Our biking get away this year took us to Iowa and the High Trestle Trail.
We were pleasantly surprised by this well-kept, smooth and wide bike trail lined with native plants and trees that led us to, and over, the High Trestle Bridge. The high and funky bridge across the Des Moines River was a sight to see, especially at night. The bridge is a half-mile long and 130 ft. above the Des Moines River.
We rode our bikes on the trail to the bridge in the afternoon. After dinner we walked the trail to see the bridge lit up with a beautiful shade of bright blue. 
There were other folks out there on this beautiful summer solstice evening, both biking and walking. It is a biking/pedestrian bridge, in place where an old railroad bridge used stand. The original trestle train bridge was built in 1912 and reconstructed in 1971. It became a pedestrian bridge in 2003.
The trail the next day was a nice surprise too. We drove to Big Creek State Park and started pedaling on the smooth, but hilly trail along Big Creek, then along Saylorville Lake. Up and down we went and in some places it was like a roller coaster…pedal up and then coast down a hill and half way up the next hill, then pedal a bit more to the top and then coast down again…whee…
Again we were surprised when we saw how big the dam was. We rode the mile across the length of the dam and back again, for the fun of it.
On our last day our ride took us through what we expected from the beginning when we headed to Iowa, and that was the beautiful, but flat cornfields of Iowa.
We discovered there are hundreds of miles of bike trials in this area so we’ll go back. The B&B we stayed at was delightful…a log house with many wonderful features, and at night…a view of the beautiful, blue bridge.
They had a great week. Lots of history and great scenery. They had no rain while biking, however the last night it did rain during the night and made the dirt trail very muddy for their last day of riding. The guys and their bikes were caked with mud after 35 miles on the muddy trail. The trail ended in Georgetown and the guys said they wanted to eat at the first restaurant they came upon…which happened to be a more upscale restaurant, but the hosts graciously accepted the eight mud-caked bikers to their outdoor dining tables, which carried the theme from indoors with white linen napkins! I’m sure it was quite a sight.
The bike trip was a challenge for the guys, riding consecutively for seven days, but it was worth the time and effort to see they could do it successfully and it certainly created some great memories.
It was 56 degrees when we went for a walk in St. Olaf’s grasslands on Saturday. The path was a little wet in places but it was great to be out in the open prairie. We sat on a bench for a while to soak up some sunshine. After our hike we went downtown and there were people out everywhere…enjoying this Minnesota winter heat wave. Most of the snow has melted because of several consecutive warm days, and the forecast calls for these temperatures to continue for a few more. Will winter return? 
Yesterday I left work a couple hours early to enjoy the unusual warm temperatures for this time of year. We decided to go for a bike ride and headed to the new section of the Cannon Valley Trail to start our ride. The sun was shining and the trail was smooth and there were several people out enjoying the 70* temperature in November, in Minnesota. It’s fun to see the landscape without the leaves on the trees although there are a few stunning trees still showing off their brilliant colors. We saw two deer along the trail. We reminisced about a ride we took in February, my first winter bike ride in Minnesota. Again, the weather was unusually warm and we were tooling around on our bikes in February. That’s a good bicycle season – for me. I know there are many folks biking all year ’round!
Big Ole stands 28 feet tall on the north end of Alexandria, MN near a trail head for the Central Lakes State Trail, a Minnesota scenic recreational rail trail, where we biked this past weekend. Big Ole’s shield states “Alexandria – Birthplace of America”. Having grown up in Minnesota, with a strong Norwegian heritage, I have not heard, and was surprised, to learn about a Rune Stone that was found near Kensington, Minnesota in 1898. Some authorities believe the Vikings etched runes (characters of ancient alphabets) into the stone and the stone is dated 1362. The Rune Stone is in a museum in Alexandria – there is some controversy over its authenticity but it is an interesting story.
