Lanesboro, MN

In 2008 when Bob and I first went travelling with Snoopy, we stopped in Lanesboro, MN. Bob had met a couple in Guatemala who lived here and we were hoping to meet up with them. Due to various e-mail snafus, we didn't manage to hook up in 2008, but we enjoyed Lanesboro so much that we decided to return. This time we did hook up with Bill and Karen Swanson. We camped again in Sylvan City Park right in the center of Lanesboro (population 780). The park has trout ponds and a nice camping area with restrooms and showers. Yesterday we took a 13 mile bike ride on the Root River Trail, an abandoned railroad right-of-way along the Root River, begun in 1986. We rented a tandem bike and attached a kid's trailer. The route was relatively flat, going through the forests, next to corn fields, below the limestone bluffs and next to the Root River. We were limited by the fact that our butts were not used to sitting on bike seats for a long time and the difficulty in riding a tandem. The second rider (me) has to pedal whenever the front rider is pedaling and stop when they stop. Knowing when Bob was going to pedal and stop pedaling was difficult. In addition, we had to get on and off the bicycle in tandem. Lastly, we were pulling 48 pound Darwin and the weight of the trailer. Despite all this, it was beautiful.

Darwin in the bike trailer. We stopped in Whalen, home of a pie shop that caters to all the bikers (we didn't try it) for our picnic lunch in the town park. Returning to Lanesboro, I headed off to Harmony (the center of the Amish community) to check out the quilts and stopped at a farmer's market with Amish women selling quilts, bread, beaded items, and canned goods. When I returned with the car, Bob headed off to St. Charles to play a disc golf course. We had tickets to a concert of Celtic music played by Laura MacKenzie and Gary Rue. She plays every conceivable wind instrument (3 different bagpipes, 2 different tin whistles and innumerable flutes). He plays wonderful accompanying guitar. She also sang. The audience was sparce in the old, rehabilitated movie/vaudeville theater.

Lanesboro used to be considerably larger than it is now. The building above is the Sons of Norway Hall next to Sylvan Park. Today is a big artist's fair in the park, along with food and music. While Bob played another round of disc golf in St. Charles I checked out the booths and bought a replacement rug for Snoopy (to replace the really ugly yellow, frayed bath mat). True to its history, Lanesboro had vegetarian curry, pulled pork (from a local hog) and brats. Tonight we're going to Karen and Bill's for dinner.

In Lanesboro is this wonderful garden. Though you can't read what's on the chair, it says "Norma's Garden." Norma's husband was in the garden explaining that she had started to develop it in 1986 when it was just a plot of weeds higher than him and filled with mosquitos. It's now filled with lovely plants, unusual planters (the 1912 wheelbarrow she played with as a child, a cream separator, etc.). It is just below Karen and Bill's house and is advertised with a little sign.

If any of you are in the neighborhood of Lanesboro, it's a delightful place to visit. The downtown is filled with old buildings and there is a lot of culture. We will head off tomorrow for Waucanda, IL to visit Bob's aunt Florence, after having breakfast in the wonderful Lanesboro Pastry Shop (you go in and tell them what you want for breakfast; there is no menu).