0 miles by bike: layover day in la crosse, WI

what a fabulous day … fabulous weather, fabulous town, fabulous activities.

first thing, my roommate, barb, & i did our wash in the motel laundry room. that’ll get me thru the end of the trip except for some hand-washing a night or 2. at 9 barb left with friends from the area for taliesin & a day touring the frank lloyd wright compound there. i’ve done those tours in years past; they’re very interesting.

at 9:30 i met 7 or 8 others downstairs for a walk to hackberry’s for brunch. the place was filled with a very large group, but there was a little room for us in some booths on the far side of the room. the service was great, despite the large number of diners. i had a gateau with delicious multigrain toast & a fresh-fruit bowl … all scrumptious. i also ate one of marilyn’s 2 pieces of sausage; she was full, & i hardly ever eat sausage, but this was very good.

some of us went from hackberry’s to the outfitter’s store. i wanted a lightweight fleece vest for a little extra warmth on some of these cool evenings. i found a 1/2-price patagonia vest on clearance that works fine. i also found a pair of crazy-looking mion all-weather shoes that are nice for walking … & i’m impressed by the company’s commitment to the environment.

i walked back to the motel just in time to meet up with judy williams, a long-time friend who lives in wautoma, WI. judy & i became friends when we worked together in the graduate school office at the univ of wisconsin/madison in the late ’60’s. judy called me this morning to say she planned to come visit, so she drove over to join us for the riverboat cruise at 1:30. the sightseeing cruise was very informative & lots of fun.

the la crosse queen is “one of the few authentic Mississippi River paddlewheel river boats still in operation in the country today.” going upriver we passed many logs covered with turtles out sunning themselves. we saw big blue herons flying & at the water’s edge, & we got a close-up of a bald eagle as it swooped past the boat near the shore.

here’s a photo of the canadian pacific railroad bridge opening so we could pass through it.

looking closely, we could see the keeper of the little house on the bridge wave as we passed by. he has to be there 24 hours a day in order to open the bridge when tall boats want to go up or downriver.

carol took this photo of judy & me with the red paddlewheel in the lower background.

one of the townspeople who was on this cruise struck up a conversation with me. she wanted to know if our group was on some kind of tour. i told her that we were biking from new orleans to lake itasca. she was taken aback, then looked at me & said, “you’re no spring chicken.” i laughed & said that’s what makes this accomplishment all the more rewarding. she said she did some biking & thot she might some day be interested in doing a trip, so i gave her the womantours web site ID.

i realized as we neared the dock at the end of our 1-1/2-hour cruise that i’d last visited this very spot when aboard the delta queen for a 1-week cruise that was part of the 2004 grand excursion. i was raving to judy about the delta queen. she suggested that she & i do a trip on the delta queen after she retires … which will be in 1 or 2 years. oh boy, i’m already looking forward to that.

we left the la crosse queen & walked along the beautiful riverfront walk, past these statues along the railing.

judy had offered to drive carol, jo ann, & me up to the top of granddad’s bluff, a landmark here in la crosse. to quote a local tourism source, “La Crosse has some of the most beautiful, natural bluffs and hills in the midwest. Granddad’s Bluff sits above the city at approx. 580 ft. Autumn is spectacular when the bluffs overlooking the city are ablaze in yellows, browns, and reds.”

that’s iowa way in the distance, with the river sprawled below.

here are carol & jo ann at the end of the walkway that hung out over the edge of the bluff, with probably onalaska behind jo ann’s left shoulder. we bike through onalaska tomorrow on our way to wabasha, MN.

judy took us back to the motel, then had to go on to meet family elsewhere in the area. what a treat to see her!

clark & marilyn were already waiting near hackberry’s for us to come join them for supper. jo ann, carol, laura, judi, holly & i walked over that way. again the food was beyond superb. here’s leah, our waitress, with the 4 dishes ordered at my table: marilyn’s chicken paillard, laura’s seared sea scallops with a jalapeno cream sauce, my paella, & i forget what clark had.

here’s a closeup of my paella. can you believe the size of those shrimp & scallops? & the rice was just the right spiciness. this was my 3rd meal at hackberry’s in just 2 days. i’d go back tomorrow if i could.

as we were finishing our meals, a fellow was setting up nearby to play the harp. he’s barry byrne, a celtic harpist. you can see that this harp is different from the usual harp. the music was mesmerizing…absolutely lovely. we lingered a while to listen to a few of the pieces he played.

laura & i finally tore ourselves away. we first went downstairs to the people’s coop so i could buy a couple of the dark chocolate bars laura had earlier spotted for me. what a good friend! then we walked over through the park on our way back to the motel. the local farmers’ market was underway. even tho’ i was full to the very gills, i still salivated over the gorgeous fresh produce … especially those snow pea pods & the rhubarb, just like the rhubarb i know is growing in my back yard at this very moment. it’ll become a pie or 2 when i get home.

we stopped to pet this dog, buster, in this photo with his foster mom, connie. she works with CASA, crawford area shelters for animals. buster, part sharpei, needs a new home. he’s such a sweet dog. connie told me that she used to live in iowa city … until 10 years ago … & still misses it.

finally i made my way back to my motel room & have been working on this post ever since. i’ll repack in the morning before our breakfast at 7. tomorrow we bike northward on this side of the river, part of the time on a trail, then across the river, ending at wabasha, MN…about 60 miles. they say the weather will be beautiful like today’s. what a nice ride it’ll be.