The alarm went off at 7 AM. Having gone to sleep at a relatively reasonable hour, and having only ridden about 300 miles the previous day, I didn't feel too bad. I showered and got dressed, then headed down to the lobby for some breakfast.
I grabbed some food, which included a young boy giving me an overly-detailed and unnecessary explanation about how to use the waffle maker, then sat down at a table to map out my day's route while I ate breakfast. I planned out what looked like a scenic 350 mile route that would take me up near Bemidji before heading back south to Willmar.
In checking the weather forecast, it said there was a 60% chance of rain. At this time everything was dry outside. However, in looking at the weather radar, it looked like a big cell was about to hit St. Cloud. I decided to head back up to my room wait a few minutes to see if it would amount to anything before I got on the motorcycle.
Sure enough, about 10 minutes later it started to rain. It wasn't a monsoon, but it was a steady rain. I've ridden in the rain before, and while I can't say I enjoy it, I tolerate it. On this particular day, however, I didn't have to be to Wilmar until the evening. Riding straight west from St. Cloud to Wilmar is only about 60 miles. The additional mileage I had planned were purely for entertainment purposes. I decided to sit and wait out the rain, and I modified my planned route to a shorter 275 mile version.
As it turned out, this was a very slow moving weather system. The radar didn't look like the storm was that large, but it hovered over St. Cloud for quite a while. I as I waited for the rain to pass I took a nap. When I woke up it was still raining. I watched some TV and wasted time on the internet.
Checkout time at the hotel was noon, which now was fast approaching. It was still raining. I realized I was going to have to leave the hotel whether it was raining or not. My options were to go somewhere and sit to continue to wait out the rain, or just go through it and hope that I could ride out of the system to an area where it is not raining. I modified my route yet again and this time reduced it to a 210 mile route.
I loaded up the bike and put on my rain gear, the sight of which appeared to be entertaining to some of the other guests who were leaving the hotel at the same time. My first order of business was to gas up the bike because I had neglected to do that the previous evening. I rode east through the city and found a Kwik Trip. My love for Kwik Trips (not to be confused with the "QT" Quick Trips which are a different chain) is well known via my other trip blogs. I've decided there's no better place to get gas.
I topped off the tank. One thing about riding in the rain is it tends to make me need the restroom, so I went inside and did so. After that I decided I needed to indulge in a Kwik Trip old fashioned chocolate doughnut that they make right there on premises. I was still full from the big hotel breakfast so even though it was now noon-thirty (is that a word?) I didn't need any lunch. A doughnut snack would suffice.
Back on the road I headed north on highway 10. This was a divided 4 lane highway that was fairly busy. About ten miles north of St. Cloud I escaped the weather cell, the rain stopped and the sun came out. In fact, it started to get warm rather quickly. At the highway 371 intersection I took a right and headed towards the town of Brainerd. I figured once I was off the 4 lane road I would find a convenient spot to pull over and remove my rain gear. Well, I never did find a convenient spot.
I had never been to Brainerd before, but it is well known to race fans for the Brainerd International Raceway. They have 2.5 mile and 3.1 mile road racing tracks, and the fastest 1/4 mile drag strip in the world. I decided that in lieu of any other destination, I would find the raceway and pull over there to take off my rain gear.
I found the entrance to the track about seven miles north of the town. I pulled in and removed my rain gear, which in the sun was now quite warm. I walked around and stretched a bit, and snapped some photos.
I could hear drag races happening in the distance, which was pretty cool. I couldn't enter the track without paying a fee, and for the short amount of time I would have been able to stay I decided it wasn't worth it. So after a couple minutes of getting the blood flow back in my lower extremities, I got back on the bike and headed west on highway 210.
210 was a nice road. It was relatively quiet, and in good shape. About 25 miles from Brainerd it merged with highway 10 for a few miles, then at the town of Staples it branched south.
Near the town of Hewitt, highway 210 intersected with 71. I turned south on 71 which would take me all the way to Willmar. By this point it was mid afternoon and I was starting to get kind of hungry. Looking at the map it appeared that the town of Long Prairie was ahead of me, and that looked like it might have some food. As I was passing through the town of Browerville, which is about 7 miles north of Long Prairie, I saw a Casey's convenience store. I decided to stop a little early. Casey's usually has slices of pizza available.
I got off the motorcycle and went in. After using the restroom, I walked over to the pizza area. There were a few slices from which to choose. As I was reaching for one, a lady walked up to me and slapped my hand. Startled by this action, I pulled my arm away from the pizza and looked at her. She was a younger lady, probably in her 20s. She looked at me and said, "I've always wanted to do that." Then without saying anything else she walked out of the store. I was dumbfounded. I have no idea what that was about, and it really threw me mentally for a few minutes trying to make sense of it.
I grabbed the slice of pizza, this time without a hand slapping, and also grabbed a big cookie. After paying for them I stepped outside and ate my snack, which in my hunger tasted very good. Crazy hand slapping lady was nowhere to be seen. The sun was beating down and the day had really gotten warm. Even though I hadn't ridden very far on this abbreviated day, I was ready to get to my hotel and relax before the baseball game.
I got back on the bike and continued south. About 20 miles down the road a big cold front moved in and the temp dropped at least 15 degrees. There were threatening clouds ahead of me. As I reached the town of Sauk Centre, I decided to pull over and put on my rain gear. Even if it didn't rain, the extra layer would help with warmth. As a coincidence, where I stopped had a baseball diamond.
Before I got out of Sauk Center it started to sprinkle. The further south I went the harder it rained. In the town of Belgrade there was a parade crossing the road and the police had the highway blocked off. I was trying to dig my camera out to take some pictures of the parade in the rain, when suddenly the cop waved me through a break between floats. I rode on towards Wilmar. Only 25 miles to go.
The last 10 miles, the rain was coming down hard to the point where it was really difficult to see. The rain was blowing in behind my glasses and making my eyes sting. I finally reached my exit and hoped that the hotel wasn't far down the street. Luckily it turned out to be right there at the end of the off ramp.
I went in and stood in the lobby while a customer ahead of me was checking in. I was drenched and had water dripping off of me, but I figured there was no point in removing my rain gear until I got the bike unloaded. After what seemed an eternity, it was finally my turn to check in. I got my room key and was told the parking lot was around back.
I rode around the building, parked and unloaded everything. I tried to carry it all in one trip as I didn't want to come back out in the rain.
Once in the room I took off my wet clothes and hung everything up the best I could. I unsuccessfully tried to dry out my gloves with the hair dryer. At this point it was 5 PM and I figured the 7 PM baseball game was going to get called off because of the rain.
I called my wife to check in. I then unsuccessfully tried to find any information on the internet about the baseball game getting canceled. Originally I figured I would do like the previous night and head out to find some food about 5:45, then head to the game at 7. Assuming the game was canceled, I instead opted to take a nap until 6:30.
When I woke up, it had stopped raining but everything was still very, very wet outside. I figured my plan was to drive by the ball field and confirm my suspicions that the game was canceled, then go and find something to eat. I put on the closest thing I had to dry clothes, and headed back out to the bike.
Upon reaching the ball field, I was surprised to see that the parking lot was full. I parked and walked to the gate. Sure enough, the game was still going to happen but they were going to delay the start about 45 minutes. I thought about going to find some food and then returning, but decided to just get some food at the park.
As I was walking into the park they had a "wall of fame" showing all of the former Willmar players who had been drafted into the minor leagues. Their star player was Hunter Dozier, who currently had made it all the way to the big leagues and was playing for Kansas City. My brother is a big Royals fan, so I snapped this picture and sent it to him.
I found my seat, which as luck would have it was up under a covered portion of the bleachers so it was dry. There were some other people sitting in the area and they apologized to me for squatting in the wrong seats, but theirs were further down and soaking wet. I told them I really didn't care and they should feel free to sit there for the whole game if they wanted.
Once my seat was located I went down to the concession stand to find something to eat. As I was standing in line deciding, a guy came up to me and gave me a coupon for a free hot dog, bag of chips and can of soda. He said he had an extra coupon and didn't need it. So that was two nights in a row that I got free food from the ball field!
The game started, as predicted, at 7:45. Willmar's stadium is not as fancy and the production isn't as involved as it was in St. Cloud. However, being that Willmar's population is much less than St. Cloud's it makes sense. Also the crowd wasn't as large, but I could assume some of that might be due to the weather.
I watched the game and chatted with people around me. The lady behind me was a host to a couple of the players. She and her husband do this every year where they take in two players for the summer season. She told me all about the league, where all of the players are required to be college students. They get picked up by teams throughout the Northwoods League with the hope that additional playing time will get them noticed by pro scouts.
The hotdog and chips didn't carry me too far, so after the 3rd inning I went and got more food.
On thing the Willmar Stingers have over the St. Cloud Rox is better mascots. The Willmar mascots were greatly involved in entertaining the crowd throughout the game. Although I don't know why the mascots are a couple of bears instead of bees.
The Willmar Stingers easily defeated the Duluth Huskies 9-1. By the time the game was over, it was late. It was also a bit chilly. I walked back to the bike and rode over to a Kwik Trip near my hotel to top off the tank. I also grabbed another chocolate cake doughnut to eat at the hotel as a snack.
I arrived back at the hotel just in time to see that the Minnesota Twins had won their game against the Cleveland Indians 4-1. I watched the post-game show while I debated the plans for the next day.
I had two options I was trying to decide between. The first would be to ride to Mankato on Sunday and catch another baseball game, then ride home afterwards. The other option was to just ride straight home and not catch a 3rd baseball game. I couldn't decide. I finally made the decision to just sleep on it and went to bed.
During the night the A/C unit stopped working and it got really warm in the room.
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This page last updated on 10/15/2019