Day 30
Sam and I rode out of Morris heading due east on highway 28. He wanted to show me the hills just east of town and some pretty country that he likes to ride. Then we headed south on highway 1 which was more of a back road. We rejoined highway 9 just south of Hancock and then rode on down to Benson where we stopped in the, very nice, city park. Sam had to head back to Morris, so I rode on into town and stopped at a cafe for a second breakfast. It looked, felt, and sounded, like a pub in Ireland!

I stopped a little later at a cafe in Kerhoven for lunch and in Willmar, a big town, for desert. After Willmar I rode east on highway 12. Highway 12 feeds into the Twin Cities and the closer I got, the heavier the traffic got. Fortunately highway 12 has a good shoulder over the entire stretch I rode, so riding was not unsafe, just a little noisy. I stopped for supper at a Subway in Litchfield and decided to ride on to Hutchinson which another 11 miles east on highway 12 followed by 15 miles heading south on highway 15. When I turned south on highway 15, I began to worry that I might have made a mistake.

The day was July 3rd and the part of Minnesota I was in is a big recreational area. Highway 15 had a lot of recreational vehicles and cars towing boats headed south. The shoulder wasn't as good as on highway 12, but that wasn't what was bothering me. I was afraid I was going to get to Hutchinson and find that all the motels were full. It was 7:30 when I entered Hutchinson and, as I cruised through this rather large town, it started raining lightly. I didn't see any motels until I was nearly out of town on the other side at about 8PM. I did see a bicyle mounted policeman - if he hadn't of been on the opposite side a divided road with a lot of traffic when I saw him, I would have asked him where I could spend the night. Then I saw a single motel. It was a Motel 8, a bit more expensive than I normally look for, but I wasn't about to be choosy. They had a nice room, a nice staff, and a decent continental breakfast. 125 miles.

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