Day 8- The Dells And Beyond

Today reminded me of New England in late October. The sky was overcast and low, the wind had a bite to it and you could just tell there was something brewing in the near future. So, I gave up the Dells until another date. We come back this way the end of August and it would mean a side trip so we are investigating this possibility. We traveled the highway for most of the trip but came upon a detour through the countryside on county roads identified by letters and not numbers. We thought it odd until we looked at a map of Wisconsin and found countless counties so I guess if you look at it from that point of view, instead of having Rte 302, they have CR-J or CR MM. One of the little towns we traveled through was Ripon, Wisconsin where a sign boasted the birthplace of the republican party. Gas prices in this region are 3.55 per gallon . Once back on the highway we drove for about 70 miles and pulled into a rest area. Here there was a memorial to law enforcement on Wisconsin, a plaque commemorating the Passenger Pigeon, extinct since 1914 and a paved walking path through a previous burn area. The crown fire was in 1977 and ruined 14 homes and more than 12,000 acres in a matter of minutes. The area reestablished itself ,with a bit of help, and supports a young but healthy oak and spruce mixture. The walk was just the stretching of legs we needed, a break of about 40 minutes including photos. Then it was back onto the highway. We crossed over the Mississippi River and entered the state of Minnesota just about the time Carl ran out of steam. Lucky for us there was an Information and welcome Center a few miles up the road. We asked about overnight sleeping in the parking area and were told there was a 6 hour minimum but, honestly, no one ever checked. We found out why later on. Most of the truckers pull of the road during rush hour and take a nap or catch up on their logs. By evening we were parked in a sea of tractor trailers and heard them coming and going all night. It was a different sort of experience than parking in a Wal-Mart. The photo is from the new growth burned area we walked through. You can see the charred trunk with new offshoots.