Last night, before calling it a day, I took a walk to downtown Milaca…

for an ice cream.

They even had a park with a Sherman tank. You don’t see those outside of museums very often these days.

Todays ride was governed by the weather and as always, distances between campgrounds and/or motels. The weather forecast had rain late morning and again in the evening. There was one other factor, I was almost out of food. The ABA map appeared to show some places where groceries or lunch could be purchased along the way, but then again, it is the Forth of July.

After 40 miles or so, the sky was starting to look gray, so I pulled into a small county park in order to get a weather update and assess likely stopping points for the day.

The weather radar showed one band about on top of me and nothing after that, though the forecast still showed evening rain. I decided to wait this rain band out and try to find a good stopping point while I waited. I found motel rooms were available in various towns ahead of me and a quick check of campgrounds also showed availability, which wasn’t surprising, given the weather forecast.

I prefer camping to motels, and decided to make Wild River State Park on the Minnesota side of the St. Croix River my destination. It’s a bit off the ABA route, but looked like a place I could get to and get set up before any late afternoon thunderstorms popped up.

This meant that I wouldn’t get into Wisconsin until tomorrow. However, I’m getting through Minnesota in four and a half days, which is only a half day more than my best case projection of four days. I’m more than happy with that.

Once the rain slowed to a light sprinkle, I set off. I found an open Dollar General and got some basic survival rations. All the restaurants were closed for the 4th of July. I made made it to the campground with only a few sprinkles occurring about 3/4 of the way there.

Right now my tents up, and I am battling with an aggressive band of mosquitoes, though my last few drops of repellent should be enough to stave them off, till I leave tomorrow. A short walk through bands of even more aggressive mosquitoes yielded this image of the St. Croix River and the Wisconsin bank.

Today I covered 58 miles, which is starting to feel like an easy day. Total mileage crosses two thousand, with a total of 2026.