We crossed the Mississippi River today into Winona, Minnesota. Another milestone, however, we will cross back into Wisconsin for the next 2 days to work our way upstream to Minneapolis. By all reports, Wisconsin is more bike-friendly. We are staying at the Carriage House B&B in Winona:
This town has seen better days but has a lot of monumental architecture left over from its heyday.
The second building is a Methodist church, and the third is the First Congregational Church. As former Methodists and current Congregational church members, both of these buildings surprise us with their grandiosity.
No much going on downtown.
The bike shop pumped up our tires for us. In 5 days they lost 20 psi, so this is a good interval to re-inflate.
We spent all day on bike paths, but at the end of the ride they sent us through the Trempeleau wildlife reserve, which was enchanting.
Sparta, where we stayed last night, bills itself as the bicycle capital of America. Ok by me.
The trails today were rustic by our elevated standards but we still enjoyed shade, gentle grades and no auto traffic for 47 continuous miles.
In the nature reserve, I finally got a picture of a bunny in the road. Plenty of the hop across in front of us, but getting a picture while riding is impossible.
I have booked us into the Journey Inn tomorrow, outside of Maiden Rock, Wisconsin. It's an "Eco-retreat" that serves an organic breakfast and has "free rental bikes", yoga, etc. check them out at Www.journeyinn.net. No doubt breakfast will include granola. This may be like the time I ordered a vegan meal on the airplane; I may not hear the end of this.