Paul Bunyan and the Storm 6/12/24

The ride from Rochester, MN to Akeley, MN was uneventful. We arrived in Akeley mid afternoon and were greeted by a huge statue of Paul Bunyan. Akeley is a very small town with 2 restaurants and a number of antique and thrift shops, and of course there is a Dollar General. Our campground was next to a beautiful lake and just a very short bike ride to the town. Once we arrived we immediately set up our tents and then rode to town to eat and explore. We ate at Zappy’s restaurant where I ordered ham steak. The young waitress asked how I’d like that cooked, rare, medium or well done. I explained to her that a ham steak wasn’t a beef steak and she was quite shocked. She thought a steak was a steak. While we were eating in Zappy’s a ferocious storm hit the area and trees came down and one landed on an electrical poll next to the restaurant. Power was lost but luckily we were just about finished eating. The streets flooded and emergency vehicles and fire trucks were racing about. When the storm abated we waded back to the campground to find a tree had fallen across the campground rode just missing a large camper but crushing a tent next to the camper. People were swarming about evaluating the damage. I thought for sure our tents would have been down and probably blown into the lake. But Bernie’s and my tent survived. Butch’s didn’t. It had been blown down but didn’t end up in the water.

The sun came out and the evening was absolutely perfect with a beautiful sunset over the peaceful and calm lake. I sat and watched the sunset and then retired for the night. It is still quite light at 10:00 PM this far north.