Wrong Turn? Ended up in Virginia – Minnesota That Is!!

September 10, 2015 Day 7

Duluth, MN to Virginia, MN – 66 miles   Total miles 417

Weather 60 degrees, partly sunny and strong head wind

After a great day off in Duluth (Day 6)  we got up and going by 8:00 am. It was great to see and spend some time with our friends Tim and Kathy they were great hosts. The only bad part about staying with them is the location of their home – boy was it a climb to their house but also leaving this morning –  I think we climbed straight up hill for about a mile and a half!!

The ride was pretty much on Hwy 53.  It was a nice, flat, lower volume road with a large shoulder for us to ride upon. It was an easy ride with small towns spread out along the route.  In one town their was no gas station, restaurant or any other public place.  So we sat on the steps of the local church and ate our packed lunch – it was a bit chilly and we were glad to get back on the bike and moving again.

The ride was pretty uneventful and we followed the Hwy until we got to Eveleth. We then got on the Mesabi Trail which was a great trail that dropped us off in Virginia – where our Warm Showers host lived. The trail travels along the edge of one of the iron ore mines in the area – it is unbelievable to look into the mine and see how deep and big it is. And that is only one of the many mines in the area – Iron Ore is definitely a huge business up here.

Robin(Rob) and Betsey were our hosts for the night and took good care of us.  It was a pleasure to meet them both and even more exciting to learn that Betsey and Peter went to the same college (Stevens Point) and even graduated at the same time.  Although they did not know each other.

The weather is suppose to be even colder tomorrow morning – (38 degrees) we will have to wear our tights and fleece under our jackets and also pull out the glove liners and put plastic bags in our shoes. We plan to leave a little later to allow it to warm up a bit – hopefully.