WOW and Wisconsin are within sight

We got checked out of Macalister College July 5, and were headed out of the twin city of St. Paul, Minnesota.  We'd be running along in a leisurely manner as we only had a few hundred miles to get to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.  Today would be spent wandering about, taking our time and just getting partway down the road toward our destination.  

We didn't get very far before we stopped at the Mill Ruins Park, which is still under construction.  There's a running/walking trail, and lots to look at.  It's located downtown and is a place we could have spent a lot of time.  We did wander around a bit and shot a few shots, photos, that is.

This seven-story building was built in 1879 as the Crown Roller Mill.  It was one of the largest and most modern flour mills although its daily capacity of 2,400 barrels was soon surpassed by others.  Because these buildings held heavy machinery, they had thick stone or brick walls and massive foundations.  They make great candidates for remodeling and re-use.  In 1988, the Crown was opened as office space.

The Gold Medal Flour sign was pretty cool.  Pillsbury was also here, so it appears there was quite the corner on the flour market.  Mill Ruins Park was named for the 1878 explosion of the Washburn Plant, that was later rebuilt.   

We didn’t need to arrive in Oconomowoc (I love saying that word now that I know how to pronounce it) until the afternoon of Monday, July 6.  We had plenty of time and we followed the Great River Road, Highway 35, a state road, and Wisconsin’s only national scenic byway.  We stopped at a visitor center and looked around at the big trash sculpture.

The trash used for this sculpture represents the efforts of those who have participated in the cleaning efforts.  The  500-pound 8-point white-tail buck and two nesting herons took about 240 hours of work to complete.  There have been 3,000 cleanups with 85,000 volunteers that have removed 6 million pounds of trash from 10,000 miles of shoreline.

The Mighty Mississippi is one that is steeped in culture with riverboats, barges, commerce, entertainment.  The transportation of goods along the river is mind-boggling, because it’s been the history of the river as well as the present and the future. 

The river has a fascinating history and I couldn't read enough about what happens on it even today.

On the bluff where we were stood tow boats and barges pass every day.  Towboats push 15 barges at a time, about the size of a city block, with the main cargo being grain (corn, wheat, barley, oats and rye).  Other cargo includes iron, coal, petroleum, fertilizer and sugar.  A single barge can hold 1,500 tons of freight, the same as 15 train cars or 58 semi trailers.

This area is also a major route of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.  Forty to 50 trains clackety-clack over the rails each day carrying enough lumber to build 500,000 homes annually and enough coal to generate 10 percent of the country's electricity.

In 2008 60 Prescott residents created the Butterfly Bench.  The birds, bugs, flowers and water celebrate a healthy habitat in which butterflies thrive.  This is one of several benches in the area created by community members of all ages, along with local artists.

The Great River Road winds along the Mississippi, and is one well worth travelling.  There are loads of trees, it’s two-lane, and there are places to pull over to see the locks on the river, and watch trains. 

Locks are always interesting and there were four small boats waiting to exit this one.

Those are a couple of things I enjoy seeing, although we did miss the photo of the day which would have been to be on the bridge over the tracks watching the train thunder under us, with the wind blowing our hair and hats, and the smell of train fuel wafting past our delicate noses.  That was not to be, although if we’d waited another 20 minutes that probably would have happened. 

Even though we didn't get to see the train, we were at the best town by a dam site. 

The other thing we saw was a huge coal-fired power plant, right near the river.  There was a haze in the air, and I wondered if it was from the plant, from the humidity, from smoke from somewhere else?  I didn’t ask and we rode on.

Hazy, hazy, hazy.

We had decided to stay in LaCrosse, putting us less than 200 miles from Oconomowoc, and we once again opted for a Best Western.  They’ve been great, with clean, large accommodations and pools to refresh us after our evening walks to find sustenance (usually yogurt, an apple or banana, or cottage cheese and pineapple).  This one had great pillows. 

Awesome pillows.

Most of these places have four pillows per bed and many of the pillows are too big for my dainty head.  They hurt my neck.  But the pillows on this bed were not too big, not to small, but absolute perfection!!!