Day 13 - New road home

We were loaded up and headed out of Milwaukee by mid-morning.  Ironically is was dry and cloudy. But that was the point, to get out of Milwaukee before the next wave of rains came.  The new route required a reset of all the hotels we had planned.  Before we headed out the door, we were able to get a room booked for the night in Rochester, MN. 

The re-calculated route takes a road we've not been on before but we've had pretty good luck with the  US and state highways we've tried so Highway 14 it is.  We took Blue Mound Rd/ Hwy 18 west out of Milwaukee. Eventually this becomes Hwy 18/12 and will take us to Hwy 14.  Right away there was a detour for 14 west, so we stayed on 18 through the detour. It was cloudy but dry riding.  Temps were in the high 70's and it was comfortable with the leather jacket on. As we rolled through the small village of Sullivan, WI it was clear they were setting up for a parade.  Chairs lined the streets and people were taking their seats to watch the parade.  A few minutes later and we probably would have been part of the Official World's Greatest Junk Parade.  First time for everything.

We rolled into the HD dealership at Madison and Rudy said, "That road was awesome!  It made the whole trip just riding that road."  When I asked what he liked about it he explained the rolling hills, passing farms and all the old barns was it.  In my mind too, it's the best of what Wisconsin roads has to offer. 

Back on the road we easily transitioned from US 18 to US 12 to US 14.  The road was closed at Black Earth so we were again detoured briefly around the troubled area and resumed our route just outside of Mazomanie. As we cruised into Spring Green, about 22 miles shy of Richland Center which was the next planned stop, I decided it might be a good idea to stop for fuel and Culver's had Carmel Peanut Butter Cup as the flavor of the day.  They shared a parking lot, so it seemed like a good call.  As we lunched I checked the weather and if we're going to get any rain today it would be in the next stretch.  Up to this point the sun had been out and the fellas were debating taking of a layer. Rudy opted for sleeveless while Cami chose rain gear.

We weren't much passed Gotham when we took the first small burst of rain.  It cleared fairly quickly but the clouds were dark and imposing as we rounded the corner.  We made a quick rain gear stop and headed into it.  By Richland Center, WI it was coming down pretty good. Between Shelby and La Crosse, US 14 merges with US 35, the Great River Road which runs 250 miles along the Mississippi through 33 river towns and is Wisconsin's Scenic Byway - which sounds like a great ride for another day.  It rained all the way to La Crosse which was about 80 miles.  We pulled in under the cover of a gas station in La Crosse.  There was some grumbling and general unhappiness about being wet AGAIN.  Even with rain gear, we were pretty well soaked through. 

We made our way through the city of La Crosse and came to the Mississippi River Bridge that crosses over to La Crescent, MN.  Almost as soon as we crossed this bridge we were out of the rain. We were now on the Minnesota side of the Great River Road which runs 575 miles through Minnesota. We enjoyed the views along the river as we rode into Winona, MN. 

We passed through Eyota on our way into Rochester for the night.  We were partially dry but still happy to see a hot shower, a good meal and a warm bed.  The washer and dryer made quick work of our wet clothes and we'll be ready to go again in the morning. 

Total miles: 289 miles
Time to travel that distance: 7.75 hours
Total Cumulative miles: 3204 miles