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!
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.
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