September 7, 2026 - Onalaska, Wisconsin to Harper's Ferry, Iowa

Three states - almost 69 miles - what a long, hard day it was!
Tobey headed out about 7:20 this morning ready to face the day. The trail wasn't marked well and he made a couple wrong turns just getting to it! Yikes. It was pretty once he reached the trail and was next to the river again.

I had a different route and went by a shopping center that had a line of cars waiting to turn in. There were at least 150 cars in the lot in line - like at Disneyland - waiting to drive through a COFFEE SHOP! I stopped at a grocery store and asked them what was going on and they explained it was a new coffee shop and they were running all kinds of specials. He thought they were giving away a free 6-ounce cup of coffee today. I'm sure glad I don't drink coffee. Some of those folks would be waiting for an hour or more before they got to the little shop!

Tobey got some good photos that I wasn't able to stop for.
He went by one of the Viking River Cruise ships and their port by La Crosse, Wisconsin.

This is one big ship!

This is one of the bridges we went on across the Mississippi from Wisconsin to Minnesota.

I thought this is a pretty bridge when I went across.

He even took a selfie of himself if you look closely!


So, it's goodbye to Wisconsin and back to Minnesota.

Still on the Mississippi River Trail ...

We stopped in Brownsville, Minnesota for a short break after his first 18 miles.

I stopped at one of the scenic overlooks and spotted a wooly worm (caterpillar) zipping along the parking area and had a nice view of the islands forming in the river.

Unfortunately, several sections of the road didn't have much shoulder for Tobey to ride on.

I also took a turn off the road to check out one of the Army Corp of Engineers boat landing sites. This area also suffered quite a bit of flood damage so they are working on restoration.


Tobey got some other fun shots on his ride before we stopped for lunch in Lansing, Iowa.


Lots of bluffs along this route.

Next stop - Iowa!

We had a long break in Lansing for lunch since Tobey had ridden 41 miles at this point. Lucky for us we didn't need to cross the river across again to the Wisconsin side because this bridge is under construction. The signs said it would be completed by November 2026, but I have my doubts. There was a ferry for cars that didn't want to take the long detour.
This was the ferry boat taking cars across.


Tobey was on this road leaving Lansing. It was HORRIBLE!

Leaving town, Tobey had the first disaster of the trip. No shoulder and a drop off edge do not make a good combination. He caught the edge and went down. He hit his arm and has a cut on his elbow, a cut on the back of his shoulder, bent his glasses, and has road rash and a big bump on his hip. It even bent his handlebars a bit. I didn't know because I waited to leave Hastings and we met up again until 15 miles outside of Harper's Ferry. Geez.

This is when the road got better but I wish he was on trails.

After he rested a little and we cleanup his cuts and had some Tylenol, he headed off down the road. He wanted to go as far as Effigy Mounds since the weather forecast for tomorrow isn't good and there are so many hills. The road didn't get much better - and then the "shoulder" also had the rumble strips in it - and there was a lot of traffic. I stopped a mile from Effigy Mounds and waited for him because there was a sign that side "NO SHOULDER NEXT 6 MILES" (like there had been one???). We loaded his bike and drove the to the next town. It was horrible. I didn't even like driving on it!

We came back to Harper's Ferry, Iowa for our camp tonight. Our Fantasy Football draft was tonight so we got take-out from Spillway, a local bar and grill. We both got the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich and it was good.  

We're heading off to bed soon so we will see how the weather is tomorrow.

September 6, 2026 - Alma to Onalaska, Wisconsin

The alarm was set for 6:00 am today so Tobey could be on the road by 7:00. We were close ... 7:15! It was so wet outside - lots of condensation from all of the humidity that it almost felt chilly!

Tobey's ride started off on the highway again but luckily it was early on a Sunday morning so there wasn't much traffic! He stopped to get a picture of this historical marker. It is quite interesting since he used to sell paper and packaging and Weyerhaeuser was one of his suppliers!

This was one of the route signs - impressive.

He had views of the river and the train across the way.

It was difficult to see the bluffs today with the fog.

Even though our campground has an Alma address, it is north of the town. As you come into town you can see the large bridge and going across the river at Lock and Dam No. 4.



I stopped and watch this boat jockeying its wat back to the shore.

The town was really quaint and I stopped to take pictures of some of the buildings.

I especially liked this log building below.

What's there not to love about a Dam Saloon? It looks like it has it all.

Tobey saw some interesting sights as he made his way south. He took this picture for our neighbor, Dante, who hails from Wisconsin and is a tried and true Packers fan. See, Dante, opposing team can play together!

We have had lots of black bears showing up in our town (and behind our house!) because so many of the wildfires in Colorado have destroyed their food supplies. Tobey spotted this one on his ride and started to speed up until he noticed it wasn't real! I don't think it is foraging for food. Maybe just photo opportunities?

You never know what people are thinking. This Viking was in someone's front yard!

Midday the sun started to come out.

Tobey did say that it's really unusual that the miles in Wisconsin are longer than the ones in Minnesota. What? you say. Many of the trails and roads in Minnesota are flat. Here in Wisconsin they have so many hills that you surely travel 1.3 miles instead of 1!

This sign was on his trail today!

I headed on to the Great River State Trailhead parking in Trempealeau to park the RV and unload my bike. The plan was I would ride back on the trail to meet Tobey and we would come back to the RV together. Well ... I could not find my bike lock to get my bike down. I searched and searched and over 10 minutes later found MY key in a pocket in a pair of Tobey's shorts. Geez. Anyway, I took off and headed out to meet him enjoying the heavily shaded trail with hardly anyone on it.

The trail goes through through the Trempealeau marsh lands and wildlife refuge and was pretty good for most of my ride.

This was a small "village" along Tobey's ride.

Tobey got this picture further north than where we met up.


As we got closer to each other, the trail really wasn't great. I ended up getting off the trail and rode along on the gravel road that was for cars. Lucky for me, there weren't any!


This was after we met up - I went over to the rotten part of the trail for a photo.

Tobey had a longer distance on the rutted, narrow trail and welcomed the gravel road. There were several bird houses along the way.
We enjoyed our ride back to the RV together. This guy posed for us and didn't hop away when we went by!

The biggest obstacle on most of the way were lots of walnuts littering the trail. It makes for an interesting ride trying to dodge them!

Just before we got to the RV, Tobey spotted this giant fish. He said we need to come back next July for Catfish Days!

Back at the RV we had lunch and let Tobey rest after his first 41 miles for the day. We spotted this sign here before leaving and found it interesting that the Great River Road started here in Trempealeau!

The trail is under construction just a short distance away. We drove to the next trailhead so he could get back on the bike and ride to Onalaska. Here were his last shots of his ride. That is one OLD Airstream!

He arrived in Onalaska and we are doing laundry. Lucky for me, they have great internet! Tobey is headed off to get a massage, then we will head over to our camping spot for the night. His ride today was 55 miles, mine was 16.