Yes, the stress of the road had been taking a toll. Oregon to Minnesota and that far again to the east coast is a long time to spend with one person and a long way for a 15 yr. old to ride a bicycle. In spite of the bickering, I think we did do a little bonding. The help from people like Doug and his wife were significant in keeping our train on the tracks the whole way.

The other gift we received from Doug was a true view of your beautiful city. We tended to avoid metro areas with all their congestion but were in need of replacing some camping gear so entered the city from the west, making a bee-line for the chain store co-op. It was to have been a quick, boulevard-bound in-and-out. We got bogged down a bit trying to find our way through a large nature preserve and found the day getting away from us.

Had we been forced to stay in a motel, we probably would have just got on another thouroughfare and made a due-east escape and glad to put a harrowing experience behind us. Doug’s rescue and the sharing of his map opened up your world to us. The citizens of Minneapolis / St. Paul are absolutely blessed with the river and rail trails interweaving your cities. My salute to the leaders and supporters who developed those resources both for sheer enjoyment as well as efficient people movement.

Doug’s map was invaulable in helping us link safely from one corridore to another on relativly quiet neighborhood streets. We followed the Mississippi River Trail as far possible before needing to turn east to Wisconsin.

We reached our destination of Vermont. The final push through New Hampshire and Maine was preempted due to weather and lack of time. Another trip, hopefully sooner than later. I would recommend it to anyone; the road will always be there, so go.

Thamks, Doug

You should consider joining WarmShowers.org. You’ll more likely have chances to keep repaying your “debts,” and will also find it easy to search out help when you are on the road yourself.

Pedals up!