We travel reasonably quickly across the rest of South Dakota; crossing into Minnesota where we stop and camp at the small town of Adrian (B) for no particular reason except the campground looked nice and after the busy time in South Dakota, we just wanted to chill for a few days.
Minnesota, home state of Prince and Bob Dylan, is a very pretty state particularly after dry, arid South Dakota. More crops and a lot more color. Sinclair has sourced a new back tire in Lakeview (C), a suburb of Minneapolis. With the extra weight he is carrying, the tire is down to the canvas so time for a new one pronto! We have a brief stop in Lakeview and then carry on toward the Mississippi river. As the second longest river in North America flowing south for 3,730km, and all the history surrounding the river, we’ve been keen to reach its shores. Reaching the river has been a goal of ours and it was great to finally get there. We follow the Mississippi River from Red Wing (D), Minnesota and cross over at to La Crosse (E), Wisconsin. Just out of Red Wing, we stop inadvertently for the night at a ‘horse’ camp. This is a campsite geared up for those who want to get away with their horses and we pitch camp in amongst the animals – horse s_ _t included in the price for the night🤣.
Wisconsin- known as the dairy state – leads the USA in the production of milk, cheese, and butter, providing 40% of the nation’s cheese and 20% of its butter. One of its ‘delicacies’ is deep fried cheese curd. Don’t knock it till you try it!! Also, hot dog lovers, eat our heart out… in the gas stations you can find all types and flavours of your preferred hotdog.
We’re riding across the state as we intend meeting up with our brother in law on the coast of Lake Michigan for our last week on the road. Ron is riding in from Guelph via Sarnia and Milwaukee and we’ve chosen the small fishing village of Kewaunee to meet up. So we ride through to Lake Winnebago area and visit towns such as Oshkosh (G), famous for founding in 1895 the Oshkosh kids clothing apparel brand, and Fond du Lac (H), then onto all the small harbour towns along Lake Michigan starting with Sheboygan, then Two Rivers and ending up at Kewaunee where we pitch camp waiting on Ron’s arrival. We can highly recommend the campground at Kewaunee. Owner Kelly and sidekick Linda were so friendly and accommodating; as always its the people you meet that make all the difference!
You do have a knack of camping in some way out but interesting places grizzly bears to horses