Day 2

Little Falls, MN to Prairie Du Chien, WI
When I went through Sauk Rapids, this caught my eye.
Why do people need to descend from that monster of a bridge?
To go fishing in the Mississippi, of course!
There's a park and recreation field on that side of the tracks, too!
I crossed this bridge...
...to get a better view of the Rum River in Princeton.
The tucked away spot is actually a camping area!
This view of Fanny Lake was certainly too pretty to drive by without taking a picture.
This is the public boat access to the lake.
Just past Cambridge, there was a scenic outlook but they were working on access to it.
You know a little yellow tape wasn't going to stop me, right?
Aren't you glad I'm stup.. err... brave?
Get a load of these views!
Nice!
Lovely colors!
Look at all the boats!
In Taylors Falls
A bar in Taylors Falls
Then it was south from there. As I made a left turn along my route, I came across the Franconia Sculpture Park.
Franconia might be a small community, but its sculptures aren't!
This artist was working on hers. She explained only a certain number are made each year.
This looked like a giant mosquito to me. Note there's plenty more sculptures in the background.
I really liked this one.
"Driftwood" which is half wood, half metal.
This one was very cool. The path leads you down into a depression in the ground.
The giant pinecone was another favourite.
Further south, there were great views of the river.
I love the little "islands" on rivers. I wonder how/why they last considering currents.
When I pulled into Stillwell, so had this train. (Look for its blue nose... I don't do u-turns on busy streets!)
An antique car outside an antique store.
Stillwell was a very cool place so I stopped there for lunch. I don't usually take pictures of food but my fried avacadoes and sweet potatoes didn't just taste great, they looked great!
This was my very nice waitress at Nacho Mama's.
My waitress told me that 100 stairs lead up to the top of the bluff.
And this door leads into caves which you can explore.
The buildings along the main street were all as good looking as this one.
You've got to love this popcorn wagon!
There were sidewalk cafes everywhere.
This paddlewheel was the tiniest of a fleet of 5 that I could see docked along side each other. The biggest was 4 times as big.
This fountain was in front of the paddlewheel ticket office/building.
I briefly crossed the Mississippi (@Port Douglas/Prescott) to ride the part of the Great River Road that I had enjoyed so much a few years ago. I didn't take many pictures (since they'd be "repeats") but I did stop at Diamond Bluff to take this one.
I crossed back over the Mississippi at Hager City (WI) to Red Wing (MN). This view is taken from the boat acess on the island looking back at Wisconsin.
This is the bridge I crossed to get to the island.
This and the next picture are taken from a rest stop along Hwy 61.
Nice place to relax, isn't it?
Lake City
I decided to explore the outcropping.
A nice place to sit and gaze at the river...
The outcropping is populated with mobile homes and it curls around a protected marina.
At its farthest point out, there was a picnic area.
I continued along the Great River Road and was stopped to take a picture of this impressive house and its out-buildings.
That house was on a ridge above the Great River Road. Here's a view from that ridge looking upriver...
...and downriver.
...
Farther south, I was drawn to this garden which I thought must be part of a town park or something...
...but instead I found that it was part of a private home!
Along this part of the Mississippi, it's hard to tell there's a river because of all the things growing in it!
A warning to motorcyclists travelling the Great River Road: there are stretches where there doesn't seem to be a lot of is gas stations. I was getting very low on fuel and figured I couldn't waste what I had wandering aimlessly. Therefore I stopped at a house right on the road near the Minnesota/Iowa border to ask for assistance in finding one. Petie greeted me...
...and these two gentlemen kindly gave me directions to the nearest gas station. Wouldn't you know it? Only two days from home and I already miss my own dog, Maggie Mai. I guess that's why I remembered Petie and Boie's name and went brain-dead when trying to remember the two gentlemen's names! Thanks, gentlemen!
I got to New Albin and the first station was closed! The second station was also closed but a fellow was working on his son's car inside the garage. He kindly sold me enough gas to continue along my way! Thanks again!
It was time to cross the Mississippi once again. This time I travelled from Lansing, Iowa (where this picture is taken) to De Soto, Wisconsin. I arrived in Prairie Du Chien just after dark.
        
        Map of Day 2 to left.

        Next: Day 3
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