Lanesboro and Root River

On Thursday, 16 August, we left Bay Lake and headed for Lanesboro for a weekend of biking and canoeing with friends Neil and Leah Boyd from Forest City, IA. On Thursday we biked into Lanesboro from our campsite at Eagle Cliff Campground near Whalan and bought tickets for The Mystery of Irma Vep at the theater on Friday night. Friday morning we biked another 12 miles or so in the morning. The bike trails along the Root River are very nice.

Neil, Leah and Mary on Bikes

At noon we gathered our gear and caught the van to bring us upriver for our canoe adventure. We put in a few miles north of Lanesboro and headed down stream. The weather was beautiful and after a nice lunch of wine, sausage, cheese and crackers we continued down stream. Not long after lunch Mary and I made a bad approach to a rapids and ended up in the water. Our lost paddles and my beer were recovered by Neil and Leah. Neil promised not to continue bringing up the fact that he saved our paddles and my beer, but I suspect that the matter will be mentioned from time to time in the future.

Neil & Leah in Canoe

On Friday night we had dinner at the Old City Hall Restaurant in Lanesboro before the theater. My lamb chops with cherry sauce were outstanding. The play was held in a new theater and was wonderful.

We awoke to the sound of rain falling on Saturday morning causing us to go to plan B for the day. This was a visit to the Amish Furniture Store in Harmony followed by a lunch of Lefsa Wraps, yes Lefsa Wraps at Aunties in Whalan. The rain continued to fall through the night causing the river to reach flood stage. Half of our campground was evacuated. We were on higher ground and were able to stay. Our situation was better then the people in Stockton a few mile away were the floods were much worse and people lost their lives.

Mary by Flooded Root River in our Campground

Refrigerator Floating Down Stream

We are now in Faribault for a few days but it is still raining. Good friends Ken and Kay Heisdari joined us for dinner last night and Ken and I are making an obligatory trip to Cabelas today.