Wednesday, 7/31

The sun has sunk below the line of clouds to the west, and the sandhill cranes are making their evening sounds from the Mississippi. We're slowly destroying a plate of cheese from the Nelson Creamery, in Nelson, WI. We had a day of exploring by car, as the weather forecast was unsure about today. After a hearty breakfast- bacon and eggs in a bag, cooked over a campfire- we headed through Winona, MN and headed north.

Attempted to find a geocache near John A. Latsch State Park in MN, but it was elusive. Nifty spot though!

Continued north up MN61. Kept thinking about Dylan's album, "Route 61 Revisited", but couldn't remember what his hometown was. Holman? Anyways, after an amazing lunch at a place in Wabesha, MN.

The  owner is an active cyclist and bike art is everywhere inside and out.

Turns out that was the town Grumpy Old Men was filmed. We were looking for the National Eagle Center, but there was a LOT of urban renewal going on in town and it was hard to get around without a lot of detours. Nope, didn't find it. Saw a lot of bald eagles, though. 

We stopped for the pups at a weird little park in Lake City, called Hok-Si-La Park, which means "Tent Camping", in the local Indian tongue, according to the gal in the gift shop. She also told me that it was Minnesota's Best-Kept Secret" though "word was gettin' out" about it. I told her that it was truly unique.

She said that it was a Boy Scout camp, until the City bought it, conditionally that it be a renting campground for Ever. 

The grounds are still regimented, with the  barracks converted into picnic spaces, a "Moonrise Kingdom" style woodland chap is also on site.

A real slice of Americana.

Crossed the Mississippi at Red Wing and headed back south past spectacular bluffs. 

Time to chill. Trying to decide it the state bird of Wisconsin is the deer fly or mosquito.

July 31 - It's a Mini Day

After getting over our midnight excitement (nothing like a group howl from the local coyotes to get your heart pumping...and set terror into the hearts of the terriers), we successfully cooked our breakfast in a bag (interesting/ fun/ something to experiment with) over the campfire and prepped for the day.

With chances of scattered rain showers expected all day across the region, we decided it was to be an adventure day in Mycroft.

Traveling North to Winona Minnesota (we now can all say we have been to Minnesota (new for all of us), we continued north along the western shore of the Mississippi following Bob Dylan's road of song....rte 61...in the rain.

Then, challenged for getting off the beaten path we called up our geocaching app and went in search of a multi-cache up a likely candidate of a road...Switch Back Rd.... Near the #6 Lock and Dam.....found step one, took a nice mile hike in the state forest to the coordinates, found all the clues...but no cache 😞....

Wending our way along the high plains of the upper Mississippi (much higher and rolling vs Wisconsin side) we found ourselves looking at the sign for the National Eagle Center and decided to follow the signs....between the road construction in town and our growing hunger, we became distracted by a cafe offering coffee sandwiches and ice cream and great yard art!

The NEC is in the town of Wabasha... better known for it being the setting for both Grumpier Old Men movies... And just like the movies requiring a happy ending, the rain ceased by the time we finished lunch.

So...ever northwards towards Lake Pepin and Lake City (self purported home of the invention of water skiing) and the former Boy Scout camp now municipally operated  for "forever tent camping" Hok-Si-Li Park. We saw over a dozen Bald Eagles (adult and juvenile) and Muriel saw one snag a fish from the lake.

After making our way to Red Wing and past their correctional facility we decided the sun was such that we should head back across the river and south... In search of cheese.

Finding cheese and more interesting places (you should check out the google app "field trip" for your next "blue highway" adventure and additional info surrounding the spaces for Historical Markers)...

We drove past Maiden Rock and the Beef Slough (a part of the Weyerhaeuser legacy)

we made it back to our campsite in time to be serenaded by the Cranes again.  Quiet night here on the midweek night at the Camp ground, looking at all the reservations posted it looks to be a busy next few nights.... Enjoying our time.

...a little catching up!

On our Way! See Ya, Evansville!

Took this picture Monday morning as we prepared to depart Moraine View State Park, near Bloomington/Normal, IL. We headed out Sunday afternoon, and headed up IL1 to Danville, where we headed west.  It was an awesome day for driving, with temps in the 70's and low humidity. We stopped at Chrisman, IL, at Frostop for refreshments. They serve outstanding root beer floats, the same way they did when we stopped there in 2004 on our second trip to Door County! Muriel was too young, then, to remember that stop, but she DID remember how crowded it seemed in our Dodge Dakota. We stopped at Moraine View in '04, too- the trees are a little taller, and there's a wind farm next door, but its still a very quiet spot to drop anchor for the night. 

We headed out at first light, more or less, and had an uneventful ride up. The weather was again, outstanding. 

We got to Perrot State Park about 2:45 on Monday afternoon, and set up camp in a spot that actually turned out about as good as it looked on paper! We made our reservations and plans for this back in early January, and really had no idea what Perrot was going to be like, except that we wanted to vacation in either Michigan, Minnesota, or Wisconsin, and camp in a region we had never explored.

     Perrot is very cool. Any utube vids you might can't express what an amazing place it is. On Tuesday, Torrey's Birthday, we went for a little hike around part of the park, and up to the highest elevation, called Brady's Bluff.

Muriel enjoys the view from a bench about half way up. About every time we thought we were about near the top, (how could there possibly be more?) there would be more up sloping trail!  

Muriel being a mountain goat.

The view from about there.

From a bit further on, it looked like this...

Not far to the top!

On our way back down the other side. Should have taken more pictures up there. 

Back at the 'site it looked like this when we got back.

We cooked up some Wisconsin brats and hit the hay. A good day!

 

 

July 30 - birthday

Tuesday, July 30, 2013....woke up to a wonderful 61deg grey sky day! Perfect for campfire breakfast, a hike, taking it easy and enjoying time with the family away from "civilization".

With the exception of having cell service, we are away from electricity, generators, and "noisy" campers. We have rediscovered the joy of camping where there are none of those things that take away from your surroundings.

Breakfast started as an attempt at a scout meal of bacon & eggs in a bag...a moments in attention relegated us to our usual cereal and oatmeal washed down with coffee....going to try again tomorrow. ;-)

Took a leisurely hike along the river trail then turned up Brady's Bluff trail and climbed up for a spectacular view of the La Crosse River and Upper Mississippi. 

 The wildflowers were gorgeous! The soil is so sandy it takes determination for anything to grow and flourish.

An assortment of side oats and prairie clover.

I failed to take a picture of a clump of Indian Pipes growing in the duff. It has been years since I have seen these growing. But I did manage to for the wild black caps and gooseberries .... Yum!

Wild yarrow and Bergamot (aka Bee Balm or Monarda), mixed in with assorted black eyed susan are the most common at this time of year.

Did I mention that it was steep at times?

And there were hidden gems around corners.

Back at the campsite we were serenaded to the evening sounds cranes calling as they came in to roost for the evening.

Now it's time for some local Brauts and misc sides before turning in.

On the road again

Heading to cooler climes and a change in scenery, we packed Mycroft and headed North towards the head waters of the Mississippi.

With Dogs in tow we stopped our first night at Moraine View State Park. We stayed here 10 years ago and acquired (2) roadrunner wind-a-ma-jigs and Muriel ate an ENORMOUS plate of chocolate chip pancakes.  The park has remained the same, but the breakfast cafe is gone, wind-a-ma-jig guy has passed on and there are dozens of enormous wind turbines across the landscape.

Day 2 of travels took us further north, beyond the Wisconsin Dells towards La Cross Wisconsin, then North to Trempealeau, across the Mississippi from Winona Minnesota.