Today was an easy ride following the Mississippi River upstream past several small towns. Not too much traffic, smooth roads with variable shoulders.

As I left Winona, I cycled along the river. Not quite sure which way they transfer the grain, but they have grain elevators and conveyor belts to go to barges in the river.

From Winona, I took a bridge back across the river.

Looking upstream, the river has a wide flood plain with bluffs on both sides. I came past several “lock and dam” installations, so looked mostly like large lakes with a few feet up at each lock.

Back to Wisconsin today.

There is an active railroad line. This train carrying blades for wind turbines.

Today I followed the Great River Road. The shoulder wasn’t always this wide but was fine overall.

They did have four instances where the road narrows to a single lane and has lights allowing the traffic to alternate. The problem was the lights were timed assuming an automobile was driving. This meant traffic started coming the other direction before I was through. However, there was enough room to sort it out.

In 1995, this 55 ton boulder rolled down the hill and ended up where the master bedroom used to be.

Appropriately named Rock In The House. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2243

Fountain City, Alma, Nelson, Pipin were all towns to ride through.

Coal power plant

Lock and dam.

Here comes the crew to paint lines on the road

Even with a lunch break in Nelson, I made it to Pepin by early afternoon. There is a museum for Laura Ingalls Wilder here.