This journal entry is going to be a bit of a departure from normal since I am having so much fun making the video stories. We had a weekend trip of about 450 miles on the GoldWing and did many fun things but mostly some fantastic riding along the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers via the two lane roads, the best kind.

To start, click here for the video introduction and then I’ll tell the story.

The Heat is On Video

Our early morning departure under cloudy skies was swift and uneventful. Heading south from Plover we eventually caught up with interstate for the last 80 or so miles into LaCrosse, our first destination. Our only stop before LaCrosse was a nice wayside (which is what they are called in Wisconsin instead of rest stops) along the river where we snapped some pictures.

LaCrosse isn’t huge at 52,000 people, but it seems to stretch out like a long sinewy snake along the waterways a long way. This is where three rivers meet up, including the Old Man. We had GPS which we followed to Riverside Park where they berth the paddlewheel boats we wanted to ride. The first one we spotted was the Julia Belle Swain, a beauty tied up looking like a swan compared to the River Cruises Queen we had selected. Ah well, there was quite a price difference and besides, the Julia was headed out full with a boatload of Harley riders for a luncheon cruise of three hours. Marc had disconnected the trailer and snaked our Wing right in line with the rest of them and then threw the cover over it to protect our helmets and keep the seats from getting too hot. We looked just like we belonged.

Our cruise started pretty promptly at 11 a.m. and we had signed on just for the meandering hour and a half tour due to time constraints. The informative tour was narrated by young student Devin, and the top highlight was watching the old swing Canadian Pacific railroad bridge swing open for us after we waited for a few minutes for the freight train to cross. The bridge is a designated historic structure built in 1876 and is the oldest remaining of its type across the Mississippi. Watching the river traffic was also fun as there were all sorts of water toys out on this nice day. Our turn around point was Lock and Dam #9. We passed the Harley-rider laden Julia Belle and managed to get some great shots of her. I didn’t notice any of them snapping photos of our boat.

LaCrosse is a marvelous old town to walk; a neat mix of old with new. We moseyed on foot from Riverfront Park to find something to eat and were surprised to see lots of the more interesting establishments closed. They must open later in the day. After a quick sandwich we got on the gear and hitched back up and headed out on SR35, euphemistically known as the Great River Road. It hugs the bluffs of this part of Wisconsin like a mother does her child, running parallel to the railroad tracks. We were on the search for a campsite.

We got waylaid at Lock and Dam #8 because Marc wanted to actually see the process of boats locking through, an experience we always sought on Oregon’s Columbia River and never got around to. We figured the Mississippi would be an equal. In fact, this upper part of the Mississippi River has something like over 20 odd locks and dams as it has quite a fall of elevation through this section. This part of the Mississippi also freezes over in winter so the locks are abandoned in winter. It happens quickly for filling that big of a tub with water—about seven minutes is all, and all the cruisers and fishermen are back on their way.

Campsites are always hit or miss with us because we never make reservations. Wisconsin’s campgrounds are popular places since there is not much public land so we find them generally very full as compared to what we are used to in the west. Our first foray into Goose Island County Park, a huge 400-site circus with campers stacked like firewood just south of LaCrosse, was so unappealing we immediately hit the highway again. After we had watched the boats lock through, four Harley riders stopped and we asked them if they might know of a place down the road since they had come from the direction we were headed and they steered us to Blackhawk Recreation area, a Corp of Engineers park. It too was pretty full but a much better choice for us to settle into at $14 and a pit toilet not too far away. Our second time out and we’ve got set up down to about an hour. Ah, it was time to relax and break out the champagne. Why? We didn’t need a reason! Since our site was practically river front (it actually fronted a small lake) we were also able to watch the river barge traffic, a rare treat for us, as Marc cooled his feet. The lake was water lily filled and was quite pleasant to wake up to with a fresh cup of coffee in hand while we watched the mist rise Sunday morning.

Morning fresh, we watched the lazy miles roll under us just like the ol’ Mississip running beside as we headed for Prairie du Chen, where we planned to peel off Old Man River for Hwy. 60. After all, we don’t have endless time to ride! It was a quiet morning compared with Saturday afternoon traffic and we passed through a few really, really small towns with many single wide mobile homes arrayed along the bluffs. After a nice breakfast in Prairie du Chen where we noted lots of bikers, we ran through this small town of about 6500 people tucked on the plain under the bluff south, wishing we had time to see more of it. After all, it is Wisconsin’s second oldest settlement, dating from the late 1600’s.

The road was busy until we made the left turn away from all the Madison bound traffic for the Wisconsin River hugging highway 60, following on the heels of a Harley rider and his lady. All the bike riders this trip out have been thick as thieves but who can blame them? The sun is sparkling and it’s a perfect 75 degrees while the rest of the country bakes and Wisconsin is a huge biker state. The scenery turns spectacular.

We decide over breakfast that the next destination is one recommended to us by another Wing rider, The House on the Rock, which sits about 11 miles from Spring Green. Spring Green is famous as Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and 600 acre estate, Taliesin. Since Marc doesn’t think much of FLW, going there is not even a choice for us, although for those interested it is possible to tour Wright’s lifework. Rolling through the hills along Hwy. 60 puts me in mind of the California foothills, only much greener, many more trees, and full of corn high as an elephant’s eye, as my mind drifts away in endless contentment sitting behind Marc and admiring the view. Motorcycling really is the way to tour and having RVed for a long period of time (so I can compare the two) I don’t think it has an equal. We both keep patting ourselves on the back that buying the bike was probably one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.

The House on the Rock is impossible to describe so I will do so briefly and then let you see what a tour might be like by looking at the pictures. I never did get the entire story, but it seems in 1948 Alex Jordan decided to build a place of meditation and whimsy on a portion of a 60 foot rockscape he leased. The thing just grew and grew and although he never lived in it, apparently he did use it for inspiration and let a fledgling tourist industry grow around it. His eventual purchase of the more than 200 acres allowed him to go wild. You don’t really "see" the house so much as experience it. And it doesn’t come cheap. We only had time to tour the house itself; the tour is actually broken into three different levels and the entire thing runs about $48/pp and takes up to five hours; we paid about $14/pp just for the house portion.

Ceilings everywhere are very low and the entire rock house is also very dimly lit. It is cave-like and filled with mainly eastern influenced art work and beautiful stained glass. Alex built musical instruments which duplicate the sound of an entire orchestra which play off tokens. However, the real pes de la résistance is the Infinity Room, which stretches for over two hundred feet cantilevered in space over the Wisconsin hillside like the prow of some massive ship. Due to the fact of its suspension, it quivers when you walk in it, thus my trepidation at going any farther than about a third of the way into it. Three thousand panes of glass look down to soaring space beneath you as you hover hundreds of feet in the air and think about it collapsing. Check out the final photo for how the room appears from a distance and you might understand why I was nervous. The gardens are a joy and the place is a mad hatter’s tourist ----. You figure it out and supply your own adjective.

By the time we mount up again to leave House on a Rock, it’s afternoon and we’re still more than a hundred miles from home. We take some back roads, traffic laden, into Baraboo and then hit the super slab for the long ride back to Plover. Baraboo is host to the Ringling Brothers Circus and Museum and sits in rolling hills just beyond the Baraboo Range. It’s another destination, for another trip.