Day 20: Rochester, MN to Milwaukee, WI 320 miles

I had planned a shorter day for myself and was glad to have a more interesting route to ride. I started out on I-90 east again, but only for about an hour. I got off just before the Minnesota/Wisconsin border at LaCrosse and took US-14 south, crossing the Mississippi River into Wisconsin. I knew I was approaching the river from about 10 miles out as the landscape changed rather abruptly. All of a sudden there were trees, big ones, and quite a few of them. We were also descending pretty rapidly. The Mississippi River is already very wide and placid this far north.

From US-14, I continued along the east bank of the river on WI-35 to the town of Prairie du Chien. What little I know about the prairie comes from "Little House on the Prairie" (both books and TV show) and Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion". WI-35 has numerous historical markers, many of which I took the time to stop and read, as well as two Army Corps of Engineers Lock and Dams. The engineer nerd in me had to stop and watch a large barge go through Lock No. 9 and learn about traffic on the river system. I then turned east on US-14.

While still in Prairie du Chien, I passed by a huge Cabela's retail store. The best hiking boots I ever had came from Cabela's and I was tempted to stop in and try some on. I need some new boots, but decided I really didn't have room to bring them home. Not too much later, I passed through the town of Spring Green, known mostly for Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin. I hadn't realized it was on my route, or I would have made plans to visit. Instead, I had a destination in mind, and that was the very nice garden in Madison, Olbrich Botanical Gardens.

Olbrich is small by Denver standards, but very nicely laid out and attractive. They feature lots of roses and mixed borders. There is also this very unusual Thai pavilion. The interpretive sign said that it is the only Thai pavilion outside of Thailand and was given by the Thai alumni of the University of Wisconsin. (I had a tour of the campus as well as the government center, courtesy of my Zumo). And yes, the pavilion really is gold. It wasn't reflecting sunlight because there wasn't any sun. The darkness of the sky made me rush through my visit a bit and get on the road to

Milwaukee.

I took what I though would be the fastest route, I-94, straight into the heart of Milwaukee. I doubt it was the fastest way because as soon as I got on, traffic ground to a halt due to construction. They had all three eastbound lanes reduced to driving on the shoulder for at least 10 miles at the start of rush hour. Needless to say, it wasn't very fast. I doubt I averaged 5 mph for those 10 miles. But I still got to my hotel at a decent hour. I'll be up very early tomorrow to catch the 6am ferry across Lake Michigan.