Installment 3 of 3

So, I think we're both done riding. That's figuratively speaking, not literally.

Over the last ten miles of today, David turned both "Single Ladies" and "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts" into hymns. Oh yes. Keep that mental image. Throw in that...while he's gifted in many other areas, David cannot sing (Michael! If only he had a long board!). So, really, he was wailing "Single Ladies" in a hymn-like fashion.

So, we got to Madison, WI and sat on my Aunt + Uncle's porch waiting for them to come home... not really sure they'd know we would be there. Up until three days ago, we didn't even know we'd be heading through Madison... and by the time we called, we got their son Jacob on the phone. He was cat sitting. So, although we left a few messages...and Jacob told us he'd tell them we were coming, Dan + Deb were not expecting us as they pulled up to their house. "Oh! Kristen! Good to see you!" If they didn't mean it, then they sure are good fakers. I think they meant it though.
Dan and Deb were incredibly accommodating, and...we were relieved to know... cool with us staying there. We went and got ice cream to give them time to unpack (surprised? But it was sooo delicious), and ate dinner before heading over to one of the lakes near D+D's house. We made it just in time to see the sun set! After heading out, and chatting with Dan and Deb, we decided to stay in Madison another day. Hey, Chicago can wait, right?

I forgot to include one of the best parts of being with Kyle and Mandy... We were all eating dinner, when their four year old son laid his head on his arm on the table. It looked like he was sleeping, but he was still 'pushing through' eating his hot dog. Kyle asked if he was done eating, and Kale put the fist with the hot dog still in it on the table, head still down...defeated. Pretty stinking funny.

After leaving St. Joseph, we rode down to visit David's cousin near Lake Minnetonka. I didn't realize what a crazy nice area we would be riding through... but some of those houses, oh my! Ooooh! Look at that one! And that one!
and...well... we had a little trouble getting to Solla Sollew (...er...Exclesior), but we made it! Paul was home just a-sawing-away in his woodshop (he did know we were coming :) ), and soon after his wife, Jill, and children came home. Paul built a house in the area so 1. he could be near most of his jobs and 2. because it's prime real estate, and pretty easy to sell even in this economy. And a very nice house it is too. We all ate dinner on the lake, Paul and Jill put their kids to bed, and we sat around and told stories.

We took the next day... well... reeeeeeeaally easy. My ankle's been feeling like it's tearing, so we figured we'd give it a rest and just ride into Minneapolis. I wanted to meet up with Kelli O'keefe, a friend from high school, so...let's just say it was a 25 mile day. And holy smokes! What great riding too (all 25 miles of it)! I guess Minneapolis was named the most bike-friendly city in America this year. In the biking world, Chicago has a lot of catching up to do. We have 'a' path. Minneapolis has 'many' paths (note the plurality of that word). We rode on 'The Greenway', which is a well manicured path through the heart of the city. We stayed with a warmshowers couple named Tim and Anne that lived near the Mississippi river. Tim was on a canoe trip, so I guess it was really just Anne we stayed with. Anne was a huge sweetheart. She pulled out all the Wisconsin maps she had to try to help us plan our route through to Chicago... she fed us breakfast, and made us feel at home.

Uh. Yeah. So... it was in Minneapolis that we decided maybe the ice cream obsession had gone too far. We stopped on our gruelling ride to Minneapolis to eat some DQ. Once in Minneapolis, we went to see what all the hulla-balloo around the Mall of America is all about (ps. I still couldn't tell you. It's a mall. A great big mall). There, we had ice cream-like coffee drinks. And then, to cap it all off, when we met up with Kelli, we (naturally) got ice cream. This time, I opted for a low-fat version, but I don't think that matters as it was the third go-around. David made me vow our ice-cream eating days were over so we could 'get into Chicago mode' (ie. not gain 30 lbs when we get back). As you can see by our ice cream trip in Madison, this mode has not yet begun.

While waiting for Kelli to get off work, we went downtown. We meandered like lost ducks before stopping a man and asking him where we should go. "Welcome to the Great City of Minneapolis!" (he was taking his job as our director very seriously) "blah blah blah...you look Irish! I'm going to send you to Kieran's!" So, because I have red hair, we ended up at an Irish restaurant. I'm ok with it mostly because my food was delicious, and they gave us a free appetizer because they thought the whole biking thing was crazy.

We met up with Kelli and went to her apartment in Uptown. I had a hard time not feeling 'apartment envy'... because really... um... cough. cough. Kelli pays half what we do, but lives in a giant four bedroom, two bath, very nicely restored vintage-y apartment with landscaping and a cool landlord. I like our apartment. I like Chicago. I also think Kelli lives in a freaking sweet apartment.

I was really glad we met up with Kelli...I was a little nervous because it's been probably four years since I've seen her. Would we still click? What were we going to talk about? But Kelli is Kelli, and I am me, and really not much has changed (although, also...quite a bit has) (when is a non-statement a statement?). It was easy to talk to Kelli, and I wish we lived closer because on the bike ride out of Minneapolis, I started thinking about all the things we used to do a together in High School. Kind of pathetic that I'm getting all nostalgic about High School at 23, but... what can I say? I did love THS, and I did love the friends I had there. There's just something about knowing the same people since kindergarten. Seems strange that we barely know each other now.

Well... that was all for Minnesota. 3 installments. We are now two days away from Chicago, and can hopefully write fast + furious to catch the blog up on the Wisconsin riding before we hit home-base.

Sleep well all.