for lunch before I joined him for part of the ride. This is Tobey rolling in.

We took off on the MRT/Paul Bunyan Trail from the parking lot and I rode with him about 8 miles before I turned back to the RV and he went on his way. The dreaded Japanese beetles are in Minnesota, too. There were wild grapes growing on one of the bridges and they were covered in beetles!

Crossing the Mississippi

This was one of the bridges we went under along our ride.

On this portion of the trail we were treated to the "Fairy Door Trail" with lots of interesting carvings and surprises along the way.




It was a great ride together, but I headed back to the RV to load up and drive on to Little Falls. Fortunately, I felt much better about loading the bike and driving today. WOOHOO!

Tobey saw some new things along his way. His trail switched back and forth from the highway to trail, then turned to sand! He walked his bike back to the highway and made his way into town!

We arrived in Little Falls almost at the same time. After loading Tobey's bike we walked over to the river and saw the dam. This is the down-river side.

This is the Mississippi River up-river side of the dam!

We stopped at a laundromat to wash bike clothes and they are line-drying all over the RV tonight! We had dinner at the Tavern on 1st tonight. We both got the burger basket since that was the Tuesday special. They were quite tasty, the fries were great, the onion rings were okay, the service was really good, and the prices were very reasonable. 

We are spending the night in Little Falls. Tobey's ride was 63 miles today. 

August 31, 2026 - Pine Ridge Forest Road, Savana State Forest to St. John’s Lutheran Church, Aitkin, Minnesota

Well, it poured last night! Both of our weather apps were wrong, but thank goodness, I covered the seat on Tobey’s bike anyway. Fortunately, it was just a bit foggy when we got up this morning and headed out of the forest to get Tobey on the road. We took time for him to clean and re-lube his chain after his ride yesterday which took on lots of road dirt. He finally got going about 9:30 this morning.

We both saw wild turkeys today.


Tobey saw deer, eagles, red-headed woodpeckers and even a tortoise today. The tortoise was the only one slow enough for him to catch a picture!
We both took pictures of old barns today, too! This was Tobey's barn.

This was my barn hear Berglund Park in Palisade where we took a short break for him.

I walked down and had a nice view of a trestle bridge over the Mississippi.

By noon, the clouds had pretty much disappeared and it turned hot (mid-80s) and sunny. Onward we went and had lunch about 12 miles down the road near Waldeck where he was able to rest longer after his first 40 miles. His route took him on about 8 miles of gravel before coming back to the highway.

He also saw this police car in the distance and tried to warn some drivers coming up behind him to be careful!

I guess it wasn't anything to be too worried about!

He crossed over the Mississippi River again.

We had our “Service Engine Soon” light come on yesterday, so I went on to Aitkin to the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store to have them check it out. Nice guys. They ran a diagnostic test and couldn’t find anything wrong. (I would have hoped not since we had lots of service done on this RV beast before leaving Colorado!) Anyway, they said I should be good to go – so I did!

As Tobey made his way through Aitkin to our camp spot for the night, he spotted this store.

We’re spending the night at St. John’s Lutheran Church just outside of Aitkin. I managed to find a relatively level spot and get the rig up on boards so we are totally level before Tobey got here. Tobey met a couple of the church members who were here to do some work on the church and by a weird coincidence, one of them used to live in Fort Collins! It’s a small world.

We had a beautiful sunset.

Tobey's ride was 58 miles today. We are looking forward to another quiet night before we head to Little Falls tomorrow.

August 30, 2026 - Winnie Dam Campground to Pine Ridge Forest Road, Savana State Forest, Minnesota

It rained during the night and was sprinkling when we got up. We had to dump and refill the RV with water (which was a slow process) so it was almost 9:30 before Tobey got on the road – in the rain. He did layer up with his long bike pants and a hooded jacket over his helmet.
Shortly after he left he was thankful for fresh legs. A large dog – about 80 pounds started barking at him and then chasing him. He was yelling and pedaling faster when a second huge dog joined the chase. He kept yelling and pedaling harder. Lucky for him, they both ran out of gas before he did. He did NOT stop to take their picture.

These are some pictures from his ride today.
The fish by the gas station was near Deer River, Minnesota.


I took off and headed for Grand Rapids (it was raining pretty steady at this point) and found a spot for internet and was able to post the last few days before heading to our lunch spot.

Even though he was layered, Tobey was pretty soaked by the time we met up for lunch. Tobey had ridden 38 miles at this point. After lunch, an hour rest, and dry clothes, he took off for his last segment for today.

I liked this little bridge that Tobey got to see along the trail as he was leaving Grand Rapids.

I waited about an hour before I headed out to meet him at the Pine Ridge Forest Road and passed him just two miles before our meeting spot – pretty good timing.

He had a windy ride, but fortunately, there was no rain this afternoon. We loaded his bike and headed down the forest road where we are dispersed camping for the night. We did meet an older gentleman as we came in who lives adjacent to the forest and he takes his dog, Buddy, for a drive every evening down this road!


Dinner is finished and Tobey deserves an early bedtime tonight after riding 58 miles today. Again, no internet, but will post this when we get a chance.

August 29, 2026 - Bemidji to Winnie Dam Campground, Minnesota

We both woke up about 7:00am and took time to organize the RV and bike things before heading over to the park for Tobey to begin his ride today. He was ready to roll about 8:30 and took off under cloudy skies and some pretty good wind gusts. I hung out in the RV before heading out to our first meeting spot.

Tobey had views of the Mississippi that we are more used to seeing – wide expanses and bridges! A good portion of the ride this morning was on the trails. He crossed the river going east, then crossed back going west. These are pictures taken from the two different bridges of each other.


He did come across several large stands of trees along his route. Paul Bunyan still has work to do!!
In other areas, the river reverts back to a small stream!
On the route from north to south near the Greenwood Golf Course, he saw a guy running on the trail and called me to see if Mel Gibson was making a movie in this area. He said he looked just like him and even had an accent when they spoke! According to Google (and we know it’s always right) he is working on a film in Italy so it’s not likely it was him. He also came across a band of pirates – golfing pirates!

Some of the other sightings from today also included a deer that ran across the trail in front of him, some eagles, and a porcupine just before arriving at our campsite for the night.

We did meet up at Cass Lake for a break this morning. After he took off, I went to the Logging Camp and Museum. What a treasure in this little town – and only $5.00 admission. The main building had so many artifacts back to the late 1700s as well as many items from Native Americans. Across the street were five cabins with displays from logging camps. The bonus was each cabin had an audio recording that described the logging camps and the activities of the workers. It was great!

We stopped near Bena, Minnesota next to a supper club (not open until 5:00pm) for lunch and a rest break before Tobey finished up his last 15 miles.

We are camped at the Winnie Dam Campground on Lake Winnibigoshish. It’s a nice campground but I’d forgotten that the mosquito is the official state bird in Minnesota. They have been feasting on me! Before dinner we walked over to see the lake and the dam. It’s quite the place and built by the US Army Corp of Engineers.



Tobey cleaned the bike chains and got them re-greased and they are ready to go. I’m hoping to have internet tomorrow to get the last few days posted!

Tobey’s ride today was 58 miles and he has a 60 mile ride on the schedule for tomorrow. We will be going to bed early!