9-18-15

We began our journey to Minneapolis-St. Paul and spent part of it on both the Wisconsin Great River Road and the Minnesota Great River Road.

Sights along the way before getting there. The Kwik Trip in Mauston. Love the unique inverted truck sign.

Castle Rock towering overhead, at a wayside we found a marker.

At another wayside we entered Coulee Country.

The fork in the road, took the left exit toward La Crosse.

We crossed over at Onalaska to the Minnesota side due to construction on the Wisconsin side.

Now in Minnesota, we headed north toward Pepin, WI. We would have to cross again later. For now, we enjoyed the sights.  Train tracks run parallel to the road, and we happened to pass a train! It was a Canadian Pacific.

Other sights, Lock and Dam #4

There was a wayside with signs describing the road and terrain. Also a plaque. The view behind us was breathtaking too.

Continuing north, approaching Winona, we saw this sign for Pickwick Historic Mill. That was enough for us to get off the road and pay a visit. We were there from 9:30 to 11:30  🙂   The Pickwick Mill was a bonus since I didn’t know about it, glad they had that sign.

After the mill we reached the bridge to cross back into Wisconsin and stop in Pepin, the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

After Pepin we encountered other markers as we continued on to Minneapolis. By then it has been raining for awhile. The first one we saw was the Lake Pepin. We were back on the Wisconsin side.

The Bow and Arrow formation, determined to be ancient.

Our journey on the Great River Road ends at Prescott, which is at the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers.  Back in Minnesota after crossing, we finish our journey to Minneapolis.