Day 52: St. Paul, MN, where I “got my Nookie”

October 18; Miles 6460-7070

I intended last night to be my last night staying on my own (camping or motel). A friend of my family’s had a sister in St. Paul, MN who apparently could take me in, so from this point on I’d start to have people to stay with as I was getting back into familiar territory.

This was a little bit longer of a day then I had been doing recently, but with a good start getting out of the Black Hills, warmer weather, and a day of all interstate, I made relatively good time getting to St. Paul, though it was after dark.

Debbie was a great host, setting me up with a bed and a garage for the bike. Then she took me to a famous local pub, called the Nook, for a real Minnesota experience, a Hamm beer and some great burgers.

They have a local burger special called a “Juicy Lucy” which is basically a burger with a cheese filled middle, and at the Nook all there burgers are hand grinded and packed, so you know it’s good. As appealing as this was though, my eye immediately caught sight of an eating challenge, and there’s no time like after a thru-hike for an eating challenge, when your metabolism is still in hyper-drive. So I ordered the Double Nookie Challenge: two double cheeseburgers each with a side of fries as well as a 32oz mug of Hamm’s beer and went to town. Debbie got the Juicy Lucy too, so I even got to try that.

Despite having some trouble sleeping on my stomach at night because I was so full, it all went down pretty easy. Getting ready for a really big day tomorrow, when I’m going to try and make it in one shot to Toronto, a little over 800 miles.