{"id":15805,"date":"2018-06-21T20:51:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T01:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wohutravels.us\/?p=15805"},"modified":"2019-03-26T09:49:21","modified_gmt":"2019-03-26T14:49:21","slug":"day-5-alama-wi-hastings-mn-68-miles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travels.wohu.us\/?p=15805","title":{"rendered":"Day 5, Alma, WI – Hastings, MN, 68 miles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The morning view of the Blue Door Inn.<\/p>\n

\"02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alma has character: nice shops with clever displays like this crow with beads.<\/p>\n

\"03\"<\/a><\/p>\n

and these shoe planters….<\/p>\n

\"04\"<\/a><\/p>\n

…and this bench at the Alma Hotel in memory of Henry Schultz.<\/p>\n

\"05\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in the homey kitchen at the Blue Door, we enjoyed homemade muffins, fresh orange juice….<\/p>\n

\"06\"<\/a><\/p>\n

and had the roomy table all to ourselves! There were 8 others at the inn, but we got first pick of muffins, which meant rhubarb!<\/p>\n

\"07\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inn owner Cathy makes a mean quiche.<\/p>\n

\"08\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And we are off! We hope that today, this barn is the only thing falling down.<\/p>\n

\"09\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today we will wind through numerous small Wisconsin towns along America’s Byway on Highway 35.<\/p>\n

\"10\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And it is bluff country!<\/p>\n

\"11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On a bike, you cannot overlook the impacts that humans and our machines and fast pace have on nature.<\/p>\n

\"12\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wisconsin has so much water–beautiful rivers and sloughs. Here we are along the Tiffany Wildlife Area. We are greeted by wafts of scents: elderberries; common milkweed; basswood trees in bloom.<\/p>\n

\"13\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And the water is high!<\/p>\n

\"14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here EmJay stops to admire the mighty Chippewa River.<\/p>\n

\"15\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Is it art? A fawn that now rests in peace.<\/p>\n

\"16\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We rolled through Pepin, near the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder.<\/p>\n

\"17\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And past the home of the family that either had lots of kids, or owned a ski shop….?<\/p>\n

\"18\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Happily, many towns have held onto their old depots, like this one in Pepin.<\/p>\n

\"19\"<\/a><\/p>\n

MJ is happy to see that the Pepin Park we enjoyed was funded in part by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a great federal program funded by offshore oil drilling fees (note, no taxes) to buy conservation land and do park projects like this.<\/p>\n

\"20\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As we cruised out of Pepin, things began to change.<\/p>\n

\"21\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And suddenly we were in Italy at a lovely fountain in a public courtyard!<\/p>\n

\"22\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a little surreal! No one was there. Wine tasting starts at 3:00!<\/p>\n

\"23\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In Stockholm, population 66, we stopped at an old stone building.<\/p>\n

\"24\"<\/a><\/p>\n

EmJay visited here back in the 1980s when she lived in St, Paul, Today it is a Swedish gift shop, selling dishtowels for $30. It is expensive to live in a small town!<\/p>\n

\"25\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Little villages like Stockholm draw an artsy crowd. And sometimes, after a big night, the creative juices go wild and the cars get painted!<\/p>\n

\"26\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Approaching yet another bluff…<\/p>\n

\"27\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Maiden Rock, where the story says a young Indian woman protested her arranged marriage by…jumping.<\/p>\n

\"28\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We learned that Lake Pepin is a natural lake, caused when the smaller and steeper flow of the Chippewa River into the Miss created a significant delta.<\/p>\n

\"34\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ugh…then we had hills! Here MJ tops one of the big ones. Highway 35 meanders away from the river a few places, and that means hills.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The beautiful indigo bunting, whose “sweet, sweet, chew chew chew” happy calls have made us feel good all along our ride.<\/p>\n

\"35\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our last Wisconsin town, Prescott!<\/p>\n

\"36\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We visited the very nice Great River Visitor’s Center, with fun art!<\/p>\n

\"37\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And then, we began the worst part of our trip to date, along Highways 61 and 10 through Hastings, MN.<\/p>\n

\"38\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is part of the Mississippi River Trail, a biking trail from Itasca, the source, to New Orleans, the mouth!<\/p>\n