{"id":297,"date":"2015-05-26T09:40:05","date_gmt":"2015-05-26T13:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.7hannahs.net\/wordpress\/?p=297"},"modified":"2016-08-13T23:32:16","modified_gmt":"2016-08-14T03:32:16","slug":"day-24-erskine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.7hannahs.net\/wordpress\/blog\/2015\/05\/26\/day-24-erskine\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 24 – Erskine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 24 – Erskine, Minnesota (Monday, May 25, 2015)<\/p>\n

Memorial Day!<\/p>\n

As I was eating my lunch in Grand Forks I met a nice group of people who were curious about my bike. It turns out they just came back from a memorial day service. One of the men with a perpetual smile stopped by as he was leaving and gave me an American flag. He talked about his brother, a gym teacher who lived in Perth, Australia, and biked 10 miles to work everyday. He continued “he’s been in a lot of accidents”,”his helmet has saved him”,”he was hit by a car mirror and had to get his hip replaced”. \u00a0He introduced himself as Winston, proceeded to spontaneously pray for me then left. \u00a0I get that he thought cycling was dangerous but he was a selfless pastor’s soul. \u00a0What would become of the likes of him if there was no Christianity?<\/p>\n

I gave my flag to Ralph the Trek (as you can see in the picture). \u00a0I was told he was made in America like Lance Armstrong<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For the record; the wind was mostly in my favour today until I approached Mentor. \u00a0\u200e<\/p>\n

When I arrived at Erskine I met a gentleman who was struggling to embed memorial plaques in a brick sidewalk. He looked old enough to have retired so I assume he was a volunteer. I enquired about places to stay. \u00a0 \u00a0He enquired about my trip. I told him that I was crossing the country going east. He said “then you’ve gone through North Dakota?” with a smile, slightly derisively. I asked what’s wrong with North Dakota and he said “it’s flat.” \u00a0I guess he figured I would have noticed the difference between Minnesota and North Dakota but I didn’t. I told him I had seen “flat” since Calgary and hadn’t noticed a big difference in North Dakota. He claimed that Minnesota has forests and told me I should see them in the 200 miles or so. \u00a0I guess there will always be rivalries.<\/p>\n

As a result of the conversation I was satisfied that Erskine was as good a town as any to settle for the evening.<\/p>\n

I had an early supper at a pub where everyone was singing along with the jukebox including the bar tender. I did my laundry and met a elderly lady preoccupied in her cleaning. \u00a0 We chatted a bit, she complained about people leaving their clothes in the dryer, and I told her I was travelling to St. John’s. I think she got it confused with some place with a similar name in Minnesota. \u00a0 She ended up helping me push the right buttons on the dryer as I attempted to explain Canadian geography.<\/p>\n

I set up my tent at the campground by the lake aptly named “Lakeside Campground”.<\/p>\n