Minneapolis MN to Trempealeau WI

Minneapolis MN to Trempealeau WI

Monday October 3, 2011

We took our time breaking camp this morning and left about 9:30 headed for the Great River Road Visitor Center in Prescott WI….it was great to leave the Twin Cities traffic behind. We crossed the Mississippi and found the Visitor Center – CLOSED ON MONDAY!!  Not a good thing.  We got some great views of the river but no information or passport stamps.

View from Great River Road Visitor Center

We headed south down the Wisconsin GRR which was US35. We passed through small towns along the river and when we got to US63 we crossed back into MN to visit Red Wing. This was a very prosperous small town. Red Wing shoes are still made here and we toured the museum showing their shoes made from 1800’s until today. Examples showed the boots worn by soldiers in WW2 and many others. They still have shoes made 100% in the USA. The company has bought out some additional brands and makes some of them in China but you can still buy 100% USA shoes in Red Wing Stores across the country. I did not realize they made many styles besides work boots. Interesting to me they market to numerous professions – not just miners, hunters, and firemen etc. They have an entire line made for professional chefs (so they won’t slip in kitchens when the floors get wet)!  They also have a complete line of running and walking shoes!

In the lobby is a huge boot – 2 stories high – leather with laces and sole.  They had a very nice retail outlet with work and hunting clothes – all of which would have been too warm in our part of the country. They of course had any type shoes you could want. They also had an outlet in the basement – so I had to go look around. I found a really nice pair of walking shoes-normally $109 for $55…just could not pass up the bargain!  

 Giant Shoe at Red Wing

Red Wing was getting ready for their Arts and Crafts Festival this next weekend and was decorated already. We walked around the main street a little and visited the Hotel St. James – built in the late 1800’s and still doing business today.  It was a very nice hotel with a beautiful pipe organ in the lobby. 

 Red Wing Prepares for their Festival

We went back across the river to Wisconsin and headed south again. We passed through numerous small river towns – Stockholm (pop 66); Pepin (pop 837) and Nelson (pop 374) to name a few. In Nelson we stopped for lunch at the Nelson Creamery.  On the banks of the Mississippi with small tables outside they had cheese, sandwiches, wine, and other foods to purchase. We had great sandwiches outside in the sunshine enjoying the temperatures in the 70’s. Then we looked around in the store and bought some more Wisconsin cheese. This time we got white cheddar and 4 year old cheddar. Tomorrow we will buy some apples and bread and have lunch for several days!

The landscape has changed – the river is much wider – it varies with the placement of the locks and dams. We have passed locks 3-4-5 and 6 today.   The small towns are wedged between the river bank and the bluffs that rise to the east of the road. The railroad follows the road between the road and the river. Often there are farms or orchards along the road as well. We are beginning to see barges of goods going up and down the river. 

Our choices for camping were Perrot State Park and a private park in La Crosse.  When we reached Trempealeau we drove into town and looked for the park. It was a very small town – again right on the river bank – with a couple old hotels with bar and grill, a bank, and a couple 7-11 type store/gas stations.  The park however was very nice with lots of hiking trails. The ranger gave us a map and said go pick out your site and come back – so we did. Set up camp, took a 1 ½ mile hike, and sorted through all the information on the river for the next couple days.  

Small town of Trempealeau and Relaxing at Perrot State Park

 There is no internet here – the 3G on the I-phone is interesting as it comes and goes. Here one minute and gone the next.  My main job tonight has been numbering and naming photos.  I did not start this trip with my usual system and if I don’t get a handle on it now I am lost!  I got about half finished…another evening should get me caught up.

Minneapolis and St. Paul

Minneapolis – Saint Paul MN

October 2, 2011

Lazy Sunday morning – well sort of – laundry and cleaning up the Sprinter. After a week on the road things are settling into their places and we needed to reorganize a little. Mostly we really needed to wash clothes. With two large washers and dryers it was not a bad job at all. We visited with several of the other campers and ate a late breakfast. We have a nice site near the laundry room. This campground has a couple fire pits with fires in the evening; nice bathhouse; great playground; and something I have NEVER seen in a campground – a storm shelter!  It is the basement of the older farmhouse that is the home of the family owning the campground but it is a labeled storm shelter…you know me and disasters – I was impressed.

 Ben relaxing at our campsite at Town & Country Campground

About 11:30 we packed up and started out on our day of exploration in the Twin Cities. We started at the National Park Service Headquarters visitor center for the Mississippi River National Recreation Area. Unique idea for National Parks – they are partnering with 10 parks, museums, etc in the area to present the history and natural resources of the area in a consolidated way. The ranger told us they offer tours, materials, and of course passport stamps…we managed to collect 3 today. 

 View of Mississippi from St. Paul Science Museum

Yesterday we had investigated taking the light rail into Minneapolis to avoid driving. Today, since it was Sunday (hoping for lighter traffic) and we wanted to go to both Minneapolis and St. Paul;  Ben decided to drive. It was not bad until we got into St. Paul. There was a huge marathon today and it was just finishing! There were runners and people everywhere.  We found the National Park Service Visitor Center and got lots of great information and ideas for the rest of our day.  Getting out of St. Paul was not much fun but we managed to get back across the Mississippi on the infamous bridge that collapsed in 2007 I believe.  The new bridge is beautiful and was completed in only a little over a year. We have a photo to share later. All I can say is good thing we did not try to drive earlier while most of the runners were still running!

Our next stop was the Mill City area. We found parking easily and after eating a snack lunch we walked around the Mill Area. The entire riverfront in Minneapolis has been cleaned up with the 2 lane GRR, and a 2 lane biking and hiking trail. The old flour mills are being restored as lofts, businesses, and restaurants.  The Gold Medal building has become a museum telling the history of the mills and the city.  Next door was the new Guthrie Theater –relocated here about two years ago.  The old stone bridge crosses the Mississippi here and is now a pedestrian bridge. The people of Minneapolis were out in force today – walking, biking, skateboarding, etc.  The temperature was 80 degrees and beautiful.  We walked out on the bridge to get some photos and observed a tour boat going through a lock at the St. Anthony Falls. This is the only falls on the entire Mississippi.

 Gold Medal Flour Building

After hiking out the bridge we went into the Guthrie and up to the 5^th floor to the endless bridge.  We rode up a 5 story escalator – Jane managed by holding on tightly with both hands. Ben ventured all the way to the end of the cantilevered observation deck.  The photos that show the entire river – north to the falls and south to the newly built interstate bridge were taken by him…Jane only went as far as the section with walls!

 Guthrie Theater with Cantilevered Deck - Photos below taken from there

 Looking North - Old Stone Bridge and St.Anthony Falls

 Looking South - the bridge in distance is the newly rebuilt bridge that collapsed

Next we followed the GRR through Minneapolis along the river – nice park with stops along the way for parking. The bikers and walkers were out in force along this road as well. The banks of the river are high here with bluffs on both sides – the trees were in their fall colors – beautiful.  As we left the downtown area, there were many nice homes along the river road.  We stopped at Historic Fort Snelling for a few photos and called it a day.  

 Great River Road through residential area of Minneapolis

It was a nice day with a quiet supper and finally some time to get the blog posted for the last several days.  Tonight we will study Wisconsin and Minnesota as we begin to make choices - which side of the river to take south. There is a GRR on both sides of the river!  We knew that and had some idea where we would go but now we are more familiar with the area and the choices will be hard.

Little Falls MN to Minneapolis MN

Little Falls to Minneapolis

Saturday October 1, 2011

Another beautiful crisp autumn morning -and crisp it was at 35 degrees! Two things we bought that have paid for themselves over and over again are our electric heater and Mr. Brit our GPS.  After another great breakfast of toast with bread cheese and strawberry jam we headed south on the Great River Road (GRR).  Our first stop was to look at the Charles Lindbergh home. He grew up here. This was his parents' home.  He flew his plane “Jenny” here several times after his famous first solo transatlantic flight. The home was locked up  for winter so we could only view from the gate.  The Mississippi is right below the bluff and very wide here due to dams along the river. We drove along MN 21 to St. Cloud. The GRR follows very closely the river through rolling farmland.

 Example of Farms 

The farms are much as they have been before – cattle, corn, and hay.  At St Cloud we drove west to I 94 for a short period for Ben to buy gas.  The great news was we had driven 614 miles since last buying gas and the calculated miles per gallon was 27!  The best yet for the Sprinter! Oh, we are not big like most of the RV’s you see on the road but we sure get better mileage! Many times we get 23 or 34 MPG but this was the best – we had not driven any interstates so had driven a little slower. Many people could not manage in a 20 foot van – for us it works fine. We can go many places a large RV could not go and Ben drives it for his work trips.  There is plenty of room for all our activities – cooking and eating, lounging around, and sleeping – we just can’t do them all at once!  Living with the basics is really good for you – helps you learn what is essential for living. It also makes you segment your activities!  Anyway it works for us…

From St. Cloud we headed south on MN75 through Elk River. As we get closer to the Twin Cities there are many more subdivisions and urban sprawl. At one point we were clipping along watching for the GRR signs, viewing the rivers and farms and suddenly huge sign – BRIDGE OUT – Wow – we turned around and followed the detour signs for a few miles. This was not a bridge over the Mississippi but one of the smaller rivers flowing into it.

 Good thing we say this sign!

In Elk River we stopped at Von Hanson’s Meats. We have been seeing meat stores along the roads much as we had seen cheese shops in Wisconsin.  We felt it was part of our cultural experience to find out what they were selling!  They had all kinds of sausages, beef, pork, chicken, so many choices… we bought some maple sausage and special pretzels. Then we got a small container of cheese & pea salad to have with a sandwich for lunch. 

 Examples of Sausages

A little further south we stopped at a roadside park for lunch. The salad was made of small cubes of cheddar cheese, peas, and light colored cheese curd. It was quite tasty. The park was a great stop as Jane got in a mile walk and we also got to view the Mississippi. 

 View of Mississippi from our lunch stop - about 50 miles north of Minneapolis

We did a little research on the i-phone to locate a campground somewhat close to the Mall of America.  We found one and asked Mr. Brit to get us there. We stayed on the GRR until it went into downtown Minneapolis. At that point we let Mr. Brit take over and ended up at the Town and Country Campground in Savage MN. It was 9 miles to Mall of America.

Everything we needed for a two day stay – washing machines, WIFI, cable TV, electricity – we were set. 

We got settled in and thought – only 3 PM let’s just go to Mall of American this afternoon and eat dinner there.  So Mr. Brit took us there – only problem finding parking with 9ft clearance…a nice policeman directed us to the IKEA parking lot and it was full of RV’s, trucks, and other odd vehicles that could not get in the 7ft clearance lots.  Luck was with us – the one place we really wanted to go was near that entrance.  

 We certainly did not make it to every one of the 500+  stores by any means – there are 4 levels and we only were on 2.  Let’s see – the highlights for us were LEGO, Columbia, Barnes & Noble, Brookstone, Coldwater Creek and a wallet kiosk. The amusement park in the center of the mall was unbelievable. There was also an IMAX, an aquarium, theaters and over 25 restaurants. 

 These are for Daniel !

I believe this LEGO robot was 34 ft high

We ate dinner at the Rainforest Café. Ben had never been to one and it is an experience. We had salads and a huge plate of appetizers. For being a non-shopper Ben did the most buying! That mall is quite a place and certainly worth a visit.. The most interesting entertainment to me was the “Flying Dutchman Ghostly Gangplank” it was a ropes course – several stories high – tallest in the world with folks in safety harness climbing the ships mast and walking the plank! It sure would not be for me but it was fun to watch.

 These folks were having a great time on the ropes

 Tired shopper heading home!

We were both done in after eating and headed back to camp. We arrived back at camp by 7:15 and set up for a little TV, blog writing, and a good night’s sleep. The office gave us a password for the WIFI and at 10PM when I was ready to post the blog - we found out each computer needed a separate password so I could not get on!  First time for that!

Lake Itasca to Little Falls

Lake Itasca MN to Little Falls MN

Friday September 30, 2011

The sun was shining as we left Lake Itasca State Park – the first morning we have not had rain since we left North Carolina…a real treat!  The temperature got down to 40 in the night but we were warm and toasty in the Sprinter. I remembered how to make the cheese and bacon omelets in the microwave so we had a good breakfast; then dug out our trusty checklist – checked it and were on our way. Having left the TN flag up, drawers unlatched, forgotten to switch the electric for the refrigerator and lost more than one door mat – we had to have a list!  Now we don’t forget anything when we remember the checklist!  

The Great River Road signs are posted along the roads to follow the Mississippi south. Today we were on 4 lane state highways, 2 lane paved county and state roads and 2 lane graded dirt roads. The roads that most closely follow the river are selected as part of the Great River Road (GRR). Relying of Mr. Brit for several years – we now have to rely on Jane to catch the road changes. Only missed one or two turns today and we were able to catch the GRR again within a few miles. 

Here is river as it leaves Lake Itasca Park.

Look Closely there is the Mississippi as just a stream behind the trees

Our first town was Bemidji where we stopped to mail Dan’s post card and take photos with Paul Bunyan and his blue ox. The river is not large more like an East TN stream or creek. There are numerous lakes and all seem to have numerous “resorts” down side roads.   

 Ben comes to the knee of Paul!

We followed mostly two lane paved and very well graded unpaved roads for about 100 miles to the next fairly large town of Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids claim to fame is to have been the home town of Judy Garland. We passed that museum by and tracked down Pasties Plus for lunch. Pasties are pot pie filling sealed up in crust and baked. They began in England, came to the US and Canada with immigrants. They were a way for workers to take lunch easily into mines or on other jobs. This establishment was noted on Virtual Tourist web-site as having the best pasties in northern Minnesota so since it was lunch time - why not eat one!  They were very good but we certainly would have missed it if we had not been looking. We plan to eat as little “chain restaurant” food as possible on this trip and try out local dishes.  The trays of freshly baked pasties greeted us at the door!   

 Pasties greeted us at the door!

Our clean plates - We ate at the only table in the place.

 Leaving Grand Rapids we again followed small state and county roads south through Brainerd to Little Falls where we had a reservation at Charles Lindbergh State Park for the night.Most of the farms along the river were raising cattle and had corn and hay as their main crops. Most of the farmers were busy in some aspect of harvesting. The type of hay bales is always interesting. All the farms in MN seem to be using round bales.  We were amazed at the number some of the farms were stacking up for winter. In one location we saw stacks 9 bales wide and 20 or 30 in length.  One house we passed had wood stacked up against their house as high as to the second story – all homes had wood stacked somewhere.  Obviously they have a long cold winter.

Businesses were much as seen anywhere – Walmarts, Target, Burger King, Applebees – etc. but you had some things we never or seldom see in the south – meat smokers, lots of wood burning stoves, curling rinks, and of course much more farm machinery than we see in our part of the country.  Many of the businesses had Scandinavian names and in one county Mick Finn was running for Sec/Treas. We are really not sure what he was running sec/treas of but he had hundreds of hand lettered signs posted throughout the area! 

After making all those signs he deserves to win!!  Funny we did not see any opposition signs.

We did not have a destination in the GPS most of the day only when looking for something special but it was running and once it showed us traveling along the GRR with the river right beside us…it was a peaceful, restful and beautiful day.  

  Mississippi somewhere in rural MN

You can see how closely our road follows the river.

We arrived at Charles Lindbergh State Park about 4:00 and found our campsite waiting.  The Lindbergh Home is only open Memorial Day to Labor Day but we will look around outside tomorrow morning and take one of the park trails along the Mississippi. The weather is nice – in the 60’s with no wind and lots of sunshine – hope it stays this way tomorrow.

 Jane took a 1 1/2 mile walk around the campground. All the electric sites are full and about half the non-electric sites filled. The leaves are falling and walking in crunching leaves is really fun. Not so sure Ben would agree the leaves are fun when he is trying to back into a campsite and can’t tell where the pavement is!  Dinner, a shower, reading and blog writing and another good nights sleep is ahead! 

One casualty of the day was an awful mess in Jane’s cosmetic kit.  Never had any problem with it before but a small crème rinse came open and made a huge mess of everything!  Took everything out – washed and dried all the other contents – then washed the kit itself and it will hopefully be dry by morning.  If this is the worst problem we have it will be a great trip!