August 26: Hutchinson, MN

     WILDLIFE UPDATE:  I haven't seen a single living large animal since my last day in North Dakota.  That was a pair of deer.  Since then it has been nothing but birds and rodents.  I miss the wildlife of the western United States as much as I miss the mountains and awesome lakeside campsites. 
     On the other hand, if you count dead animals, central Minnesota has large numbers and good varieties of roadkill:  skunks, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, deer, rabbits, opossums, hawks, owls, a prairie chicken, snakes, turtles, caterpillars, dogs and cats.  Many of them are so flattened and dried out that they resemble the fur coats or coonskin caps of mountain men.  Some of the fresher road kill just look like chunks of meat.  Some stink really bad.  Some have turkey vultures that pick at them and stubbornly guard them until it is inevitable that they will have to fly away if they want to live.
     Today I saw something I may never forget.  A deer had been bisected in a collision of such impact that I can't even imagine the violence.    There was a head and shoulders and a front leg on the side of the road.  The hind quarters were still in the middle of the road about five yards away.  I didn't see any sign of the other front leg.  Blood and guts were scattered everywhere in between the two parts.  The deer's mouth was wide open--as if, just before impact, it was screaming "Ohhhhhh, fuuuuudge!" 

     Dan repeated his routine today and we met up in Litchfield.  Our ride together was great--just as it has been all weekend.  In the last month I have only had one or two conversations of any significance, so it was nice to have some company for a few days.  Actually, come to think of it, our conversations rarely have any significance, but they're a hell of a lot of fun. 
     And we had a couple of good meals together at a Chinese restaurant in Montevideo and a very good Mexican restaurant in downtown Willmar.  I have to believe Rosita's Taqueria was pretty authentic because every single patron, other than Dan and I, from the beginning to the end of our meal, were Spanish-speaking Mexicans.  I had an outstanding meal of grilled shrimp in a garlic (ajo) sauce with tomatoes, freshly sliced avocado, lettuce and corn tortillas.

     Tomorrow I will be in the western suburbs of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area.  The next day, I will either stay with Dan and his family in St. Paul or I will power on into Hastings to conclude my personal trip of a lifetime.  I don't really want it to end.