Cumberland is a great little town. Food co-op was awesome. Organic produce and bulk grains. Just what I needed. Looks like a good outdoor store as well. The whole main street even has a stereo system hooked up to every street lampost playing some tunes. A nice touch.
On the way out of town I took this funny street, and thought maybe I'd have to bike straight into a brick pillar to be magically transported to my desired destination!
In Balsam Lake I saw an incredible machine that looked like a floating tractor. It was big, blue, had giant spinning water wheels on both sides, and a shovel/conveyer belt contraption on the front. I asked a man what it was. He told me that it was a weed harvester to keep the lake free of pesky invasive weeds (at least for a month or so). He was the kinda guy who didn't really have a neck but instead his torso just tapered off until the top of his head, and he talked so loud I had to take a few steps back and one to the side to be out of the blast zone (while still being polite, of course).
Enjoyed a tasty semi-sweet wafer that looked like lace and was seasoned with annis that Paula had packed for me. Another Cumberland specialty.
Major cities like Minneapolis have an aura that surrounds them, one that's palpable even 80 miles outside the city limit. I began to feel it just before Osceola. Infrastructure changes, highways become more dense and convaluted, vehicles and store fronts change type, and towns begin to feel more like either attractions or parasitic conglomerates than centers of community. Osceola was off the attraction type. But I didn't stop long, and instead crossed the bridge and was in Minnesota.
A short stint on highway 95 brought me to William O'Brien State Park, where I set up camp on the rim of the St. Croix valley. Body wanted to be horizontal, so I pulled out the hammock and napped a bit before taking a hike down to the water's edge.
A lady asked me if these plants were poison ivy. I told her no. Dinner was some Kathmandu curry gifted to me by Austin, one of my hosts in Green Bay, as well as a whole block of Wisconsin cheese.
Lots of bugs. Mosquitos bad. Fireflies amazing.
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