Since we didn’t quite make 200 miles yesterday, I planned a longer route for today to Plain.
We took mostly county roads and highways to get there and stopped in Sauk City for brunch since we arrived there closer to noon and they had more eating options. Although, we ended up at a family restaurant that was just okay.
After making it to Plain we took back roads around the bluffs and in the valleys north and east of there, and then onto Hwy 78 south of Devil’s Lake. Although we went through Merrimac, I opted not to take the Ferry because we just did that and instead we took Cty U and a back road north along the Wisconsin River to Hwy 33 just outside of Portage. Also, the Ferry had a pretty good line when we passed, including it was starting to get warm, and they currently don’t allow you to get off your bike or out of your vehicles due to COVID.
We stopped along the Wisconsin River in Portage to take a break and then we headed to Pardeeville on Cty P to stop at Carol’s Cones for ice-cream since we haven’t been there yet this year and also because she's closing for the season after September 5th.
It was a Wisconsin River and wildlife kind of day. Saw some goats, turkeys, minnows, a couple bald eagles with one of them flying right above us for a little bit, some sandhill cranes with two flying up right next to me: one taking off above me and the other continued to fly right along side of me for a bit (very cool), a big doe which ran out ahead of me on Cty P (Her expression was funny when she realized I was there, while suddenly trying to get more of a grip on the pavement to go faster.) and a pair of trumpeter swans with their cygnet along side the shoulder of Hwy 49 in Horicon Marsh
We also noticed a lot of the rivers were very high unlike the lower part of the Rock River yesterday. Including lots of trees down, flood damage and hail damage to corn fields along Cty P between Pardeeville and Cambria. All of the corn leaves were shredded from the hail.
And we finally broke 200 miles. Hurray!!!
