Day 69- On Wisconsin!

If all goes according to plan, today will be my last in Iowa. If all goes according to plan…..

I got out of camp early by my standard. I was excited about today’s ride. A lot was going to happen.

First, I got to the Mississippi River first thing in the town of Marquette. No, not THAT Marquette. Marquette University is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Mississippi is impressive! It is huge and beautiful. It is not heavily industrialized up here. Just some barge traffic, but the shore is very natural and tree lined.

Heading north, I am now heading for the Effigy Mounds National Monument. I had never heard of this place until last year but found out about it by looking at the reverse side of a quarter! The US Mint has been putting Parks and Monuments on the reverse side of quarters since they finished the 50 States. Since it was in NE Iowa, I have been planning on visiting here ever since.

The Effigy Mounds are ancient burial mounds made by ancient native Americans between 800 and 2500 years ago. They are mounds of earth that are in the shapes of bears, eagles, and other shapes. I would guess they are about 100 in length.

It is hard to photograph but you can see the legs of the bear in this one. It was very interesting. I hiked about 2 hours exploring several of these mounds.

The hours of hiking and time spent at the Visitor’s Center took a lot out of my riding day , but it was well worth the time.

Now lunch was on my agenda. I was hoping to find a cafe in the next town, Harper’s Ferry. No, not that Harper’s Ferry. The historical one is in West Virginia! As for lunch, no such luck. It now looks like my best bet would be an early dinner in Lancing. No, not that Lancing. East Lancing is the home of Michigan State University….. in Michigan of course.

It was going to be my last day in Iowa, but Iowa still had one last surprise for me. Hills! Big Hills. I believe they were formed by earths great earth movers, the glaciers. There were hills I found earlier in Iowa, but they were hills that I could cruise up. These required me to gear down and grind them out. And then there were real downhills too. Nice.

In Lancing, I crossed the Mississippi and entered Wisconsin.

I was headed for the Blackhawk Park just north of De Soto, Wisc. Today was a shorter day as far as mileage goes. But between the great river, the Effigy Mounds and crossing into Wisconsin, it was a BIG day.