Saturday
We planned to take a trip to see Dadders & Canders over 4th of July weekend and we also took off on the 5th for an extra day to travel after leaving Winona. We couldn’t have asked for better weather… high 70s with very low humidity (dew points) until our last day. We left early Saturday morning and took our usual route there, Hwy 151 to Cty A into Fox Lake and then 33 into Baraboo. This time I mixed it up by taking Hwy 136 out of Baraboo for something different and to avoid construction on the Hwy 33 and 12 round-a-bouts. We ended up back onto Hwy 33 around Reedsburg. Kevin went through Wildcat Mountain in Ontario where I chose to take Cty F to Hwy 131 since there was a truck riding our butts. Wouldn’t you know it the truck turned off with me, so I pulled over on a gravel area and let him pass. Out of Cashton we took Hwy 27 to Sparta and stopped at DQ for lunch which we haven’t done in a couple of years. From there we took Hwy 16 into West Salem where we headed north on Hwy 108 through the bluffs. Unfortunately there were a lot of culvert replacements on that road (we counted over 30, but that seems high). At least traffic was very light, we only passed one other vehicle, a bike. From there we took county roads to Hwy 53/35 into Winona from the Wisconsin side. We went directly to the nursing home, only to find that Dad was in a deep sleep. We hung out for a while anyways. After that we checked into our hotel and Candy met us for dinner at the Ground Round next to our hotel. Had a nice meal and visit with her.
Sunday
After eating breakfast at the hotel we stopped at Walmart to get some Hershey Kisses for Dad and me some sunglasses since I broke my pair bouncing around in the trunk of my bike on our way to Winona. Then we stopped by Dad. He was in a deep sleep again, but we hung out for a little while to see if he’d wake up. He did not. I knew he was awake and about the night before because a good chunk of his Kisses were gone/eaten. We went back to the hotel for a while before heading out to the Levee where there were some replica Christopher Columbus ships. We walked around and took some pictures before heading over to the Acoustic Cafe for lunch. After that we headed back to the nursing home and luckily Dad was awake, and Candy was there too. After Candy left we took Dad outside to the park next to the nursing home to check out their memorial tree they planted years ago and to let Dad enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery. Later we met Candy at the house and we took her car to Centerville to Beedle’s Bar & Restaurant for dinner. Good food and excellent service! By the time we returned to Winona it was getting late so we decided to forego staying for a visit at the house because we also still needed to plan our route to Boscobel for the next day.
Monday (4th of July)
After breakfast at the hotel and loading up the bikes, okay after loading up Kevin’s bike, we headed to see Dad one more time before leaving Winona. Lucky for us he was awake, so we took him outside again. This time to see our bikes and spend a little time on the patio facing Sugar Loaf. We headed out around 10ish and took Hwy 61 south until Hwy 3 west to Hwy 12, 5 & 6 in Minnesota, named Apple Blossom Skyway. It was pretty scenic and something different, plus it took us back into La Crescent where we wanted to cross the River into Wisconsin. From there we headed south on Hwy 35 briefly before taking Cty K East. I missed Cty KK so we ended up taking Cty O, Y & B into Virogua where we stopped for gas. I wanted to take Hwy 14 south to Hwy 131 but there was a detour due to a bridge out. Not a shabby detour though and eventually we ended up on Hwy 61 into Boscobel where we had reservations at The River Inn, including we knew Boscobel would have fireworks that evening. Our hotel room wasn’t ready so we took a little ride. We ended up on a very cool stretch of Hwy 131 where there also was an equally cool overlook. After we were able to check into our hotel we eventually walked to a local bar and grill for dinner (Double K’s). Good food and excellent service! From there we walked around town by the old train depot and back to the hotel. We waited out a kid’s birthday party by the hotel pool before venturing to the sauna and pool for a bit. Eventually we headed out to join all of the people who had been gathering outside our hotel for the fireworks. Talked to some locals and they said it was a very nice show set to music. Our server at Double K’s also mentioned they had a great ground show, but we didn’t want to get too deep into the park with the crowds. We found a good vantage point across from our hotel, however, the fireworks did not start until just after 10:30.
Tuesday
The night before we planned our route home so we were all set to go before leaving. Unfortunately due to the detour yesterday we ended up taking Hwy 61 out of Boscobel which we were on the day before heading into town. Nice enough to take two days in a row. From there onto Hwy 171 to Hwy 14 then Hwy 60 into Sauk City where we headed north on Hwy 78 into Portage where we stopped for lunch at the Red Apple Restaurant. The roads out of Boscobel and all over that area were so awesome, it was really sad for me knowing we were heading home. Plus knowing I had to work the next day didn’t help either.
We had an awesome extended weekend, and as always it was great to spend time with Dad & Canders. I hope you had a great Independence Day weekend too! We put in a total of 600 miles over the extended weekend and this trip (map below).
