We did it! We 're finally on the road.

We got in the first 63 miles today and are staying in a hotel in the cute town of Walker on Leech Lake. I don't plan to swim. 

The first 32 miles were on local roads and into a headwind but at Bemidji we turned south on the Paul Bunyan Trail and practically flew with the tailwind and smooth pavement. 

Leech Lake is a reservoir off the Mississippi but so far the river itself is still pretty calm and narrow.