The Weekend Workup
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Day 1 - Ken's Journal - April 27, 2001 - North Bend to
Ellensburg, Washington
We left Randy's this morning at 6:30. Got to the top of Snoqualmie Pass at 10:30.
The hill up the pass, that I have been dreading since the beginning, was every
bit as hard as I had expected. In fact, I had to walk the last two miles up.
Randy & Joe walked with me but they could have ridden up easily. We made 3 mph
walking and I was down to 4 mph riding and had to give up. Dianna drove up to
meet us with the boys. We had lunch in Easton. Things went so well the rest of
the day we didn't stop in Cle Elum but went on to Ellensburg for a total of 81
miles. We had a great tail wind and cruised - got up to 42 mph on one hill. The
photos are from Easton (where we had lunch) and up on the top of the pass. We
were able to talk to two folks about the trip today. Saw beautiful country at a
much slower speed. No animals, just a lot of junk. Joe found a working Nokia
cell phone. Randy called on it and the lady is coming to his office next week to
pick it up. We are very glad that we weren't going the other way into the
headwind. God bless.-Ken
Pictures
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Day 2 - Ken's Journal - April 28, 2001 - Ellensburg to Prosser,
Washington
Randy, Joe & I took advantage of the minimal continental breakfast at the Super
8 and headed out of Ellensburg at 6:45. We headed south on Canyon Road, leaving
the Interstate and following the Yakima River. A short distance into the canyon
I started to say something to Randy and he said not to bother him just then as
he was listening to the sounds. It was amazing to have lost the truck and car
sounds of the freeway and to be hearing and seeing magpies, kingfishers, blue
herons, ducks, geese, red-wing blackbirds, rabbits, jumping fish, and, we even
saw a herd of Rocky Mt. bighorn sheep on the canyon wall across the river. There
are a couple of killer hills in the canyon and I had to walk my bikeE twice
about 1 mile each time. We took two photos in the canyon and then rejoined the
interstate just before Yakima. We were going so well that we decided to just go
on past Yakima that had been our scheduled Saturday night stop. I will have to
call the Union Gospel Mission Monday and thank Rick for offering us a bed and
meals. We did manage to make a lunch stop at Miner's for a burger. If you have
never had a Big Miner you need to put it on your "to do" list. They are
wonderful. We headed on into the wind to Union Gap again following the Yakima
River. We quickly made some left curves and luckily got the wind around behind.
Praise the Lord again! We started making great time and stopped at the Darigold
cheese factory in Sunnyside for one of their fantastic ice cream cones. The wind
got even stronger and we were really cruisin'. There was a lot of dust flying
and some other "stuff" too as we passed several cattle feed lots. Finally got to
Prosser and learned that this was the weekend of the yearly Barrel Wine Tasting
Festival. NO ROOMS IN THE INNS. We finally found a bed at a place built back in
the 50's but it wasn't bad, and we didn't care much after an 83-mile day.
Decided not to go out for dinner and just dug into our Pop Tarts and other
biking goodies. We tried to bring ourselves to do our logs but just couldn't and
watched the remainder of the Seattle Mariner game and died. Enough for one day.
God bless. -Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 3 - Ken's Journal - April 29, 2001 - Prosser to Richland,
Washington
Knowing that we had only 30 miles left to Richland to complete this early 200-mile
leg we slept in until 6. I swear the boys cut at least five cords of wood last
night as I got a total of about two hours of sleep for their snoring. I will
surely be packing earplugs for the remainder of this adventure. We showered, did
our morning Bible study, had more Pop Tarts and bars and headed out of Prosser.
Showed the guys the huge sinkhole that I hit near the motel last night. We
headed up the tough Prosser hill on the Interstate I-82 and were again happy
that the stout wind was coming from the right side and not head-on. Dianna (Randy's
wife) and the boys passed us on the hill and waited for us at the top to visit a
while. She was headed to Richland to take Randy home this evening and to visit
her dad who is having triple by-pass surgery this week in Spokane. Later, on the
Yakitat hill Terry Myers (friends Ken & Mary's son) and his family stopped to
visit a bit as they headed to Richland to visit with Ken & Mary. It was very
windy and cold and we were shivering in a hurry. We made Benton City in great
time and waved at son Ralph's home across the Yakima River. The Benton City hill
is a tough one and we labored on up slowly. Near the top we were overtaken by
Ken Myers who had come out to meet us after hearing where we were from his son.
We are spending more time visiting on the road than biking but it sure is great
fun to have folks caring and interested in what we're doing while we are
praising God's Awesome Grace in our lives. Just a short distance later we saw
Ralph and Mary heading home from Sunday church. They saw us and honked and waved.
In a little bit they had turned around and caught up to us so we stood and
visited some more. Ralph's appetite has now been thoroughly wetted and he is
talking about taking off a few days and riding the first four days of the next
trip leg with us. As we will be starting again on May 17, that means he could
join us through the 20th and on out into Montana. That would be great. We
finally got to the long, three-mile hill down into Richland on the Columbia and
Yakima Rivers confluence and home. It felt really good to be reaching a goal
again. We checked in with wife Pat, took the attached photo, congratulated each
other, had some of Pat's chilidogs and unpacked. I will have to ride back to
North Bend with Randy & Dianna so I can bring back David's van. It will be a
long day even if it was only a 35-mile biking day. We are thankful for this
three-day adventure and the learning experience of it. We will certainly use
what we learned as we prepare for the takeoff for the May 17 to June 14 leg from
Richland, Wa., to Kaukauna, Wi. We'll be talking to you later. God bless. -Ken,
Randy & Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Ken's Journal - April 30, 2001 - at home
Since both Randy and Joe had to get back on their jobs first thing this morning
it fell to me to ride back to North Bend with Randy and family last evening to
pick up the van Joe and I had driven over to transport our bikes on Thursday. We
got to North Bend late and tired. It rained hard all night and again I didn't
get much sleep. Got up at 6 and visited with Dianna a bit before heading home.
Randy had already left for Genie Ind. It was still raining hard as I headed back
up over Snoqualmie Pass and it turned to snow about three miles from the top.
Lost the snow and was back to rain again at about CleElum. The wind was even
stronger than it had been over the weekend and quite a bit colder. I am
constantly impressed at how Our God watches over us. This time He had given us
just the perfect fair weather hole to slip through in an otherwise lousy weekend.
We had had some sun, fair temperatures, just a few drops of rain and mostly a
tail wind. I wasn't able to enjoy any scenery this morning as all I saw was
wiper blades trying to dispense the spray from speeding cars and semis. Stopped
in Ellensburg for breakfast and then turned back down through the Yakima Canyon
to avoid the Interstate traffic for a few miles. There were a few tough-guy fly
fishermen braving the elements. For those of you who may not know, there is a
protected stretch of the Yakima River in the canyon that is considered to be one
of the 10 best trout streams in the nation. It is single barbless hook catch and
release fly fishing and they just keep multiplying and getting larger. Arrived
home in Richland with it still raining about noon and returned David's van. Was
happy to get back on the computer and catch up with the many encouraging notes
from you, our friends, family and interested well-wishers. Now it's on to
refining what we learned on this 200-mile shakedown leg to get ready for May 17
when we head out on the remaining 1811 miles to Kaukauna, Wis., and the KHS 50th
High School Reunion Celebration. We will continue these daily "meetings" on the
evening of May 17. God bless.-Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
The Main Event
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Day 4 - Ken's Journal - May 17, 2001 - Richland to Ritzville,
Washington
We got up at 4:30 and were ready for the other bikers, friends and wellwishers.
The attached photo of our sendoff group includes Pat, Dianna, Mary, Jennifer,
Justin, Linda, Ken & Mary Myers, Doc & Cory Clark, Joe's friend Candy, and the
bikers Ken, Randy, Ralph and Joe. The ex-T-C Herald, now freelance photographer,
Gary Cook, was also there. We did the group photos, had a group prayer and
headed out at 6:20. Going out of Richland Gary was waiting for us on GWWay to
take photos as we passed by. Lots of folks honked at us as we went to Pasco. It
was a cool morning at 42 degrees and there was just a bit of a breeze. There was
a lot of early morning worker traffic in the Tri-Cities and we felt like we were
in rush hour traffic and needed to be very careful. We stopped at the King City
truck stop once we got on Hwy. 395 and were met there by Justin who had followed
us out of town. Ken & Mary Myers passed us several times checking on us and
honking and waving. It really gives a comfortable feeling to know that people
care. Thank you all. As we went out 395 we were met by Ted Johnson, a biking and
bowling friend from Pasco. Ted rode with us until about 10 when his wife picked
him up with the car. The boys and I enjoyed his company and conversation. About
9:30 Pat and Linda caught up with us with the Grandma's cookies Christine, had
sent to us through a local florist just like you send flowers. I had never heard
of that before. We stood by the roadside and enjoyed a couple of them. Pat &
Linda took a few more pictures and then we were on our own for a long day's
riding again. We packed the rest of the cookies in Joe's bag (probably a mistake).
Thanks Chris for the wonderfully gracious and thoughtful gift. Our freelance
photographer friend stayed with us until 11. Gary kept driving ahead and showing
up at the strangest places waiting with his camera at the ready. We sure hope
that he can sell some of his shots for all the dedication he displayed. We just
continued to put on miles all day as we saw rabbits, coyote pups, hawks, curlew,
meadowlarks and marmots. We picked up a nice tail wind along the way and really
didn't have as bad a day as we could have but we quickly realized that we were
in for a long day. After 88 miles we arrived in "downtown" Ritzville and found a
motel room. Everyone was sweaty, tired, body worn and very happy to settle down
for a cleanup, hot meal and good night's rest. We did manage to get the four
bikes into our room but it was a bit crowded. We are determined to make it work
just the same. We are off the bikes and in out of the cool breeze for the night.
Pictures
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Day 5 - Ken's Journal - May 18, 2001 - Ritzville to East
Spokane, Washington
This is being written from the far east side of Spokane instead of Opportunity
which is just two miles farther on the Interstate. Will explain about it later.
We had a nice continental breakfast at our Ritzville motel and got on the road
about 7:10. It was just the most beautiful morning anyone has even experienced.
We had a tail wind again and made pretty good time. I tried to stop every five
miles for a water, snack and circulation break. Between trucks and other traffic
we again heard all the native birds. We even saw a hawk hover and then dive to
pick up a field mouse. He made his catch and flew off with it. We took more
photos today: the green fields of eastern Wash., some of us as a group in a
number of spots, and Ralph even got one of us biking on by him with the computer
digital camera. We didn't know if this would work or not but it passed the test.
He even went on ahead and got one of us approaching from an overpass along the
way. We saw a very neat sign at the Sprague Lake rest stop about the railroad
history of the area and have tried to include it here if the text is readable.
It was not a very tough day for hills and after our long day yesterday we were
glad about that. We will certainly get on plenty of hills tomorrow. Got my first
ticket ever on a bike today. We came down the "big" hill into Spokane without
noticing a sign at the Geiger Field exit that you cannot ride the Interstate
between there and Broadway out on the east side. We were pulled over at the
bottom of the hill and all four of us received $71 violation tickets. It was a
great ride down the hill but not really worth that kind of a price. We then had
to get off on the side streets and work our way through town to where we could
get back on legally. We got to "enjoy" Spokane's potholes and ongoing street
repairs as we even had to ride a mile of gravel on work in progress. Anyway,
after all that we decided that we had had enough and just grabbed a Super 8
motel room here at our finally found freeway onramp. We have just heard of a
river bike trail that runs from close to here all the way to Coeur 'de Alene so
I think we will jump on that in the morning and get away from the trucks again
for a while. A neat, great thing happened when we finally found this onramp in
that we met a fellow there who was obviously down on his luck. He was a biker
and was very interested in my very different and special bikeE. We talked about
it and I told him of our stated purpose for this to become a witnessing trip to
the amazing grace of our awesome God. He started to cry at that and we learned
that he was a Christian who had been having a hard time in his life recently and
had given up on God. We pulled out our little New Testament and went through a
few scriptures and Joe and I had a prayer with him. He thanked us and joined in
the prayer that God would be real in his life again. There were many other neat
things in this day but that was the biggie. We recorded another 70 miles in
great weather without any mechanical problems and with the tail wind that most
of you have been praying for us. Thank you.
Pictures
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Day 6 - Ken's Journal - May 19, 2001 - East Spokane to Kellog,
Idaho
With a note from Randy at bottom in blue.
From Kellogg, Idaho - We enjoyed a Burger King dinner and a good night's sleep
last night in Dishman in the eastern Spokane area. Got up at 5, did some bike
maintenance, enjoyed another Super 8 continental breakfast and were back on
Interstate 90 heading east at 7:15. It was a cool 45, cloudy and with a stiff
breeze from the southeast. It changed around to the southwest later and so we
enjoyed another day with a very nice tailwind. We were into Idaho in an hour and
stopped to take a group photo at their sign. Again, it was a beautiful day and
we were having a grand time enjoying the mountain fir trees. We stopped at the
visitor center and visited. Talked quite a while to the two fellas who were
manning the rest area coffee/cookie bar for their Spirit Lake 1st Lutheran
Church. Nice guys like all the people we've met everywhere so far. Anyone who is
pessimistic enough to believe that most folks are out to get you or are looking
for some kind of trouble need to get out like this and meet the real people. We
were very impressed, as always, with the beauty of Coeur d'Alene lake. It was
extra special today with the wind-whipped white caps covering it. Immediately
thereafter we found ourselves on the long climb up to Fourth of July pass. I
believe it is at a 3062 elevation but checking today's photos will prove that
out. We did stop at the top and take a victory photo. It was nasty up on top and
even began to share a little mountain spring storm rain with us. We put on our
jackets and took off on the speedy and enjoyable downhill side. It always makes
the hard climbs seem almost worth it all. I must admit that I did have to walk
the last two miles up. It was a tough climb and I just didn't have enough gears
and legs. The boys were graceful and joined me in my morning jaunt. We made a
lunch stop at the bottom and broke out the Pop Tarts, nuts, apples and sunflower
seeds. We lost the spring storm and even saw short spurts of sun again. The day
wore on into one lower hill after another. We rode next to little creeks and
crossed the Coeur d'Alene river. We decided to make a stop at the old mission at
Cataldo. This is said to be the oldest building in the state of Idaho. There is
a photo of it in today's group. I have to make a promise to wife Pat here to
stop there with her next time we go through Idaho. We have been just driving on
past there for many years now and saying that we would stop another time as we
sped on to our Wisconsin and Minnesota family vacation visits. Next time you
really will see it Pat. Then it was only 10 more mostly downhill miles to this
day's Kellogg, Idaho destination. With our tailwind, we "flew" along pretty well.
We found another Super 8 and, after sharing
our story with the desk clerk/manager, I am typing today's journal to you from a
very nice, upgraded suite at the regular room fee. He was very impressed with
what we are doing and that we are doing with all of you as a family. We have a
living room, bedroom, and kitchen across from the indoor pool and jacuzzi. The
boys and I plan to visit a pizza place across the street, hit the pool and the
queen size beds. So, that should do it for today. God bless.-Ken Lettau
Randy's Note
To the Genie Moosewerks Team-
Hello all! I am sitting in a Super8 in Kellogg, Idaho and am missing my work
terribly (NOT). I hope Chris has not missed any fly balls recently. I, am sore
in several muscles and some places that are not. Hope production orders have
increased and all are well. See you, ah.....I forgot when.
Pictures
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Day 7 - Ken's Journal - May 20, 2001 - Kellog to St. Regis,
Montana
Journal for 5/20/01 - Yes this report is being written from St. Regis, Montana,
our scheduled goal for today. Son Ralph (Randy's twin) left us today after
cycling with us since we left my Richland, Wash., home Thursday morning. His
wife, Mary, drove over and picked him up, as he needed to be back at work Monday
morning. Weather wise it has been another absolutely fantastic day. We have
enjoyed a northwestern spring sunny day with beautiful cumulus clouds floating
all day long. Our climb up Lookout Pass started very shortly after leaving
Kellogg, Idaho, about 7:10 this morning. It was a long, slow, drawn-out climb.
We (I) did OK until we hit Mullen, Idaho, and then the climb got serious as we
saw the sign informing us we were now 12 miles from the summit. I worked very
hard for the next six miles and then had to give up and walk. The boys
alternately walked with me or rode. They were in their lowest gears and even
with their younger, much stronger legs, they admitted it was extreme. The last
two miles I got to where I changed my goals and was down to counting 100 steps
pushing my BikeE before I would stop for a quick breather. I have to confess
that it wasn't the fault of the BikeE with its 27 gears but just my old legs not
being up to the task. We did finally get to the 4680-foot high summit and took a
big lunch and rest beak. A Yakima man stopped his motorhome next to us and we
visited about the Mariners latest games and "back home". We were now in Montana
as the state line is also at Lookout Pass and were now in the Mountain Time Zone
as well. We were still 33 miles from St. Regis so we were all very to happy to
hit the downside of the pass. Randy took the lead since he has been having to
keep his downhill speed under 33 mph with the special bicycle trailer he's
pulling. By the way, Randy heartily endorses that trailer as a nice long
distance piece of bike equipment. To our dismay we also discovered that Montana
has cut its "rumble strips" across the full eight-foot shoulder width. We are
really hoping to find that this condition does not exist statewide. We made a
stop at a rest stop about six miles down the grade. Those six miles just flew by.
And the rest of the miles for the day did also as we followed the St. Regis
River flowing down. It is one of the most beautiful mountain streams you could
ever want to see and makes me think I would like to come this way again with my
fishing rod and without any kind of an end date or schedule. I saw hundreds of
holes where I'm sure lunker rainbow trout are waiting for me. We almost had a
problem as Joe's back tire developed what he described as a bumping feel. Upon
inspection we discovered that the tire bead had popped out for a length of about
four inches. Why it didn't let the inner tube squeeze through and cause a
blowout we did not know except that the "bubble of prayer" you folks have been
praying around us protected us again. We let out some of the air and were able
to work the bead back on, air it up and were on the way down the hill again in
less than 15 minutes. It's been a long, tough day. We are glad to be here at the
St. Regis Super 8 where there is a hot tub that I am headed for very soon. Talk
at you tomorrow. God bless.-Ken Lettau
Pictures
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Day 8 - Ken's Journal - May 21, 2001 - St. Regis to Missoula,
Montana
Journal 4 5/21/01�from Missoula, MT. We got up to a very cold St. Regis Montana
morning. This super 8 does not have a breakfast bar so we took care of that at a
nearby restaurant with some of the best hotcakes I have ever enjoyed. On the
walk over, Randy was able to scrape significant frost off a car's back window,
and whenever we saw a field sprinkler for the next couple of hours; there was
ice on the grass all around the area. We hit the interstate again about 7:20 a.m.
and saw our first live deer very soon after. She ran along our side of the fence
with us for a while, and then she made an easy graceful jump, before she
disappeared into the thick pines. We were soon riding along the Clark Fork
River and saw to our dismay that the water was flowing toward us instead of with
us. That gave us a long, slow climb, but we managed to keep chugging along at 8-10
miles per hour. We also had some great downhill runs as we climbed several
times away from the river and then dropped down to it again. I guess I'm
repeating myself but there are 1000's of good-looking trout holes out there. It
was another absolutely beautiful morning. As I said, it started below freezing
but in just a couple of hours, the clear Montana "big sky country" gave us a
bright warm sun and we were very comfortable. We labored on and crossed the
Clark Fork 10 times in the course of this day's miles. About noon we came to a
scenic lookout, a couple miles west of Alberton, Mt, and found a couple of local
wood carvers setup and working there. We had a bite, and then while Randy and
Joe hiked down to a gorgeous Clark river rapids area, I visited with the two
carvers. They told me they live in a cabin about two miles away without running
water or electricity. They subsist on their carving and on an occasional stint
at construction. I explained what we were doing, as I have been doing with desk
and store clerks, waitresses and just about everybody we cross paths with.
Folks always seem surprised that an old guy would be doing this. It usually
leads to comments like, "How good you look for your age," and that is just the
opening I love, it allows me to bring the "Amazing Grace of our Awesome God"
into a conversation and I am always surprised at how it develops on that theme.
In this case, I was asked about my vices, like did I smoke, drink and so forth.
One of the fellows said he sure liked to be able to quit smoking but hadn't been
able to do it yet, he said "I guess I am just not making good use of all the
spiritual power I have available to me." We had a few other words and I told him
that I might see him when Pat and I come through on our way back to Washington,
as they display their carvings there daily in the tourist season. Randy and I
saw two more deer about mid-afternoon as we were walking up a short section of a
steep hill, to give our leg muscles a little different workout. The deer were
laying low in some tall grass under a tree at the edge of a meadow. They just
watched us walk by, and when we changed our pattern and got back on our bikes,
they got up and ran off across the meadow. It got quite warm out on the
interstate today and the boys got down to shorts, t-shirts and lots of sunscreen.
I had the first flat tire we have experienced as I ran over an eight-penny box
nail. The front wheel must have popped it up and the rear wheel hit it point
first. It pierced the tread and came out the side, right at the rim, so I had
two holes at the same time. It is really great to be doing this with help like
Randy and Joe. They popped that thing off and repaired it so that we were
happily cycling on down the rode in less than a half hour. They don't let me
help much and I am getting to where I kind of enjoy the royal old guy treatment.
This part of the world is just coming into the spring season and we are seeing
beautiful fields of mountain lupine, wild daisies and the whole profusion of
blooming trees and shrubs. We "rolled" on into Missoula after another 69 miles
on the interstate and are quite ready to hit the hot tub and scout out a nearby
place for dinner. Talk at you tomorrow. God Bless. Ken, Randy and Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 9 - Ken's Journal - May 22, 2001 - Missoula to Deer Lodge,
Montana
Journal for 5/22/01 from Deer Lodge, Mt
It has been a very long day and, to be honest about it, I'd rather be in hot tub
than writing this. But we had a really great day, saw lots of beautiful scenery
and some animal life and I will try to make it interesting for you, so here goes.
We left Missoula, elevation 3,210 feet, at 7:00 a.m. and arrived here at our
scheduled Deer Lodge stop, elevation 4531 ft., at 4:30 p.m. after an 85-mile day
on the bikes. Shortly after leaving Missoula Randy and I saw a very large white
tail doe laying down, just about 10 feet from us as we rode by. She thought she
was hiding and when we went passed, she got up and ran. Joe missed this one, as
he passed by her in front of us. Then we got to the Clark Fork River again (we
crossed it six more times today) and immediately saw a bald eagle hunting fish
along the river. It flew upstream a little way and then turned and came back
towards us, so we got a very good look at it. About an hour later, I saw
another bald eagle very close and just across the interstate to my left. The
river had shifted sides and this one was hunting fish too. It flew along with
me for several minutes and I got a good look at it from all angles. Randy and
Joe had dropped behind as they were picking up a lost license plate. They have
picked up nine license plates so far and Randy is thinking about going into
collecting. He has plates from WA, OR, ID, MT, CO and Iowa. He also has truck
or trailer plates from three of these same states. Again, to repeat yesterday,
God gave us a beautiful, clear mountain day. It got very warm out on the road
as the temperature worked up into the 80's from the mid-40 start in Missoula.
The boys got down to t-shirts, shorts and sunscreen again. I find that for me,
the long sleeves and legs of my lightweight polypropylene thermals, are very
tolerable with the nice tailwind we have been enjoying, and then I don't have to
worry about the sunburn thing at all. We stopped at the Bearmouth rest stop for
lunch and took a picture there of a historical plaque including some information
on the Clark Fork River history. A short time later, we came across a scene,
off toward the south, at the continental divide that we just couldn't resist,
and so you will see another shot of 10,635 foot Mount Howe near Anaconda way off
in the distance. We were stopping every five miles to stretch our legs and get
some water into our systems. Later in the afternoon, I began to be annoyed with
the sore feeling I was experiencing in the soles of my feet, from pushing on the
bike pedals for so long. We saw almost as many road kill, deer carcasses, along
the way as we had seen live ones for the 85 miles we had covered. Randy even
saw a recently killed, very large beaver. Nearby there was a beaver hut and we
were hoping that the auto or truck hadn't killed a mother with young waiting for
her to come home. I should tell you that so far, we have not even once felt
threatened by anyone or anything. That is, of course, overlooking the Spokane
area Washington Trooper who wrote us up last Friday for riding on the interstate
bicycle restricted section, coming down into Spokane. Well, it's been a very
long day on the bikes and I really don't want to sit here much longer after
having sat on that seat for 9 1/2 hours. I'm on my way to have a hot shower and
a huge dinner. Talk at you tomorrow. God Bless. Ken, Randy and Joe Lettau.
Pictures
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Day 10 - Ken's Journal - May 23, 2001 - Deer Lodge to Butte,
Montana
Journal for Wednesday, 5/23/01 -
I am writing this note about mid-afternoon from a nice Super 8 Motel in Butte,
Mt (elevation 5780 feet). The boys and I got here right at noon after a "short"
40-mile ride from Deer Lodge. We got started about 7:30 after taking a group
photo in front of the old Montana state prison. I have heard it said that no one
ever escaped alive from that place and now I know why. The wall tops have two-foot
wide walkways and there would be no way of escaping the watchful eyes of the
patrolling guards. It was another amazingly beautiful clear blue-sky Montana day.
Randy and Joe just came back from a nearby A&W with a big root beer for me and
they say that it is now hot outside. We have been riding the old highway, which
has now become a frontage road since before Deer Lodge late yesterday afternoon.
The interstate eastbound lanes are being resurfaced and we decided to avoid
being out there with all the traffic on a two-way, two lane road. We got past
the construction at Warm Springs, Mt., and went back on the interstate. Had a
great day as far as seeing wildlife was concerned. We saw a coyote out hunting.
It was a beautiful well-fed animal with a rich looking coat and long fluffy tail.
We were able to see it for a long time as it ran across a field from us. At a
water and stretch stop a couple miles farther on Randy went down to a creek that
had been piped under the interstate. He hollered at me but by the time I got
there the large brown trout he had surprised was gone. He sure was excited . . .
Randy, I mean. And not too far down the road we discovered we were being watched
by what we at first thought was another coyote. At closer inspection we noticed
that this one was larger, grayer in color, and had an attitude. It did not look
like it felt threatened or was going to run away as most animals had. It was a
wolf. He just stood his ground and watched us cycle by. Nobody made any
suggestions about stopping to take pictures or watch him for a while. I need to
change gears here. We just got a call from the front desk that there was a
package just delivered for Ken. I went down to find a six-pound package of
delicious Bear Paw cookies sent by loving, and loved, daughter, Christine, way
off in Memphis, Tennessee. How do I know that they are delicious? These huge
four-ounce cookies are made not far away at Livingston, Mt., and smell and taste
like they just came out of the oven. Thanks for the "energy bars" Chris but we
will be carrying a little extra weight for the next couple days as we eat them
up. Back to the tale of the day: After the wolf we had not gone more than a
quarter of a mile and we saw a lone antelope. Their colors are so brilliant and
clean looking. It is really neat to watch them lope along. We saw this one for a
long time as the terrain has now changed to more like that of the Yakima, Wash.,
area closer to home. The trees are sparse and the hills are more spring green
grass. In just a few weeks it will be very dry and brown here. We also saw a
mother hawk sitting on her nest atop a pole and prairie dogs. Joe should be
thinking about going into entomology. He finds moths, cockroaches and various
bugs that Randy and I hardly ever see. And he can spot them at 15 miles an hour
as he passes by over them. I have been busy the last hour composing a response
letter to the Spokane court for the traffic infraction tickets we were issued
there last Friday. Please pray with us that these should only have been a
warning and will be dropped. Well, we must get on with our small laundry, send
this note and photos and get off to dinner (after those huge cookies?). Talk at
you tomorrow. God bless.-Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
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Day 11 - Ken's Journal - May 24, 2001 - Butte to Belgrade,
Montana
Journal for Thursday, 5/24/01 -
Hey, the Super 8 we were at last night in Butte had a Computer Center for guest
use and so we were able to see our web site. We are amazed at the great job that
son, Matt, and his wife, Heidi, are doing with it in the following of us. And we
are amazed at all the interest you folks are showing in this witnessing
adventure. Thank you all again. By the way, for those of you going that way in
the future, the Butte Super 8 has a very nice continental breakfast. Speaking of
continental, we left Butte at 7 and immediately found ourselves winding up the
hill to the Continental Divide (Homestead Pass) at an elevation of 6375 feet. I
had to walk my loaded BikeE up the last two miles. We took a couple of photos
along the way. We immediately dropped down into a wide valley and worked our way
across its rolling hills. It was a fast and fun drop off the Divide as the
trucks are limited to 25 miles per hour on the downgrade and we were hitting 35
to 40. Just before starting the next climb, Randy got our second flat tire. His
rear bike tire had been pierced by a piece of small, strong wire that looked
like it might have broken off from one of the many pieces of steel reinforced
tires we are constantly finding along the road. We got it fixed in record time
and began a climb that was actually longer and just as tough as the Divide climb.
I had to walk my bike six miles on this one and the boys willingly joined me as
we neared the summit at about 5400 feet. This pass is not named on the Montana
map that we have. I was walking almost at the top, really pooped and looking
forward to calling a long lunch and water break when a car slowed up next to me
and Bob and Sharon Zinsli wound down their window and asked me if I had any Grey
Poupon. What a line! Good one, guys. They were on their way to Bob's 50th high
school reunion in the Beach, ND, area and had figured about where they would
intercept us from the website itinerary. They came armed with an ice chest that
had a huge apple pie, vegetables, cold pop, ice water and ice. Bob and Sharon
are fishing buddies and church friends from my Richland, Wa., hometown. We
enjoyed their sumptuous spread and their company for about 45 minutes before
they left us feeling much better physically and mentally. We will never be able
to put in words to you two how much that touch of thoughtful generosity meant at
just that right moment. (We have a photo of the Zinslis in today's collection.)
We went racing down the other side of that difficult climb into more rolling
country that is losing trees by the mile. We saw many more road kill deer and
other varmints including raccoon. We did scare up three beautiful antelope in
the mid-afternoon and saw buzzards circling twice. The boys found two more
license plates and Randy is now hauling 13 of them for his newly begun
collection. After a very difficult 73 miles in the hot sun, we did arrive at our
scheduled Belgrade, Mt., destination tired. As I tried to check into the Super 8
here, the clerk informed me that someone had called in, and paid for, a
reservation for us. Whoever you are, you should know that she honored your
request to remain anonymous and would not tell us. You should also know though
that we will find you out eventually and then we will thank you even more
profusely for your kindness than I am able to do here. This place does have a
hot tub and a pool, so guess where we are off to. Talk at you tomorrow. God
bless. -Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau.
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Day 12 - Ken's Journal - May 25, 2001 - Belgrade to Big Timber,
Montana
Journal for Friday, 5/25/01�from Big Timber, Montana. We started out from
Belgrade, Mt., at 7:17 this morning with what has become a customary breakfast,
the Super 8 continental fare. We immediately ran into some very unpleasant
riding in the form of six miles of shoulder re-pavement. You know how the top
two inches of old blacktop gets ground off and then the two inches of new is
laid in its place? Well the removal had been done on these six miles and we got
to ride on the very rough surface preparation. You probably have ridden on some
of that in your car and were a little annoyed. Well, it is more than annoying on
a bicycle. It is downright teeth rattling. (If Lee Eckroth is reading this, I
can tell you, Lee, that your BikeE rear suspension and shock has been thoroughly
tested. And, as I watched Randy and Joe without such a softener, I felt sorry
for them.) At this point we were also riding into a pretty stout headwind. We
shortly found ourselves climbing up a beautiful, long canyon to Bozeman Pass
that tops out as about 5800 feet. I was pleased that I only walked a short
distance on that climb and was able to get back on the bike and finish the ride
to the top where Randy and Joe were waiting, of course. We took a couple
pictures there on top of the Absaroka Range. Then it was a screaming 12-mile
ride on down to the Yellowstone River that we followed the rest of the day. The
shoulder was clean and smooth and I left the boys far behind as I wound my 27-speed
BikeE up to 40 miles per hour for quite a stretch. You best be hanging on tight
at that speed. Randy and I were able to see a herd of 12-15 antelope running
away from us up the grassy side of a steep hill. There was a lone buck with this
harem of doe. They are such pretty animals. I have always enjoyed spotting
antelope on our cross-country trips. The only other live animal we saw, outside
of the usual birds, was a prairie dog that ran across right in front of Joe and
I. He almost became road kill like the porcupine, raccoon, and skunks that we
saw today. The wind had changed direction by now and become a pretty nice tail
wind. There were black clouds in the distance most of the afternoon but we did
get under one of them around two o'clock. It was hot and the short, cold rain
felt good but we noticed a funny thing. Hot as it was out on the road, this rain
was very cold and Randy and I both thought that it was the next thing to icy
slush. Weird! Randy has been fighting a cold the last two days and has been
drinking more because of it so he ran out of water this afternoon, Joe to the
rescue. The amount he carries is unbelievable so he gave Randy one of his
bottles and that took care of that. Nice guy, Joe! We had tried to get a Super 8
room reserved from Belgrade last evening because of the Memorial weekend and
were told that there was nothing to be had as Big Timber was having a rodeo this
weekend. The gal at the Super 8 last night in Belgrade did some detective work
on our behalf and did find us a cabin at a nearby campground. She even arranged
with this Big Timber Super 8 (where we are now after today's 70 mile hard ride)
to loan us linens and blankets, as the cabins don't have those thing for campers.
Well, of course, we stopped here to pick up the linens. A fellow was just then
complaining about his previously reserved accommodations and actually turned
them down while I was at the desk. Guess who God gave his room to, and, you will
have a hard time believing this part: he was Kevin Soldat, a 1971 graduate of
Richland's then Columbia High School. He was a big sports figure back then. We
had a great time visiting there in the lobby before he left. I hope Kevin finds
the room he wants before nightfall. We like his room here. This desk clerk has
somehow (with God's intervention, I'm sure) managed to secure a room for us at
the Laurel, Mt., Super 8 for tomorrow night even though the other desk clerk
said she had tried to do that for someone earlier and been told there was
nothing available. Well, the boys have crashed and are into a deep, before
dinner nap, while I'm typing this, so I think I'll quit for today. Oh, here's
another good one for you. We have one stop on our schedule that has no Super 8,
or any other chain motel available. We have been concerned about it but I told
the boys that I had put that in God's hands and he would find a room for us in
little Custer, Mt., even if it were in the local church. Well, the desk clerk
here copied me the whole two pages of the Custer phone book and we found a Mom
and Pop type local motel listed. I have just called them and made reservations
for our Sunday night stop there. This is the unbelievable part: the name of the
owner lady I talked to is Louise Church. Talk at you tomorrow. God bless. -Ken,
Randy & Joe Lettau
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Day 13 - Ken's Journal - May 26, 2001 - Big Timber to Laurel,
Montana
Journal for Saturday, 5/26/01 from Laurel, Mt.- After I sent yesterday's journal
from Big Timber there was a pretty heavy rain. It stopped long enough for us to
walk to a nearby place for a great sit-down dinner. It rained more during the
night but we awoke to perfectly clear Montana Big Sky. It was a very comfortable
45 degrees as we got back on the interstate at 7:05. With the wind at our back
and following the Yellowstone River downstream, we made good time and knocked
off 40 miles by lunchtime. We soon saw an immature bald eagle with a trout in
its claws. It flew to a telephone pole and proceeded to enjoy its fresh catch.
This was not the only bald eagle we saw today. Right at the famous Prairie Dog
Town, we saw four more. There were three mature ones and a young one flying
along with its mother. We figured that the Prairie Dog Town was the eagle magnet
as they could surely pick up easy meals there. Young prairie dogs were scurrying
all around the place. This is said to be the largest colony of prairie dogs in
North America. I don't know what kind of census numbers exist but it is bunches
for sure. It's quite a sight and you should be on the lookout for it if you ever
come this way. It's located about midway between Big Timber and Laurel. We
stopped in a rest area more toward Big Timber to check our water and possibly
refill our bottles with good mountain water. There had just been a hatch of
moths and there were many varieties spreading their wings to dry on the sunny
brick walls. One was extremely beautiful in a pinkish color with blue spots.
Randy took a photo of that one with his own camera so if you should want to see
it you will have to work that out with him later. Shortly after that, we picked
up more of the rough shoulder that is being ground and prepared for repaving.
That slowed us up some as we fought its vibrations for the next 30+ miles. We
saw something that not many people ever get a chance to see and that was two
wild turkeys that were feeding near the interstate fence at a point where we
were able to be looking down on them. What a great sight and, even though I have
heard and read that wild turkeys are about the most wary of wildlife, these were
not very concerned about us at all. We are over our last pass but still there
are some pretty good climbs in the foothill mountains and we found several of
them. Then there are the hills where the interstate goes over a hill for a more
direct route instead of following the river around and then meets it again on
the other side. I guess I'm saying that there are still lots of hills. The day
wore on and the sun got hot and it was easy to see that it was wearing on us all.
Randy's fever broke this morning and his cough lessened so he was feeling a lot
better but obviously was not up to full strength. However, team trooper that he
is, he forged on and we completed the 68 miles to the Laurel Super 8 where he
and Joe are now enjoying the pool and hot tub. Oh, yes, we also saw live marmot
and some raccoons, skunk and deer that were not so live. Our last 15 miles of
the day were into a pretty stiff headwind but we thought that we had done OK as
we checked in here at just a couple minutes after three. Randy and Joe just came
back and reminded me to tell you that we had to fix two more flats this morning.
Both their back tires were down so we repaired them before we left our room so
that we could use the water basin to submerge the tubes to be sure. That's a lot
easier than finding a leak on the open road. Randy's was from the same source as
yesterday and we just didn't see it. Joe's was from a very small, sharp stone
that had actually pierced the tire and then the tube. He had been troubled by it
yesterday afternoon and had to pump it occasionally. We are really getting
proficient with the tire repair but do they all have to be on the rear with the
chain and all? We are continuing to tell our story and remind folks that we have
an awesome and amazing God at motels, restaurants and rest stops. We have yet to
come across someone with a negative "attitude". Well, it is time for me to get
cleaned up also and relax a bit, so . . . talk at you tomorrow. God bless.-Ken,
Randy & Joe Lettau
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Day 14 - Ken's Journal - May 27, 2001 - Laurel to Custer,
Montana
Journal Sunday 5/27/01�from Custer, Mt. - Last evening it was very windy in
Laurel with flags standing straight out. But this morning it was calm and
beautiful and we knocked off 20 miles easily in our first two hours. We ran
into seventeen more miles of shoulder under construction and the wind changed
around to a headwind that we fought all the rest of the day. It was a situation
in which we found ourselves having to pedal downhill. Even though we are out of
the Rockies we are still having plenty of hills to climb. It is a real test of
determination sometimes. We are now on I -94 since just west of Billings so
there isn't nearly as much traffic, as a great deal of it stays with I- 90 to
Chicago and farther east. So when we picked up the bad shoulder again, Randy
and I made up for it a little by riding the edge of the car lane. I kept close
watch in my mirrors, but all the cars and trucks moved over for us and we did
not feel threatened. We did get a later start this morning as Randy had to re-fix
his rear tire tube, another small leak in the same area as twice before. He
gave up on it and put in the new tube he had along, and we had no more trouble
with it all day. We saw a single antelope in two different places, a number of
bald eagles and of course hawks. Randy and Joe found more license plates for
Randy's new collection, the new plates were from ND, WY and one from the U.S.
Government. Randy wishes he could package them up and mail them home as they
are getting heavy, but there is nothing open until Tuesday, as you know. We
decided to take a break at Pompey's Pillar about 20 miles east of Billings. The
road into this historical landmark is one and a half miles of gravel but it was
well worth it. This is a huge rock outcropping and it can be seen for miles as
it stands beside the Yellowstone River. Lewis and Clark stayed at this sight
for a time and William Clark, along with many others through the years, carved
his name in the sandstone rock in 1807. It is still visible there today. While
there, we met a young lady who lives in the area and she told us that as a child
her family picnicked there on the river many times and she had also carved her
name on Pompey's Pillar. Now I wish that I had taken her photo for you, so you
could see, in person, someone who has their name right up there with Clark, but
I didn't have my head screwed on right, at that particular time. We were very
happy to get a refill of their refrigerator water and rest a while. Got to talk
to several folks there and overall I think we had told our story and passed out
cards for our trips, to more folks today than any other day so far. I cannot
figure out, except for God's hand being in it, why this adventure is generating
so much genuine interest. It is truly amazing to observe it happening. Well,
we finally made it to Custer, MT., where I am typing this to you from a room in
a very old 60's type trailer that has been converted into a motel room. Randy
and Joe have an adjoining room. Everything is the old dark wood paneling with
the olive green shag carpet. You get the picture. We are very glad to have it
though, since there is literally no other place to stay here. The owner Louise
Church is a very nice Christian Lady with an ill husband. She has been very
helpful and is trying to fix me up with a phone connection so I can transmit
this day's journal to Matt later. Don't know about the connections way out here.
If you ever get to Custer, MT, at a mealtime, be sure to look up the Junction
City Saloon and Restaurant, and have Larry fix you up a Roast Pork Sandwich or a
Double Hamburger and Onion Rings. The food is more than enough and the down-home,
middle America company, just can't be surpassed anywhere. Well, we have another
even longer day (over 90 miles) than our 75 miles today, so I better cut this
off and get cleaned up for some rest. Talk at you tomorrow. God Bless. Ken,
Randy and Joe Lettau.
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Day 15 - Ken's Journal - May 28, 2001 - Custer to Miles City,
Montana
Journal for Monday, 5/28/01 - This was truly a Memorial Day, that is a day to
commit to memory. Knowing that this was our longest scheduled day, and that we
were committed to it, we got up at 4 and left Custer, Mt., at 5:20. It was just
light enough to see well and the little town was fully asleep. We saw nothing
moving, not even a dog. We immediately encountered the headwinds that have been
tormenting us for the third day. They were just annoying for the first couple
hours but got stronger throughout the day and reached 35-40 miles per hour by
this afternoon. How bad were they? They were so bad that pedaling very hard we
could only make 10-15 miles per hour on some pretty steep downhills. Hills that
we normally would have made 30-35 miles per hour were now a labored crawl. We
covered 93 quite miserable miles today. It was a 14 1/2 hour day, one hour of
which was spent at the Dairy Queen in Forsyth, Mt. that was a very good stop for
us as it not only filled three very hungry, large holes, but it also buoyed us
mentally and spiritually. Why? While we were there a charter busload of seniors
made their lunch stop there also. They were from many locations around the
country but the Lewis & Clark historical tour had originated in Missouri
someplace. When they found out what we were about they all wanted cards so they
could follow our trip and we three spent a good half hour answering questions
about the bikes and the trip and getting our pictures taken. It was a fantastic
experience. There were even two ladies there from Madison, WI, where Pat and I
will be visiting a relative around June 20. I also visited with several locals
there and explained what we were about. We even were stopped on the road later
by one of them as we met again at the edge of town. To reiterate, we have seen
almost all the eastern Montana hills and valleys that we want for just now. We
are really praying to lose that headwind tomorrow. We observed considerable
wildlife today including five herds of antelope consisting of 3-9 animals each,
hawks, blue heron, three deer and a large 3 1/2 foot bull snake. Here's another
example of the great and helpful folks out here in America's heartland. The lady
here at the Miles City Super 8, where we just checked in, just called us to let
us know that we could use her car to go to the fast food & restaurant part of
town as it is about 3/4 mile away and too far for us to have to walk after such
a day. We had talked to Jean on checking in and so, of course, she knows that we
are on bicycles. Now isn't that something? Yes, this surely has been a special
Memorial Day for us. Well, must get this ready to send to Matt for your
enjoyment, so . . . talk at you tomorrow. God bless, Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
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Day 16 - Ken's Journal - May 29, 2001 - Miles City to Glendive,
Montana
Journal for Tuesday, 5/29/01-I am sitting here quite damp as I type this, but
more on this later. We left Miles City, Mt., this morning at 7:15 and were back
on the interstate fighting with the same strong wind as yesterday, only they
have shifted slightly to the southwest so we did pick up a little assist and
made pretty good time most of the morning. There is a lot of construction going
on in Montana as they have such a short season to do it in and we found bunches
of it again today. About noon we found ourselves at Dillon but decided that we
didn't want to "to do lunch" yet so we decided to go the additional 9+ miles to
Fallon. Then the rain began. It was a cold, hard, wind-driven rain that felt
like it had some solids in it. We got out some of our rain gear but got drenched
anyway as it rained that way for the next 1 1/2 hours. Spring mountain showers
are like that. Montanans really need the rain and we appreciate that, but it
sure made that part of our day miserable. We found a really neat old bar and
restaurant in Fallon. They even let us bring our wet bikes into a hallway. We
drank three pots of coffee warming up and enjoyed the meat loaf special. The
owners were local and we talked about the 135-population town and how it was
before the interstate changed all of our ways of life. She said that before
there had been three lumber yards, four banks and lots of other businesses. Now
it looked like the bar/restaurant and the post office were the main attractions.
We left there about 2:30 and found to our liking that the rain shower had moved
on and we could do our remaining 25 miles drying off. Wrong! About the last 10
miles into Glendive we caught up with the same storm and got wet again. We
surely do pray that it passes by overnight. Now we can truly say that we have
had the complete experience. We saw 26 or 27 antelope today, mostly in small
groups (herds) just grazing in the meadows adjacent to the interstate. One lone
buck was on our side of the fence and when we came by he ran along it and tried
to force his way through several times. He could not as the bottom two feet have
a kind of chicken wire on it. He hit it pretty hard and would bounce off. He
finally ran back behind us and we lost him. We couldn't figure out why he just
didn't jump it, as we were sure he could have done easily. We also saw more
hawks, herons, and the common variety of other small birds. We are constantly
amazed at how low all the creeks and rivers are. I have been coming this way to
visit Wisconsin family for many years and have never seen the Yellowstone, and
others, this low even in August. We covered just over 80 miles today and without
having to fight a head wind again it really wasn't that bad. The rain we could
have done without but it will surely help to make the trip that much more
unforgettable. Well, we are in the dry now at the very friendly Glendive Super 8
and are about to get cleaned up and settle in for the evening. Oh, an
interesting thing happened. The desk clerk had a request for us to return a call
to a local reporter. She had heard of us from a relative we talked to yesterday
at the Forsyth Dairy Queen. We are to meet her at the next-door diner at 8 for
an interview. Interesting. More on that later. God bless.-Ken, Randy & Joe
Lettau
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Day 17 - Ken's Journal - May 30, 2001 - Glendive, Mt. to
Belfield, North Dakota
Journal for Wednesday, 5/30/01-We were back on the road again at 7:30 Glendive,
Mt., time. But first I must tell you about a couple of things that happened
after I sent yesterday's journal. Joe called a bike shop from the Super 8 in
Glendive and the owner brought several sizes of spokes to the motel to make sure
he had Joe's need covered. They checked them out and Joe bought 10 of the
correct size. The fella charged us 50 cents apiece and wouldn't take a tip or
anything extra for his trouble. Again, it is incredible American heartland folks
and we have met no other kind. The local reporter I mentioned: well, Cindy
joined us at the next door restaurant and interviewed us while we were eating
supper and sat with us for quite a while after. She had been a librarian and a
Mennonite missionary to Africa before coming back to her hometown and becoming a
local reporter. Just another proof of the great people God is sending into our
path. OK, we left Glendive at 7:30 to almost no wind and as fine a summer
morning as anybody could dream up. Just a few floating cumulus clouds in a robin's
egg blue sky. As they say in the commercial, it just doesn't get any better than
this. We made good time, stopped for quite a few pictures (some very pretty, and
interesting ones Randy pulled off today), and arrived here in Belfield, N.D., 80
miles later at 5:45. Yes, we are now out of Montana after about 10 days. The
country is still so many miles but there seems to be a difference when the road
signs have a different name on them. We grabbed a couple of goodies at a truck
stop this noon to go along with our own supplies. Things like the ice cream bar
we haven't seen for a while and the mix your own pop that we all enjoy. We saw
35-40 antelope again today, mostly in small herds of 8-12. We also saw 4 buffalo
roaming in Teddy Roosevelt National Park and Randy's photos for the day include
one of two of those buffalo. There is also a photo of the Badlands at Painted
Canyon in western North Dakota. Belfield, again, where we are this night is just
east of North Dakota's small portion of the badlands that grow larger as they go
down into South Dakota and on toward Mt. Rushmore. We met, and talked to people
at all our stops today explaining our trip, its Christian witnessing purpose,
and again have nothing to report but more positive results. This has truly been
one of the best days so far travel, weather and every other wise. I will leave
you there. Please check Randy's camera work. Talk at you tomorrow. God bless.-Ken,
Randy & Joe Lettau.
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Day 18 - Ken's Journal - May 31, 2001 - Belfield to Glen Ullin,
North Dakota
Journal for Thursday, 5/31/01 from Glen Ullin, North Dakota-We had an e-mail
from a Dickinson, N.D., reporter last evening and tried to get together with him
but were only able to leave a message on his machine with our directions. Randy
had to repair Joe's rear tire again this morning before we were able to get away
from Belfield, N.D., at 7:45. The wind was blowing our way and continued to do
so all day. I would say that it was pretty constant out of the northwest at 15
mph with gusts to 30. We made fantastic time and had covered 45 miles by noon
with our regular 5-mile breaks and photo stops. This could easily have been our
easiest day as we covered 71 miles and were here in Glen Ullin about 3:30. More
on that later. Just after we passed Dickinson we placed another call by Joe's
cell phone to the Dickinson reporter and were again just able to leave a message
on his machine telling him where we were. A few miles later a car passed us and
pulled over. Of course, it was he. His name is Jim Spainhower and he is a
Christian fellow. He interviewed us for about an hour and took a couple of
photos for a feature article he plans to do for the Dickinson daily paper and to
put on the AP newswire. He is a fascinating guy and I could fill a page giving
you his testimony to the amazing grace of our Lord and Jesus Christ. But that
will have to wait for another time. We stopped at the little off-ramp place of
Richardton to pick up a sandwich at the Cenex store for lunch and then headed
east another time. We hadn't gone far when Joe's rear tire went flat again. We
were really "flying" and when Randy and I discovered that he hadn't hollered,
and wasn't with us, we were a quarter mile down the road. We waited for him a
while and then Randy unhooked his trailer and rode back to see what was going on.
While he was gone a white Buick slowed on the other side of the interstate and a
lady wound down her window to yell over to me to see if I had any Grey Poupon.
Well, if you remember the incident I reported way back when we were climbing
Bozeman Pass, you will know, as I did, that this lady had to have some
connection to Bob and Sharon Zinsli. Yes, she is his sister, Lee, and she lives
in Dickinson and had brought out some fried chicken, candy bars and Gatorade
drinks for us. She had missed us while we were getting the sandwich and was just
returning from Glen Ullin where we were headed, as she knew. We visited in the
interstate median for over an hour. During that time her husband and grandson
showed up and joined in the fun meeting. Randy fixed Joe's tube again and put on
the extra tire he had been carrying. We had just a great time there out in the
middle of nowhere with some of the finest people you could ever meet anywhere. I
keep saying that the average American is a caring, giving, concerned individual
and these folks just proved it again. The TV show picture of all the crime and
other types of bad, taking people is not the true picture of the America folks
that we are seeing. Oh, and we found out who had turned on the Dickinson
reporter to us as well. Thanks Lee for your tremendous consideration. You
brightened a long, windy, North Dakota day for us. We are getting out of
antelope country as is proven by the fact that we only saw two today. They were
different though. These were the first of all that we have seen that were on the
north, or left, side of the interstate. Weird. We got to our planned Glen Ullin
stop after covering 71 miles to find that the only motel has been closed. Were
told of a bed and breakfast available so we are spending the night in the Red
Rock Inn B&B. The owner, Margaret Swift, is a very nice lady who is going out of
her way to be a great hostess. She is also a very good artist and teaches at the
local school and gives private lessons. Anyone who knows me knows how I feel
about older cars. Well, there is a really nice 1936 Ford 5-window coupe out in
front of this place that really has me envious. A fellow from Washington came
here and talked the old owner into selling it and now it is on a trailer about
to head to the Seattle area. Margaret is going to drive us downtown so we can
get a dinner so I need to get this finished. Talk at you tomorrow. God bless.-Ken,
Randy & Joe Lettau Pictures
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Day 19 - Ken's Journal - June 1, 2001 - Glen Ullin to Sterling,
North Dakota
Journal for 6/1/01 from Sterling, ND - I need to begin today's report by bringing
you up to speed on a couple of things still from yesterday. First, when we got
to Glen Ullin, we found out that the only motel there had closed. We met a
little girl and boy on the street in front of the old community center, and they
informed us of the nice bed and breakfast place where we did spend the night.
We don't know their names, but they are another example of the great folks of
heartland America and we thank them both. Second, we learned last evening that
son Jeff had been interviewed for the first five minutes of the Ken Hamblin show
(you know the Black Avenger national talk radio show). Ken was interested in
knowing about our trip, it's purpose and other items. We didn't hear the
interview, of course, but knowing Jeff's capabilities I'm certain that the
subject was amply and interestingly covered. Thanks Jeff. We are also very
certain that it is the reason why we had so many people honk and wave at us as
we wheeled on today. I mean lots of them. Now for today's happenings. We
found that I had a leak in my front tire from a small, sharp stone, but the
sealing goop I had, did it's job and sealed it, so I was able to run all day.
We rode the short distance to Ronda's Caf� in beautiful downtown Glen Ullin for
breakfast. While it was being prepared, we did our little daily bread bible
study and enjoyed some pretty fine wakeup coffee. Check out Rhonda's whenever
you get close to Glen Ullin and you will have cooking second only to your mom's
at home. It was a cold morning with the temperature in the low 40s and with the
wind chill; it must have been close to freezing. We went only about a mile
before the boys put on their long sleeves and leggings. The three miles to the
interstate was against a strong left side wind. We saw a group of five wild
turkeys feeding in a farmer's field. That was cool. When we did get to the
interstate, the wind was from behind for about the first 20 miles, and then
changed to the north again. We spent the rest of the day leaning our bikes hard
to the left, and probably won't be able to stand plumb until the morning again.
According to all the locals we've talked to, this cold windy front has come down
from Canada unexpectedly. It even included some rain clouds and we did get
showered on twice throughout the day. That felt even colder. None of us took
off our jackets even once, on this day's 80-mile ride. About noontime a
familiar white Buick passed us, honked, and pulled over. It was Lee Emil, our
fried chicken, candy and Gatorade angel of yesterday from Dickinson. She was
taking a friend to Bismark on business and they stopped to check on us and bring
us a thermos of hot chocolate. We sat in the back seat of that nice Park Avenue,
drinking hot chocolate, visiting with more nice people and wanting to stay there
out of the weather. Thanks again Lee, for the hot chocolate, and for the
reminder that there are many people praying for us. It helped greatly as we got
back on the bikes and headed on down the road. We soon got into the central
time zone just west of Bismark. It made me think that by the time we get to our
destination, we will have almost traversed three complete time zones, or almost
1/8 of the distance around the world. That's scary. The boys saw two road-kill
turtles, and I guess that means there are some country ponds nearby. Randy
found two more plates, one from MN and an, almost new one, from Utah. We have
decided now that ND has both the best and the worst interstate shoulders in the
country, and we have ridden many miles of both today. Funny thing, there were
quite a few miles of the good around the capitol. We found this little old
country motel here in Sterling, ND at 5:15 and have settled in for the evening.
The nearest restaurant is almost a mile away, so we shall see what there is to
eat in the next-door bar and grill. It is still very windy but the sky is
clearing, and we are hoping for a more calm morning. Talk at you tomorrow. God
Bless. Ken, Randy and Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 20 - Ken's Journal - June 2, 2001 - Sterling to Jamestown,
North Dakota
Journal for 6/2/01 from Jamestown, North Dakota-I must first tell you that Joe
picked up the cough and fever yesterday afternoon that Randy had been fighting a
week ago. He even left early when we went for pizza last evening, went back to
the motel, showered and went to bed. If Joe walks away from food you know for
sure that something is wrong. He had a good night's rest and the fever was gone
this morning. We knew the worst was past when he ordered a huge omelet for
breakfast and was looking for more. While waiting for our breakfast we did our
little Daily Bread Bible study. After breakfast we took time to oil our chains,
as we have been trying to do every other day and then we were back on the road
out of little Sterling, North Dakota, at 7:15. Joe was back in the lead on the
hills and that was all the convincing Randy and I needed that he was back to his
regular self. The morning was very cold for June 2 and we found ourselves
feeling good with leggings and jackets. We enjoyed a bit of a tail wind most of
the morning and then, as it has been doing here in North Dakota, the wind
changed to the northeast and became more of a headwind in the afternoon. Lunch
was along the roadside as we finished the almost full extra 13" pizza from last
night. Joe has been having a rear-brake pad dragging, so Randy spent a little
time truing his wheel (making it round again). While doing that Randy discovered
that Joe had two more broken spokes on that wheel. We have the replacements now,
but they are both on the sprocket side and hard to get to. Randy will give it a
go tonight after laundry and dinner, otherwise Joe will just have to keep a
sharp eye on bumps, rumble strips and such, and baby his back wheel through
another day. There was not a lot of wildlife visible to us today although we are
coming into more standing water and a lot of waterfowl and bird life. Randy did
see one deer though and we saw lots of duck species and our first white pelicans.
They are a pretty big bird and look so uniform and majestic. We had numerous
enthusiastic honkers/wavers today and we thought it must still be a carryover
from son Jeff's interview Thursday on the Ken Hamblin/Black Avenger radio talk
show. It is somehow uplifting to have folks honk and wave when you are
struggling along out in the middle of the North Dakota openness. We did stop for
two photos today and you can check them out and see if you agree with us that
Randy has a pretty good artistic eye. Oh, by the way, the boys also found four
more license plates for Randy's new collection today. They were from New York,
North Dakota, Minnesota and one was a University of Washington special alumni
plate. That is also Randy's alma mater so he feels very attached to that one. We
covered 77 miles and arrived here at the Jamestown, North Dakota Super 8 at 4:30.
It almost feels like we are back home after having been in other than Super 8
beds for the last two nights. We hope to get our laundry caught up this evening
and Randy has begun to work on Joe's rear wheel as I wrote this. We are all
tired and road dirty so I will call it good here. Talk at you tomorrow. God
bless.-Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 21 - Ken's Journal - June 3, 2001 - Jamestown to Casselton,
North Dakota
Journal for 6/3/01�from Casselton, ND. Since sending yesterday's journal, I
need to tell you about an interesting occurrence with the Super 8 desk clerk
last evening. His name is Matt and he studying to be a pastor. We exchanged
email addresses and I intend to follow up on this contact. Matt attends a small
non-denominational church in a near by town and is taking some classes that lend
themselves to the pastorate/music field, but he really doesn't have a clear view
for a good school to achieve his goal. He commented that he shied away from
denominations, as most were the offshoot results of church problems. We talked
about my church, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and how and why it got
started. We talked about the Alliance colleges and of course Matt had no
knowledge of any of this. He is very interested in a good school, so I
suggested he check into Simpson College in Redding, CA on its website and
promised to send him some follow up information. We were both pretty excited as
he told me that this was his last night on that desk clerk job, and he felt like
our stopping there was answered prayer for him.
Now for today�It was a very good looking morning if a little cool. We noted
that the Perkins restaurant flag was almost straight out with a breeze coming
from the East. That equals a headwind for us. We had that headwind all day and
it made it another difficult day, both physically and mentally. Joe didn't seem
to mind a lot, but Randy and I could surely have done without it. I think it
slowed us up about two hours overall. We left Jamestown at 7:15, covered 74
miles and arrived here in Casselton, ND at 5:00 p.m.. Some of the tough day I
felt today, can be attributed to my picking up the tight-chested cough that we
have been passing to each other. I am the last, so perhaps now we will be done
with it. We are now into very green farm country with some field s being tilled
and this with the beautiful cloudy skies makes for very enjoyable scenery. We
didn't get a lot of time to enjoy the scenery though, as most of our day was
occupied with dodging holes and rocks on all the bad shoulders and much under
construction. Through the Valley City area, we were forced to ride the shoulder
against the on coming traffic for about 12 miles as the shoulder on our side
disappeared with the temporary construction setup. It was safe enough as we had
a full 8-foot lane, but it is quite different getting the back wash air from
passing trucks from the other direction. We were happy to be done with it when
we were able to move back over to the right side. Randy saw one deer this
morning and we encountered many geese, ducks and other waterfowl all day, as we
are passing more and more farm ponds and small lakes. We saw the usual road
kill animals, but today that included one of the largest turtles any of us had
seen. We thought that surely that driver must have gotten quite a jolt out of
that road bump. Casselton is just a truck stop about 18 miles west of Fargo and
the motel (the only one) is another of those we have found right out of the 50's.
The room is large and well kept but it definitely is not the Holiday Inn Express
that Joe was hoping for. The local caf� is closed on Sunday, so we will be
eating sandwiches and whatever else we can find at the gas station. The caf�
opens at 6 am and we will be ready for that. We are looking forward to cleaning
up and getting a good night's sleep. Please pray with us for a tailwind or at
least a calm morning tomorrow. Talk at you tomorrow evening, hopefully in
Minnesota. God Bless Ken, Randy and Joe Lettau.
Pictures
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Day 22 - Ken's Journal - June 4, 2001 - Cassleton, North Dakota
to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
Journal for Monday, 6/4/01 from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota-We had breakfast this
morning in the Casselton, North Dakota, Conoco cafe and got back on I-94 at 7:35.
Son Matt's weather forecast of last evening was right on and we still had our
easterly headwind. This is the fourth consecutive day now for that condition. It
was only coming at us about 15 miles per hour for the first couple hours but
then increased to from 25-30 for the remainder of the day. We drafted each other
a lot and I know that if Randy and Joe hadn't spent much of the day "breaking
the wind" for me, it surely would have been a much more difficult day. We are
all tired as it is and this was one of our lesser days at 67 miles. The cough
that I have been fighting for the last two days felt much better today and that
was a great help. We left I-94 just before West Fargo and went through that and
Fargo on U.S. Highway 10 that we will be following now all the way to Appleton,
Wisconsin, about 10 miles from our Kaukauna destination. We took a short break
at a service station in West Fargo and gave our cards to, and talked with, two
young black men working there. They were very interested in our trip and one of
them, Ben, talked about the Christian aspect of it too. Leaving North Dakota and
going into Minnesota is almost imperceptible as the state line is also the city
limits for Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. Randy did notice the
smallish entering Minnesota sign and it is included in today's photos. Highway
10 is good riding as it also has full-width shoulders that are not in bad shape
and along with losing the interstate we have also lost the rumble strips. We
stopped at a Big K-mart at the west edge of Moorehead and picked up another tire
of the boys size and a tube for my 20" rear wheel just in case. Unbelievably Joe
passed by all the goodies there. The entire day was under beautiful blue sky
with lots of gorgeous cumulus clouds but, almost immediately on getting into
Minnesota, we found a noticeable change in the countryside. We picked up some
rolling hills again along with some pine trees and the number of ponds and small
lakes is rapidly increasing. That, of course, automatically means an increase in
ducks and all other manner of birds. Some lakes sure look like productive
fishing holes too. About mid-afternoon we saw another biker in the distance
ahead of us and then he disappeared. A short time later we discovered he had
pulled off for a break. We stopped and talked to him thinking that he may be the
Seattle biker we have been hearing about who is out there a couple days in front
of us. He was not but we visited with Jim for a while and we both exchanged
information. He was from Fargo and was just out for the day and his first ride
of the year. Jim said he'd sure take a look at our website when he got back home
this evening. Except for the seemingly constant wind it was a very fine day with
no mechanical problems. I am very pleased with my BikeE as I report that the
only problem I have found in the 1585 miles so far is that the computer quit for
a couple of hours after being subjected to the 1 1/2 hour driving downpour back
in Montana. Believe it or not we are still enjoying the cookies daughter Chris
had delivered to us also back in Montana and I think there are three or four
more in my back bag. We again encountered the usual road kill: deer, skunks
and turtles but today we also saw a fox that we thought was a bit unusual. Randy
didn't add any more license plates to his collection today but I forgot to tell
you yesterday that he had picked up another South Dakota, North Dakota and three
Minnesota ones. We pulled into this very nice Super 8 here in Detroit Lakes,
Minnesota, at 4:45 very thankful for newer, more comfortable accommodations than
we had last night and we are all heading for a long hot shower immediately and
then to the next door Perkins restaurant for dinner. Talk at you tomorrow. God
bless.-Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 23 - Ken's Journal - June 5, 2001 - Detroit Lakes to Motley,
Minnesota
Journal for Tuesday, 6/5/01 from Motley, MN...We left Detroit Lakes, MN at 7:15
this morning. Our easterly headwind was still there waiting for us and made
this the fifth day in a row of hard pedaling into it. In Randy's terminology,
this was a typical Seattle day. It was socked in and misty. It was also
unusually cold. I stopped a short way down the road and dug out my sweatshirt
and wore it all day over my long sleeve polypropylene thermals along with my
rain top over that. Randy and Joe also put on rain tops. For the first time on
this ride, Randy put on gloves. I even stopped mid-morning, and dug out my
special "seal skinz" socks. This is the first time I have used them and they
made a huge difference right away. I'm very glad that I came across their
website and had time to get a pair for this trip. We three agree that we like
riding on US-10 a lot better than on the interstates. There is less auto and
truck traffic, we get to see all the little towns, and it just makes it more
interesting overall. Hwy-10 parallels the railroad tracks through this part of
the country, and it sure is a busy line. It seemed like we had a train coming
or going all day long. They were pulling quite a varied assortment of cars, and
were long as trains get anywhere I've been. This part of Minnesota is pretty
flat and is mostly small towns, rich farmland, small lakes and an occasional
river. The largest hills I think we saw today were the small town street
overpasses. Here's kind of a strange thing-large factories appear out in the
open, miles from anywhere. Perhaps it's a tax thing, and I suppose with today's
communications, they can be just about anywhere. The boys did not find any
license plates for the first time today. Again, we observed plenty of the usual
road kill, but it included two very large raccoons, and quite a big turtle.
When we think about the small amount of road we see, and the large amount of
road kill on it, there must be a phenomenal amount of animals lost over all our
country. We saw a mother deer that had been hit and her twin fawns stayed with
her and were also hit nearby. Sad. We wondered if we would make our
destination earlier in the day, but here we are in Motley. It's not a very
large place, with a population of only 470, but we did find a pretty nice motel
with a truck stop-restaurant within walking distance. It's hard to believe that
we struggled through another 72 miles of that incessant headwind today, arriving
here at 4:30. When we take our five-mile breaks, we usually walk around the
roadside to limber up a bit. Randy picked up a wood tick from some roadside
grass, and we discovered it here as he stripped off his raincoat. Just a
reminder that this is their season here, and we really need to keep an eye out
for them. We didn't see anything interesting enough to encourage us to get out
the camera into this Seattle type day until we passed through the town of
Staples. It's a little railroad town and in their entrance city park they have
a nicely restored old caboose in a very nice setting. It is the only photo
included in today's record. We are all very tired from this trying day, and the
boys are out of the shower now, so it's my turn. Talk at you tomorrow. God
bless, Ken, Randy and Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 24 - Ken's Journal - June 6, 2001 - Motley to Sauk Rapids,
Minnesota
Journal for Wednesday, 6/6/01 from Sauk Rapids, Minnesota (next door to our
listed St. Cloud destination... for this evening) Well, folks, this has been
another of those days that, for us, prove again our "Amazing Grace of our
Awesome God" theme. No earthly person we are aware could have put today together
quite like this. Yesterday Joe's front wheel was making a kind of snapping noise.
We thought that spoke wear was the cause. Sometimes spokes can wear against each
other and when they work against that wear ridge they can make a snapping or
popping sound. When that sound is magnified through the bike fork it gets quite
loud. We got up at our usual 5 o'clock time and by 6 Joe and I went next door
for breakfast, while Randy, our indispensable engineer/mechanic, tore into Joe's
front wheel. A short time later he came to the restaurant and joined us. He told
us he had good news and bad news. The good news was that the problem was not
spoke wear. The bad news was that Joe has been riding on a front wheel that was
rebuilt specially for this trip and the loose bearing balls had been replaced
with some that were just a bit larger than the originals. That means that they
have not been riding down in the bearing race but have been riding on the cone
edge and have now worn rough spots on those surfaces. Unless we can put our
hands on the right size bearing balls or a replacement wheel, Joe is out of
business. I was pretty confident that God did not carry us this long and far to
let old Satan win over us here in little Motley, Minnesota. The waitress
immediately popped over to our table to ask the usual "Is everything OK?", I
said that it wasn't and that I wasn't referring to the food and then explained
our problem. I asked if she knew anyone who might have an old bike or two lying
around that we could look at for bearings or a front wheel. She said that her
family had several but they lived back to the west about eight miles and she
would call her husband to see if he could truck them in to us before keeping an
eight o'clock appointment he had. Well, he wasn't able to do that. She asked
around the breakfast counter and found a white bearded local who had several
bikes that he has been unsuccessful at selling, at the various flea markets. We
talked to him and learned that Alan (Whiskers) Krupke lived about four miles out
of Motley and would be happy to drive us out to his place to take a look see at
his bike collection. Randy and I grabbed Joe's wheel and climbed into Alan's car.
Joe stayed with our bikes and things at the motel. Alan's bikes included a 27"
Raleigh with a front wheel that almost looks better than Joe's. We brought the
whole bike back just in case but Randy cleaned up the wheel and bearings and
installed it and it is operating just fine. We sent the remainder of the bike
back to Alan's place with him. He would take only $5 for his time and driving us
out to his place and back. God put him in our path this morning and he agreed as
we talked about it on the way. This man needs a lot of prayer as he has a tough
life and we won't forget him easily. He was a logger and several years ago had a
tree split off a stump he was cutting and hit him in the left temple area
causing 48 bone splinters to be driven into his head and messing up his spinal
column. He woke up six weeks later in a St. Cloud hospital. He had only been
married two weeks at the time of the accident. He cannot work at logging any
more but has rehabilitated himself and still does some horse breaking, farm work
and many other chores for a livelihood. Alan does now finally get some help from
the Veterans Administration as he served two years during the Vietnam time. He
has a 10-year-old son that he is proudly raising at his 60-year age. He
acknowledged that God carried him through his accident time and still does. We
were happy to make your acquaintance Alan (Whiskers) Krupke. Oh, we met another
interesting old gent, just as we were getting our things back on the bikes to
leave our Motley motel. I didn't get his name as I talked to him sitting outside
his motel room all bundled up without even a neck scarf. He said that the motel
room was his permanent home and that he was 91 years old. He stays busy by
buying and selling "stuff" for, and at, the local flea market "just across the
highway". He also told me that he stays in shape by not smoking, not drinking,
not chasing girls, and walking across the parking lot to the motel sign at least
three times a day. He was interested in what we were doing but thought we were a
bit crazy. That is an opinion lots of folks have shared with us over these 1600
miles now. We headed out of Motley at 9 o'clock, over 1 1/2 hours later than our
usual starting time. I must say that I had my doubts that I would be typing this
in the St. Cloud area Super 8, as I am this evening. BUT, little did I know that
our Lord had a great travel day in store for us. We still had our head wind but
it was not as vicious and was more off to our left side. My legs felt great and
we were able to set a pace that got us almost caught up with our usual mileage
by 1 p.m. About 2 we pulled into the town of Royalton, Minnesota, just as it was
time to take our five-mile "bun break". There was a new service station with a
convenience store so we swung in there and checked out their ice cream
sandwiches. While we were enjoying a couple of those, a pickup pulled up and the
couple asked if we had any Grey Poupon. If you've been following this saga you
know, as we did, that these folks had to have some connection to our Richland
friends, Bob and Sharon Zinsli who started the Grey Poupon question thing way
back on Boseman Pass in Montana. This is the fourth time we've been approached
with this question now. Well, it turns out that the lady is a classmate of Bob's
and she was at their recent reunion in Beach, North Dakota, where Bob told about
his encounter with us and about what we were doing. Their names are Jordice and
Bob Powell and they were on their way from their home in Backus, Minnesota, to a
son's place in the Minneapolis area. They had checked our website and itinerary
and had been on the lookout for us as they traveled our route today. We had a
very enjoyable hour visiting with Jordice and Bob and even remembered to get a
photo that is included with today's entry. Thank you Powells for looking us up.
It gave us an uplift you wouldn't believe. Our day would have been much longer
if God hadn't put you into it. We traveled 63 miles today with no trouble on the
road after the shaky start this morning. I told the boys that I really believed
that Satan had thrown all he could at us this morning, had lost, and we wouldn't
be bothered much by him anymore. It was a cold morning and we wore heavy
clothing but by noon it warmed up about 10 degrees and we began peeling. We saw
a live muskrat along the road and, after Royalton, there were lots of bird
houses that had been placed on the telephone poles along the nearby railroad
tracks. Many of them had beautiful bluebirds nesting in them and they would
stick their heads out to check on us as we rode by. Also after Royalton the
traffic picked up with people heading to St. Cloud and the Twin Cities. We had
to be very careful to ride the outside edge of the shoulder. Oh, yes, and the
shoulders were in very good shape today so we can't complain about that.
Whenever we stopped for our five-mile breaks we were immediately besieged with
mosquitoes and folks told us they were having a very bad year with them and wood
ticks because of all the recent rains. We got here at 4:30. That is about our
usual time so, once again, it proves that God can make all things work together
for good. Awesome. Talk at you tomorrow. God bless.-Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 25 - Ken's Journal - June 7, 2001 - Sauk Rapids to White
Bear Lake, Minnesota
Journal for Thursday, 6/7/01 from White Bear Lake, Minnesota - Why White Bear
Lake (just north of St. Paul), well, have I got a tale for you. We left our Sauk
Rapids Super 8 (just outside of St. Cloud) this morning a bit after 7 and, after
about a block turned onto the on ramp back onto U.S. 10 that we have been riding
since before Fargo, N.D. There, glaring at us, was the dreaded "No Bicycles On
Highway" sign. We had a conference and looked at maps at the nearby gas station
and decided to try to avoid the Twin Cities all together as we were now sure
that we could not ride any of the major arteries through the metropolitan area.
We decided to head straight east out of Sauk Rapids on Minnesota 95 to North
Branch and then south on 31 and 61 and see how far we could get. We had much
more favorable winds today and, believable it or not, were able to knock off 95
miles to get here to White Bear Lake. It was a long, steady day in which we were
able to hold speeds of 15 miles per hour on average. Almost immediately after
getting on #95 we ran into a detour. It said that local traffic only could
continue so I figured at least one lane had to go through. Right? Well, it did,
right up to the place where they were building a new bridge over a small river.
This was the second one and it stopped us. The first one had already been poured
so we just worked our bikes over the rock pile barricades and kept going. The
second one, however, caused us to have to back track and use about 1 1/2 miles
of narrow country gravel road to get back on the detour and #95. We did get to
talk to three neat construction supervisors at the bridge though. They were very
interested in our bikes and trip. One said he would use the website as a
learning tool for his children with the pictures from across the country. We
cycled right on through the day with fewer stops as I stretched out our "bun
breaks" to 10-mile segments instead of the usual five. The roads were otherwise
very good and that was a great help to our making the 95 needed miles. Tomorrow
morning we plan to get on #97 right here and head to Stillwater, Minnesota,
where we will cross the St. Croix River into Wisconsin. We are hoping to work south
and east back down to U.S. 10 and our scheduled destination for tomorrow. It's
been a long day skirting the Twin Cities but it has been an adventure too. We
made a needed stop at a mini-mart about 1 p.m. and killed off a 1/2 gal. of
chocolate ice cream and two liter bottles of A&W root beer. It was an excellent
snack. We saw three deer, a flock of geese flew in formation very low across
the road just in front of us, and a mother duck was leading her seven ducklings
along the shore of a small lake as we passed by. Just up the road here near the
town of Hugo we came upon another biker and visited for a while. Didn't get her
last name, but Barb has crossed the country from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla., just a couple years ago. She took 42 days doing it, and by herself. Now
that's a real accomplishment. We are all very happy to have met Barb. She also
said she'd follow up on the website and perhaps even send us a note later. We
are in a very nice Best Western here in White Bear Lake and the boys are just
about to head out to the pool while the laundry is running. Talk at you tomorrow.
God bless. - Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 26 - Ken's Journal - June 8, 2001 - White Bear Lake,
Minnesota to Durand, Wisconsin
Journal for Friday, 6/8/01 from Durand, WI - We got started at 7:15 this morning
from the very nice Best Western in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. It was a
beautiful morning, and the day only got better as we rolled along. All day, we
enjoyed an azure blue sky with lazy cumulous clouds floating in it. We even
enjoyed their shade about a third of the time as we had the most sun we've seen
in several days and the temperature got up to the high 70's this afternoon. We
arrived in Stillwater, Minnesota about 9:00 A.M. and Randy saw a neat Kodak
moment as there was a sternwheeler docked near the bridge on the St. Croix
River. That photo is included in today's entries. Then we crossed into
Wisconsin and took a victory photo at the welcome sign. It was a hard climb up
the cliff away from the river. We worked our way south to Hudson, Wisconsin and
found that our highway ran along with the interstate for a couple of miles. We
also found another of those "no bicycles on interstate" signs. We backtracked a
short way and were able to talk to a passing biker from Minnesota and two ladies
taking a brake at a nearby professional building. They directed us to a route
that carried us through Hudson and over the interstate and heading back south
toward our destination for the day. We really moved along fairly well and got
to Ellsworth where we picked up US-10 again about 1:00 P.M. While there, Joe
suggested that we just pull into a grocery store instead of the usual gas
station mini-mart and take advantage of their better prices. Randy and Joe
bought a half-gallon of sherbet and a box of fudgesicles and some pop and we
filled up on that stuff. Joe ate enough sherbet to get the shiver-shakes out in
that high 70's weather. We met a local fellow (we think Brady was his name) who
told us that he and his wife had made a trip from Seattle to New Hampshire a few
years ago. They flew to Seattle so they could start from there and enjoy the
normally westerly winds at their back. They found the same thing we did--that
it is not always true. And they experienced about 8 days of headwinds in the
Rockies. He didn't know where we wanted to stop tonight, but graciously offered
us to pitch our tent in his yard if we wanted to. Another example of the many
great generous people we have encountered. Just out of Ellsworth, we came onto
a detour that directed us north around some new bridgework on US-10. This
eventually added about ten miles to our day. We found ourselves in some
seriously rolling hill country, and while the downs were fast and much fun again,
we knew that there was always a slow, long climb on the other side. We did much
more climbing than we had done since eastern North Dakota. Joe was especially
enjoying the Wisconsin houses with all their Gingerbread and Victorian style.
Two large farm dogs gave me a serious chase, but lucky for me it happened on a
downhill and I was able to outrun them. When Randy and Joe passed them by
behind me, the dogs were too tired to even bark at them. Randy saw a blue heron
today, but otherwise, live game was pretty scarce. We were about ten miles from
Durand when I got a front flat. Randy has been carrying a new tube for his
trailer tire, and it is the same size, so he and Joe changed it out for me in no
time at all and we were on the road again. I had picked up another small sharp
piece of rock to go along with the one I had back in Montana. The tire seal
goop just couldn't handle it even though it was leaking out all over. Joe made
it through this 82-mile day with his broken spoke, and he and Randy are
replacing it as I write this. Oops, they just finished and are cleaning up. Oh,
by the way, we arrived here in Durand at 5:45 P.M. after a longer day than we
expected. If we had come here tomorrow, the motels would be full as there is a
classic car show and fun weekend happening. We are very thankful that Randy's
alternate plan route around the Twin-Cities worked and got us back on our
schedule. Talk at you tomorrow. God bless. Ken, Randy and Joe Lettau.
Pictures
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Day 27 - Ken's Journal - June 9, 2001 - Durand to Neillsville,
Wisconsin
Journal for Saturday, 6/9/01 from Neillsville, Wisconsin- Last night in Durand,
Wis., after sending the journal for the day to Matt, we walked to the local
drive-in and enjoyed a very good burger and shake. They were very busy as there
is a classic car show and fun weekend going too. We saw some very nice cars and
we were all drooling a lot. Oh, yes the mosquitoes were out in force and it was
all we could do to sit at the outdoor tables long enough to enjoy the burgers. I
carried my vanilla shake back to our room. They also had fireworks as part of
the celebration and, while we couldn't see them, we certainly heard them as they
vibrated our room wall. This morning we got into our pop-tart stash in our room
for breakfast and then were on the road early at 6:25. It had just rained hard
and was still sprinkling off and on. You can feel pretty cool as you are biking
along in clothes that are just like you put them on right out of the wash
machine. The rain was intermittent all morning and it stopped about noon as the
temperature went up to a muggy Wisconsin 80 degrees. It was quite warm this
afternoon out on the road. About midway between Durand and Mondovi a very nice
conversion van pulled up across the road and the guy hollered over to us asking
did we have any Grey Poupon. Well, we for sure do now. Jim and Marge O'Mara from
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, have been following our trip on the website and decided
to go for an early Saturday drive and came out to meet us. They had become aware
of this adventure through the local Eau Claire newspaper. And they had noticed
the Grey Poupon saga running through the daily journals and stopped by Wal-Mart
on the way to bring us a jar. (Joe loves Grey Poupon.) They had their dog with
them and, I have to tell you, Yukon is one of the largest rottweilers that I
have seen. They said the dog was very friendly but you could not get me to stick
my hand into that van. Jim and Marge helped to brighten an otherwise dreary
morning and we've included their photo in today's entries. Thanks for your
thoughtfulness O'Maras. When we got to Mondovi we were cold and it was great to
see a Burger King there and with a special on breakfast sandwiches too. We each
enjoyed two of them and several cups of hot coffee. Six people there received
our card and about 10 minutes of trip explanation. All are checking out the
website soon. We ran into another detour for bridgework just prior to the town
of Eleva but Jim and Marge had informed us of this one and had even checked to
see that we could walk our bikes through it. We did just that and continued on
our merry way. Not far down Highway 10 a fellow who had just pulled into a drive
in front of us walked back out to the road to ask about my strange recumbent
bike. He had never seen one before and had a lot of questions. Jim Peterson is
the owner of the Red Rooster Ranch and, after getting his questions answered,
took us on a tour of his broiling chicken brood shed. We saw just one floor of
four where he had just restocked last night with 25,000 baby chicks. It was very
warm and humid in there. I did pick up a chick and remembered that I hadn't done
that for 30+ years. Jim advised us of another bridge detour ahead that he said
we would not be able to get through. He did give us an alternate route that
added only about one mile to our day. Thanks Jim Peterson for the tour of your
plant and for your road advice. We are all very happy to have met you. We got to
the town of Strum about noon and pulled into a little local market for a box of
ice cream bars and some root beer. While sitting there outside table an 87-year-old
lady walked up to us and wanted to know about where we came from and where we
were going. We talked a while, gave her a card, and hope that one of her
relatives will be able to show her the website and photos. Just a short way down
the road near a couple farms called Price we saw a field of very pretty yellow
blossoms so we stopped and got out the cameras. We do not think it was mustard
but we do not know what it was. We did include a photo of it today and if you
know we'd be pleased if you'd share the name with us. Just on the outskirts of
Neillsville, Wisconsin (tonight's stop) we came upon a very impressive hilltop
war memorial. They call it The High Ground Memorial and rightly so for it is on
the highest spot around. Not only do you feel some thankfulness there for all
the sacrifice of our past military men but there is also a very good 360-degree
view of that part of Wisconsin. Randy took a photo of part of the memorial with
the U.S. flag prominently displayed. We were able to share our trip story with
the employee there and she was also very interested that their memorial photo
might get on the Internet. She also gave us some directions with the motel
whereabouts and we thank her for that. Again, we didn't see much today in the
way of live animals besides the 25,000 chicks. (That is a pretty goodly number
though.) There were two buzzards circling us late this afternoon and we wondered
if they knew something that we didn't. We found this motel room at 4:15 and
covered 75 miles getting here today. The boys have taken the bags off their
bikes and ridden the 1 1/2 miles to the local Pizza Hut to visit their salad bar
while I am typing this journal. I will be ready for my share when they return.
Talk at you tomorrow. God bless.-Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 28 - Ken's Journal - June 10, 2001 - Neillsville to
Amherst, Wisconsin
Journal for Sunday, 6/10/01 from Amherst, Wisconsin- After I wrote last night
from Neillsville the boys brought me back some pizza from their ride to town. I
ate as we visited some there in this out of the way motel and then we all just
died for the night. Five came early this morning and we left the motel at 6:20
thinking to get a bite of breakfast somewhere in Neillsville. Well, there was no
place open so we just headed out figuring we'd put on the 25 miles to Marshfield
and catch a later breakfast there. We had one clear hour and then it started to
rain. It turned into another Seattle type day and we expected it to be a passing
shower. It wasn't that at all. We stopped for one of our "bun breaks" about 10
miles west of Marshfield and, while standing there by a roadside sign, I heard
the serious rain coming as it was pounding its way across the corn field toward
us. I have heard that sound before on a lake in northern Washington and told the
boys that we were about to get drenched. They got out their rain jackets and we
started off. I was already soaked and was not cold so I didn't change anything.
We hadn't gone far when we heard two thunder rumbles behind us but we didn't see
any lightning so it didn't bother us much. Then without any warning we all saw a
lightning bolt flash just to our left front. We all agreed that it was just
across the road and not more than half a city block away. It was a very intense
light and we all felt the concussion and the static electricity-type feeling
that is customary on a close lightning strike. If anyone ever asks us again if
we've had a Sunday morning experience, we can surely say Amen to that. We were
all three touched pretty deeply by this close encounter and I could not speak
with a tremor for quite a while. Along with that the sky opened up and we sought
shelter on the leeward side of a tavern building across the road and up a ways.
After about 10 minutes it slowed up enough for us to be able to continue and we
finished our miles to Marshfield. It rained on through the day almost all the
way to Stevens Point about 1 p.m. We did notice that the deer flies and the
mosquitoes don't bother you on a bike at all when it's raining that hard. There
are blessings in most everything aren't there? We stopped at a Hardee's
restaurant in Marshfield and had breakfast sandwiches and coffee to warm up. Joe
ate three of their breakfast sandwiches but I could only get through two
comfortably so I saved one for later. There wasn't much to do now except get
back out in the rain and put the 33 miles to Stevens Point behind us. As I said
it rained pretty hard almost until we made the city limits. We were awfully glad
to see their Wendy's as Joe remembered that they sell pretty good chili. We all
had some of that and I had my extra breakfast sandwich and coffee. Did get to
talk about our trip to one fellow there in Wendy's and he seemed pretty
interested. I have had in the back of my mind all along that when we got closer
to Kaukauna and the Fox Valley some of my family might drive out to welcome us
but I was not prepared for what happened just after we left the Stevens Point
Wendy's. A car went by and the lady on the passenger side hollered the now
famous trip question: "Do you have any Grey Poupon?". It was my eldest sister,
Marion. The car pulled into a business and we followed. Out piled Marion and
three more sisters, Eileen, Lois and Jan. It was a great 1/2 half hour and we
have included a photo for you all to know them. I could hardly speak as we
hugged and introduced them to Joe whom they've never met and Randy whom they've
not seen for many years. It started to rain again just as the "girls" left us
and we started down the road again to Amherst, our destination for today. Within
five miles another car went past and hollered the Grey Poupon thing. It was my
youngest brother Jim with his wife, Sherrie and son Tyler. Tyler's girlfriend
was also along for the sunday afternoon drive. We visited there by Highway #10
roadside for another 1/2 hour and took their photo that is included in today's
collection. Randy and Joe found a pretty good-sized garter snake and two bunnies.
Randy also found two more ticks on himself today. More proof that we are back in
Wisconsin. We covered 82 miles today and are here at our scheduled destination
at the Amherst Tomorrow River Motel. We are going to dinner soon with my four
previously named sisters so I'll talk at you tomorrow. God bless.-Ken, Randy &
Joe Lettau
Pictures
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Day 29 - Ken's Journal - June 11, 2001 - Amherst to Kaukauna,
Wisconsin
Journal for Monday, 6/11/01 from Kaukauna, Wis. - Hey! We made it. But I'm
getting ahead of myself. We left our motel at Amherst this morning at 6:40 to an
absolutely beautiful Wisconsin summer morning. We quickly made the 13 miles to
Waupaca so we could pick up a Burger King breakfast sandwich. I can't remember
what else Joe had� The day continued clear and got quite warm with 80's
temperatures in the shade but we found it very muggy as well. I don't know what
the humidity reading reached but it was far too high for westerners. Not to
worry though, we did enjoy a nice little tail wind all the riding day. I put on
my "team" t-shirt and regular shorts this morning so I didn't look too "dorky"
coming into my hometown and got a moderate sun burn on my previously protected
forearms. We stopped at a sports store in Waupaca as they had a huge bass fish
statue in their yard adjacent to the highway. We couldn't resist. Randy had us
haul the bikes over there where Joe climbed up on the fish's back while we took
one of today's photos. Then it was on down the road where, after a few miles, a
lady passed us honking and waving in a very nice early 70's Mustang convertible.
Marsha Rohen was waiting at the next intersection with guess what, a jar of Grey
Poupon. (Marsha, please contact me at [email protected] as I somehow lost your
information.) It was an extremely interesting half hour visiting with a great
Christian lady there on Highway #10 just west of Weyauwega. I offered to trade
her my recumbent BikeE for her Mustang but she was not willing to do so. Randy
and Joe found four more license plates today, and just after Randy was lamenting
that he had not yet found a Wisconsin plate for his trip collection. These four
were all Wisconsin plates but different styles. The day's scenery was all the
area usual farm and dairy land with silos, cows and farm buildings. We must
comment that Wisconsin farmers take a back seat to nobody in the apparent pride
of their farms. Most show the love and care of their owners. We switched to
Highway #96 coming into Appleton, as we knew it went directly to Kaukauna. We
were stopped by a Channel 5 news crew who accidentally came upon us as they were
going to cover another story. The photographer tied us to the local newspaper
stories and made a small detour in their plans. Right after that we met a 10-year-old
biker who was also heading back home to Kaukauna. We enjoyed his company for
about five miles. We even had a bit of a race for a short stretch just to let
him know that the "old guys" could still move. One of my best high school
buddies' wife came out to meet us. Jane Schaefer brought us some welcome cold
drinks and Wisconsin cheese w/crackers. And then Jane even ran a couple errands
for us. Thanks very much, Jane. While we were visiting with Jane, Mike McMahon
and his daughter came by to see us as they have been tracking us on the website
and figured about where we'd be. It turns out that Mike's dad was one of our
Kaukauna neighbors when I was young and I remember his dad's family quite well.
That was a fun visit. When we got to the Kaukauna city limits we took care of a
little chore. Matt earlier had put a little contest on the website to guess what
our Kaukauna entrance time would be. For the record, we crossed at 2:03 pm and
winners are Doc and Cory Clark, who had the exact time. While we were
photographing this a classmate of mine, Vicky Killoway (sp, and I don't know
Vicky's married name), came by and we had a short, but nice visit. I am looking
forward to seeing her and my other classmates at the reunion this weekend. The
boys have been amazed as they see what brother Jim and wife Sherry have done in
remodeling the house that I was born in. Their remodeling efforts have really
livened up and dressed up the place. Great job guys. Well, we covered 2,113
miles getting here and we made it without having to take even one day of our
three-day allotment for weather or mechanical problems. We are headed off to a
sister Lois' "cottage" tomorrow for a couple days of R&R. I/We will try to talk
at you tomorrow. God bless-Ken, Randy & Joe Lettau
Pictures
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