I broke camp just after sunrise (which was a nonevent thanks to overcast skies) and hit the road heading north with a cool tailwind. Whoever said it was all going to be headwinds is a party pooper.
I stopped st the first roadside eatery for breakfast. I bought the Trucker’s Special. 
It was more than I could eat but I didn’t care.
Back on the road I was clipping along pretty well. In Red Wing I passed one of the Red Wing shoe factories and a 3M plant. Both places are looking for people if you don’t mind living in an iceberg six months out of the year.
I could have opted to cross the river back to Wisconsin to continue on the Adventure Cycling route but I chose the supposedly shorter route that The Google offered in Minnesota.
Google is not bad but it doesn’t know about road closures. I must have gone through five closures, one with a long detour.
In Hasting I started following a bike route and ended up, with some help from a dog walker, at a mill with a waterfall.
After that I decided to follow the roads according to a Google Maps. My phone ran out of power so I took a lunch break to plug in.
The last 20 miles were a slog with way too many turns and ominous storm clouds. From time to time it sprinkled which raised my anxiety level. I burn wprsec as the fact they for two hours I never seemed to get closer to St Paul. It was like it had an invisible force field around it.
I finally pulled up st my friend Kathy’s house. I am trying to decide whether to take tomorrow off. Once I leave I will probably follow Adventure Cycling’s route out of town. It’s longer but I won’t have the stress of navigating urban streets. Also it goes by an REI where I can get my tent pole restrung.
71 miles today today.
1,569 for the tour so far.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
A long ago girl friend got me a wool jersey of the St Paul Saints minor league baseball team. Hope the navigation gets easier. I’d say take a day off, you’ve earned after 3 weeks on the road.
A day off might rejuvenate you both mentally and physically. Plus, as you said, allow you to re-string your tent poles. And give you your appetite back, seeing as how you can’t finish the Trucker’s Breakfast.
I can speak to the force field around the Twin Cities. We were held back by a torrential downpour and a mile-long train. Once you get to ND and MT, there are so few roads, you won’t need Google. You could use a AAA (auto) road map (except in a few cities). Google tried to route us over nonexistent and gravel roads. When the ACA (bike) map puts you on the interstate, go for it.
I agree with your other fans. If you can, enjoy a day off.
Hey John, Jeff and I have been out of town for the past week – can’t believe you’re already in (almost) St. Paul. Congratulations!
Tsk. Clearly you should have ordered the Bicyclist’s Breakfast: a fritter and a burrito.
We had a similar issue with the tent poles. I think I pulled it through one end and knotted it off to give it some tension. Can’t quite remember, and we’ve since gotten a new tent.
If you take a zero day and explore Minneapolis, visit the Mary Tyler Moore statue! (No Rhoda statue, sadly) Plus, you’re still within fried cheese curd territory.
It’s like the Prairie Home Companion contest. The winner gets a week vacation in Minnesota in February, second place gets two weeks.