See a water tower; find a town

Outside of Avon

Fresh from seeing the walking play, Nature at the Arboretum we headed out to the Lake Wobegon Trail leaving from St. Joseph to Freeport.  It was a perfect (almost) summer day with sunny skies, winds from the South at 20-25 mph (gusts of 30 mph), and temperatures in the high 80s. The sides of the trail were covered with summer wildflowers.  We rode through clouds of dragon flies, grasshoppers and at one point a flock of tree swifts.  Just before Avon we spied three sand hill cranes who took flight as soon as I got off the bike to take a photo.  Hawks were soaring in the stiff breezes; we had a cooper hawk, eagle and vulture glide just feet above our bike.  As Thoreau said in the play Friday night, "I must draw my vigor from a wild source".  We were inspired and excited to be out on this awesome day.

The Lake Wobegon trail follows tracks that once went through each of the small towns.  The landmark of note is the distinctive water towers that are usually located at a high point in the town.  As we approach they are frequently the first thing we see.  Water towers serve a practical purpose.  Although you might think they hold all the water supply, they actually only hold a day's worth of water.  It's a back up for peak usage.  The water tower supplies pressure for all the homes in its vicinity.  We rode through four towns during this ride:  St. Joseph, Avon, Albany and Freeport.  Each has a unique water tower that stands over the community.

The color of wildflowers this time of year is yellow but along the Lake Wobegon trail we were treated with the occasional cluster of purple coneflowers which is in the aster family.  This are native, perennial plants and favor dry conditions especially along roads and ditches.  I can vouch for the fact that goldfinches love their seed heads.  I don't trim my coneflowers back in the fall; in winter our goldfinches who stay all year will pull seed from the heads.  It's my favorite flower. 

The journey back to St. Joe was a major effort.  The wind became more of a headwind because the Freeport to Albany trail bends to the Southeast.  We're a high profile vehicle so each gust was an obstacle to ride through.  I was definitely thinking about my feet by the time we got back to St. Joe's.  One hint:  I wear a neckerchief around my neck and keep it damp - cools one down. 

We ate at Kay's Kitchen in St. Joe's.  It's been a fixture in St. Josephs since 1972.   Kay's is just what you would expect for a small town cafe:  great service, lots of refills, and homemade pie!  The perfect end to a  great day of nature and riding.