Mike and the Evangelist

Welcome to Minnesota!  Mike would call it the land of corn, hogs and tremendous winds.....I would call it the land of not only 10,000 lakes but the most beautiful farms of corn fields and houses and barns and big, spacious green manicured lawns I have ever seen.  Oh, yes and the huge 50 ft pine trees that surround the spacious lawns creating a wind break for the ranches.  Amazing....Now the winds, that is another story.....I am fortunate enough for the last few days to ride side by side Ray and have Ray block some of the velocity of the wind for me.  Without his windbreak I am thrown sideways across the rode to the wrong side of the highway.  This is especially challenging since there are no bike lanes at all and a competing force of huge trucks and small trucks and the occasional car.  Mike has taken to riding quite a ways behind Ray and I as he feels he can no longer be sure he will announce ahead to me of the upcoming semis in my path.  He prefers to witness the potential damage from afar.  Some teammate......

Our introduction to Minnesota came nearly 10-15 miles into the state.  Since we are traveling on small highways, parallel to interstate 90 we do not get the signage of our traveling into a new state and leaving one behind.  Fortunate for us we were at a water stop on the side of the road with Margi in the truck and an unsuspecting car came up and parked behind us.  Out jumped this ordinary man with an extraordinary knowledge of the corn and corn fields.  This naturally piqued Mike's interest and the conversation began.  We were told of the corn fields down the road a piece that we should take our picture in as they were quite tall and would tell a good tale.  Photo to follow.....  We learned that the farms growing corn make a net profit of $1000 per acre and most of the farms are 600 acres or more.  That is quite a profit and a reason for being a corn farmer in my book.  Plus the beautiful barns and houses and lawns....Well you get my drift....maybe farming is for me in my next life.  Speaking of life, that is the very thing this ultra friendly gentleman from Minnesota wanted to share with us.  He was a carpenter by trade and a teacher of the good book to boot.  Once he picked up a rock and started his dissertation on the real meaning of life and the creator Mike who had been quite amicable to this point made an abrupt head drop and near run from the man.  Ray stood his ground and endured the conversation with little comment and eventually the meaning of the rock and the greater design theory was left with the question.....Who could have created these nasty mosquitos and what was so great about them? Our Minnesota friend soon left us for greener pastures and I was left with my tale of Mike and the Evangelist!!!

jump Ray, jump!

success!

acres and acres of corn = $$$$