Once awake, we began our trek south.
The halfway point was Minneapolis, so we targeted a brewery in the city for lunch. The morning’s drive was pretty much all rain but, thankfully, this was the first time all trip we’ve had large quantity of rain during the day.
In Minneapolis, we found our way to “Surly Brewing Company” – a place that came highly recommended (thanks Jimmy Aseltine and Jeff Meyer!).
We felt it had a very similar vibe to Stone’s Escondido operation, which was probably the goal.
Great outdoor space, paired with a good variety of beer, with delicious food to boot.
We opted for two different types of IPAs and split an order of “hog frites.” The combination of smoked pork, pepper jack fondue, and giardinera was delicious!
With our hunger addressed, we drove through the University of Minnesota campus quickly, found some Surly beer for sale (MN law prevents Surly from selling on site themselves), and we were off to Iowa.
Nearly immediately we encountered an unexpected sight. An amish buggy on the highway!
The night’s destination was Pikes Peak State Park – no, not the one in Colorado – which was in the quaint town of McGreggor, IA. This little town had the misfortune of suffering some pretty severe tornado damage just two weeks ago!
Fortunately for us, though, the campground was unharmed and still open. We set up camp and made a quick trip over the Mississippi River (into Wisconsin) for some propane and paper towels at a nearby Walmart.
Burgers and dogs for dinner (it was so, so windy that we didn’t want to fight with the grill to heat our veggies), a glass of wine to warm up, and we were off to bed.
Kabetogama, MN to McGreggor, IA – 475 miles (8 hours)
-Ally and Patrick
