Sept 22, Buffalo (Minnesota) to Eau CLaire (Wisconsin) and back to Buffalo (Minnesota)

We wake up to a windy and cold day. 

What a shock, after the 93F (33C) in Lamar (Colorado) a couple of days ago, we are barely over freezing here in Minnesota.

After another hearty breakfast, I need to cut the lawn with “Putt Putt”, the old tractor which still works like a Swiss clock, while MaryAnn and Bill harvest a pumpkin in their vegetable garden.

Today will be a short flying day, a quick hop into Wisconsin so we can tick off another state from our list.

We cross the Minnesota River, the Mississippi River and finally the St Croix River, which is the border with Wisconsin, with strong tailwinds, cruising at 135 kts, and land at New Richmond.

On the way home, we fly over MaryAnn and Bill’s farm.

And when back on the ground, we meet this sweet girl training on her “Hoola-Hoop” on the back of her mother's pick-up truck while she went shopping at Target…

To finish off the day, we are offered a chance to ride on a huge harvesting machine to pick soya beans on a neighbor’s field.

These sophisticated "tractors" harvest the crop, separate the grain from the "left over", and drop the crop directly into its back, ready to transfer it later on into larger transport trucks.


The driver seat looks like a work desk full of automation equipment and computers, to support the driver in his tasks.

Here a soya plant, with the dry beans inside the shell.

A Minnesota saying (adapted from the sailor's world) says:      

Red sky at night = Pilot’s delight 

The day ended in the “Three Crows” bar in Delano (Minnesota) where the “Ev Hadden Trio” played some wonderful Blues music.  

The day ended in the “Three Crows” bar in Delano (Minnesota) where the “Ev Hadden Trio” played some wonderful Blues music.  

A few local brewed beers helped us to enjoy the music, which Al Quest, the mustache man in charge of the band selection, had set up.

Click on the image to the left to enjoy some of the     live music !