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!