Still in Wisconsin and Iowa

Thursday, June 18  Military Ridge Rails-to-Trails

Along Military Ridge Trail

We saddled up and hit our third rails-to-trails in southern Wisconsin.  The Military Ridge trail runs from Dodgerville to Madison, WI.  We left our camp at Blue Mound state park and headed toward Mt. Horeb and Verona.  Blue Mound is the highest point in southern WI, so we knew there was going to be a climb to get back to the RV, but being on a rail-to-trail, nothing is too steep.

It was another great day for a ride and we clipped right along to Verona.  We decided to circle through town on the Ice Age Trail bike path which took us right to the edge of the Madison city limits with a nice view of the western edge of Wisconsin's state capital.  If Nicholas had been with us, we're sure we would have been riding right in to the state capital.

Epic Campus - Bike trail is in the upper right

When we were approaching the Verona we saw a giant construction project.  On our way back to the Military Ridge Trail we rode up to the project which turned out to be the Epic medical software company campus.  They must be doing really well. (Was this software mandated by Obama-care?) The campus is huge, with massive construction projects underway.  We rode through the edge of the campus which must be large enough to employ at least 10,000 people at this one location, if not more.

On our way back we stopped in Mt. Horeb to check out the "famous" trolls and have lunch at the Grumpy Troll Brew Pub.  Lunch and the beer was good, but we were  underwhelmed by the number of "trolls" along the main street.  First there is a sign pointing you to "Troll way" as you come into town, but then no further directions.  We had stopped at a craft shop and Beth asked where the trolls were.  What few were left were located further down the main street... I guess we were just expecting a lot more after all the hype.

Mt Horeb Trol

Friday, June 19 - Taking care of business 

We have been on the road for a few days and riding almost every day, so the laundry was piling up.  We found a nice laundry in Dodgerville and made pretty quick time that task.  We also stocked up on ice and diesel for the RV.

Our plan was to head to Pikes Peak State Park in Iowa, just across the Mississippi from Praire du Chien, WI.  Pikes Peak is known for the bluffs above the Mississippi and claims to be the most photographed park in Iowa.  We had tried to reserve a camping spot there, but had no luck, but they have a number of sites reserved for "walk-ups".  We lucked out and were able to get a nice spot in the campground by arriving pretty early in the day.

Pikes Peak State Park, IA view of Praire du Chien, WI

Saturday - June 20 - Rained out...took a hike.
We woke up to a far off rumbling that was shortly followed by a pretty steady rain until 10AM.  The narrow roads around here are popular for cycling, but with the rain and traffic, we decided it would be a good day for a hike.  We put on the rain gear and headed out on what we thought would be about a 6 mile hike to  Point Ann" at the far north end of the state park.  Well it turned out be closer to 10 miles.  The rain stopped within a few minutes of hitting the trail and luckily it was mostly cloudy or we might have been steaming in our rain gear.  It was a pretty hilly hike and we are both a little sore today.

Hiking in Pikes Peak SP

Editorial Comment:   While a very nice park, if Pikes Peak is the most photographed park in Iowa, there must not be much to photograph.   As we were told by a former Iowan maybe
 "I Otta Went Around".  

For dinner we went to another Brewpub - Old Man River in downtown McGregor.   While they claim beer brewed on site and local food, it proved less than true.  Ted did have locally brewed beer but no beer brewed on site was available and they were out of the local cheese and sausages on the menu.  A little strange since it was Saturday night and they are mostly a tourist town.  Ended up eating mediocre bar-b-que sandwiches.  Ted's fried cheese curds were quite good.