Day 3 - Yorkville, IL to La Crosse, WI

Thanks to Ronn and Tim for their hospitality and great breakfast this morning! I didn't get on the road until 10am this morning, which was fine since I had a shorter day planned anyway. After yesterday's experience with the interstate traffic, I stuck to the secondary roads today and it was a great choice. Heading west across Illinois and then into Iowa, you really get to see how vast the corn fields are in the midwest. And Ronn and Tim were right, people just seem friendlier here than they do back east. Maybe it's the back-to-basics lifestyle, away from a lot of the frenetic pace of the northeast - who knows? But even the farmers on their John Deere tractors waved to me as I rode by them.

I was really excited about seeing and crossing the Mississippi River today, so much so that I crossed it twice! I have to say, long, concrete bridges across the river are far less harrowing and nerve-wracking than short, steel bridges with see-through grates! I did not look down, not once! But on both banks of the river there are "great river roads" which are very nice, meandering secondary roads that follow the river's path. I made my way north along the west bank of the Mississippi to Dubuque, Iowa and then further north to Harper's Ferry and the Effigy Mounds National Monument (http://www.nps.gov/efmo). This was a nice hike through the woods overlooking the river, and I got to see several of the effigies, including the Little Bear mound. Check out the National Park Service website - they explain it far better than I can here, and they have aerial photographs. Alas, apparently my Harley Davidson boots are only amde for motorcycling and not for hiking because I now have two huge blisters on my heels!

Upon leaving Effigy Mounds, I crossed the Mississippi again, this time going east, and took the Great River Road north along the eastern bank, all the way to La Crosse and the Super 8. I still have to look over my route for tomorrow, but I may venture to St. Paul, MN and the Mall of America before heading to Sioux Falls, SD.