The Final Stretch

Oct. 6-10, 2003

The final stretch on our trip home was across Minnesota and into Wisconsin.

We stopped at Lake Carlos State Park, just north of Alexandria, MN. The fall color in the trees was very nice and we had a campsite right on the lake, so we decided to lay over for a day and do some paddling with our inflatable kayak on the lake. It was a good way to rest up after driving steadily for the last few days.
 

We headed south on I-94 until we got to Minneapolis. Then we turned on to US 61 and followed the Mississippi River south. We had hoped to see beautiful fall colors in the Mississippi River valley, but that was not to be; the color was rather drab in comparison to what we had seen at Lake Carlos.

The Mississippi River just south of La Crosse, WI. We are now in Wisconsin and Minnesota is on the opposite shore.

The confluence of the Wisconsin River with the Mississippi. The Mississippi is next to the bluffs in the distance; the Wisconsin is flowing right to left and joins the Mississippi near the left edge of the photo. The town across the Wisconsin is Prairie du Chien. Some trees had nice color, but many were rather drab.

After a couple of nights at Wyalusing State Park, we drove up the Wisconsin River to Sauk City for lunch at the Swiss Style cafe; they have the best malts in the area and it was a good way to end our trip.

We arrived home on Friday, Oct. 10. Our trip lasted 59 days and covered 8152 miles. We had an incredible streak of luck concerning rain; as best we can remember, it had rained once - which was an old-fashioned Midwestern thunderstorm in Sioux City, IA. The coldest temperature we encountered was 29 degrees, which was on the Beartooth highway south of Red Lodge, MT; we had taken a lot of warm clothing in anticipation of colder weather, but didn't need them.