Today was a non-stop panorama of rivers, bluffs, wooded valleys, rich dairyland, and historic picturesque small towns - the best riding we’ve had so far! We began by cruising once more through lovely Redwing, then headed south on MD highway 61. This section of the Mississippi has been backed up by locks and dams to form Lake Pepin and has a number of resorts and recreation facilities. About 35 miles downstream we cross to the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi at Wabasha because we’ve been told the scenery is better on that side. We are not disappointed with WI highway 35!
There are many sets of locks on the river that we choose not to tour as we can see them very well from the road and have actually passed through locks in boats which is more exciting than standing on them today. The locks provide the valuable purpose of controlling flooding further down river. The Upper Mississippi River is a very large impressive river at this point and the countryside is so green! When we stop at Fountain City to snap some photos of an old riverboat we realize that it is about 80F and quite humid. When we‘re moving we stay comfortable but it‘s hot in our leathers whenever we stop.
We’ve planned to stop in La Crosse, the biggest town on this section of the river and discover it’s actually a city so the map we have is totally inadequate. We manage to give ourselves a unintended tour of the historic downtown area and decide to have lunch and ask directions before getting more lost. Believe it or not, as we are eating our delicious lunch at the King Street Kitchen we notice a turtle about the size of a dinner plate making its way down the side of the very busy street outside. There was no sign of it after lunch so we can only assume it traveled safely too. A ride up to Grandad Bluff gave us a tremendous view of the city of La Crosse and the Black River as it empties into the Mississippi.
We travel WI35 to Prairie du Chien, a river town just north of where the Wisconsin River joins the Mississippi. We leave the Great River Road here, heading on WI60 to begin the Wisconsin River Scenic Drive. This drive is as beautiful as the one we’ve just completed with beautiful farms, lush green corn and hay fields, river-edged bluffs, and sandstone outcroppings. We have the road almost completely to ourselves and we are sure it was constructed just for motorcycles! The Wisconsin River is very broad with sandy banks and it is said that it looks much as it did when French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet paddled the route in 1673 searching for the Mississippi.
We stop for the night at another BW about 5 miles from Lodi. Had we known it was that far, we may have eaten in Lodi, as the choices within walking distance of this motel are all fast food. It is always tricky trying to find good accommodation within walking distance of good restaurants in North America as we’re such a car culture. The sky looks very threatening but we’ve had great weather once again today.
Showing posts with label Mississippi River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mississippi River. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Twin Cities, Twin Blunders, Twin Smiles
We rode from Fargo, ND to Fergus Falls, MN for a delicious brunch at Debbie’s Homestyle Kitchen. We are riding Interstate 94 for a while again today to gain some distance. I94 passes through gently rolling agricultural country with beautiful farms and many corn fields. Minnesota advertises itself as the land of 10,000 lakes and many of them are evident on our route.
One of the great things about riding motorcycle is the connection one feels to the countryside: the smells, the temperature, the wind, etc. In Montana and North Dakota the farmers were mowing hay and although both of us suffer from hay fever, the smell was wonderful. We are always impressed by the prairie farmers in Canada and America who mow and bale the hay just off the shoulder of the highways. We speculate that this service reduces fires and wildlife grazing and we hope the hard-working farmers we wave to get some remuneration for it.
The downside of being closer to the elements are the bugs, bugs, and more bugs. We cover the front of the bike everyday with a large variety of them, which bothers Barry more than me, as he feels responsible for keeping the bike clean. We’ve had excellent weather: warm with cloudy periods, some rain at night but dry roads for riding. We’ve also encountered the occasional stench of a skunk and the heady aroma of manure.
We are compelled to ride I94 through the twin cities of Minneapolis/St.Paul as we don’t have the time to ride around them, so we bite down hard and go for it. Two missed exits out of eight isn’t that bad when you recognize your error and correct it as soon as possible (so I tell Barry). He is a very cool rider in tense situations and I am an anxious navigator but we are still sleeping with each other tonight so it‘s all good.
We leave for Interstates for the calm of Highway 52S to Highway 61S, the Great River Road along the Mississippi River. We actually had our first glimpse of the Mississippi River in St.Paul but we were really much to involved with traffic to appreciate it. Our final destination this afternoon is the charming, historic city of Red Wing located on the bluffs along the Mississippi. Red Wing is on many “must see” lists and it is a very interesting river town with many historic buildings.
We are staying at the very clean and attractive Best Western Rivertown Inn. Advertised as only 6 blocks from the river we are disappointed that walking to the river is not an option because of a lack of sidewalks and heavy traffic on the 4 lane highway that divides the motel from the riverside. We often stay in chain hotels such as Best Western and Comfort Inns when we are doing one night stays as we can depend on them being clean, quiet and accessible. We have travelled 3,489 kms safely, from Vancouver Island to the mighty Mississippi, and we celebrate with a picnic supper (but not by the river) and a 6-pack of Miller Genuine Draft!
One of the great things about riding motorcycle is the connection one feels to the countryside: the smells, the temperature, the wind, etc. In Montana and North Dakota the farmers were mowing hay and although both of us suffer from hay fever, the smell was wonderful. We are always impressed by the prairie farmers in Canada and America who mow and bale the hay just off the shoulder of the highways. We speculate that this service reduces fires and wildlife grazing and we hope the hard-working farmers we wave to get some remuneration for it.
The downside of being closer to the elements are the bugs, bugs, and more bugs. We cover the front of the bike everyday with a large variety of them, which bothers Barry more than me, as he feels responsible for keeping the bike clean. We’ve had excellent weather: warm with cloudy periods, some rain at night but dry roads for riding. We’ve also encountered the occasional stench of a skunk and the heady aroma of manure.
We are compelled to ride I94 through the twin cities of Minneapolis/St.Paul as we don’t have the time to ride around them, so we bite down hard and go for it. Two missed exits out of eight isn’t that bad when you recognize your error and correct it as soon as possible (so I tell Barry). He is a very cool rider in tense situations and I am an anxious navigator but we are still sleeping with each other tonight so it‘s all good.
We leave for Interstates for the calm of Highway 52S to Highway 61S, the Great River Road along the Mississippi River. We actually had our first glimpse of the Mississippi River in St.Paul but we were really much to involved with traffic to appreciate it. Our final destination this afternoon is the charming, historic city of Red Wing located on the bluffs along the Mississippi. Red Wing is on many “must see” lists and it is a very interesting river town with many historic buildings.
We are staying at the very clean and attractive Best Western Rivertown Inn. Advertised as only 6 blocks from the river we are disappointed that walking to the river is not an option because of a lack of sidewalks and heavy traffic on the 4 lane highway that divides the motel from the riverside. We often stay in chain hotels such as Best Western and Comfort Inns when we are doing one night stays as we can depend on them being clean, quiet and accessible. We have travelled 3,489 kms safely, from Vancouver Island to the mighty Mississippi, and we celebrate with a picnic supper (but not by the river) and a 6-pack of Miller Genuine Draft!
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