Day 7

Monday 7th May 2007 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

Well today we set of West from Tomah (the entry to the Cranberry region)  and went to find the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mississippi and ended up at La Crosse, where we hoped to get a paddle steamer ride up and down and river.  Well, surprise, surprise it is not the tourist season here yet, so unless they could muster 10 bodies for a ride then the paddle steamers did not move.     As the 11.00 am one had not gone due to the fact that there were only two of us, we were asked to hang around until 1.30 and if there were 10 then we would be off.  We had also been alerted to the Blue Herons that were nesting on the opposite bank, so spent some time watching out for them.

 

Well we were off, in the direction of Winona, which was further up the Mississippi and we got some good views of the river.  At Winona we finally discovered what a Hoagie was when we each ordered one for lunch; basically it was a soft bread roll sandwich.  This we had a nice place called the Acoustic Café

 

Quite nice.  Bob had not been happy about this detour as he wanted to head off west again with the intention of driving as far as possible in one day, but I thought the town was cute and took a few pictures for our album.

 

We had left the Sat Nav in the car window, but Bob reckoned it looked like a place without crime, so was not concerned, and yes it was still there when we got back from lunch.  From Winona we took the road south to rejoin the I90, which then went through nicely wooded valleys and stopped unexpectedly at a rest area called Oakland Woods and Bob at last allowed me to drive.  His eyes had got tired from the driving and he needed to rest. Whilst at the rest area we did a spot of bird watching.  There was a bird feeder placed outside the back doors of the rest area and we watched several birds’ antics.                                                     

 

As we could not identify most of them Bob decided at the next opportunity that he would purchase an American bird book (which at present he is perusing to see if we can tell you what we saw).

 

I then took over the driving and managed to get around 200 miles under my belt, this included coming off the I90 twice for fuel, the first time the promised garage did not appear and the second time it did.  Once at our destination – Sioux Falls - I then managed to negotiate the road system to the hotel and later the town to find something to eat.  Once at the hotel, another Super 8, we were greeted by an English lady with “I’m Liverpool, what are you?” which was a bit disconcerting.  She had come here some 28 years ago to visit her war bride sister, and had never gone home.  Married to an American with two children she now lived some 35 miles from the hotel, which we have now come to realise means – just down the road.  Realising that we were English, she took us under her wing and organised the next couple of days of our tour and decided where it would be best for us to visit.  Out and about in Sioux Falls in the evening we finally decided on the Outback for our evening meal.  We ordered Vienna Filet Steaks and were they delicious, I have to say mine was better than the one I had in Chicago at Smith and Wollensky – when I said I wanted medium to well done without charring they got it right, whereas the previous steak had been charred, which, for parts of it, made it rather chewy.  This was accompanied by a fine bottle of wine.  We also had a starter of a “bloomin’ onion” which was highly spiced and absolutely delicious.  Half of it we took away in a take out box, and put it into the fridge of the hotel, where it is probably still languishing unless they checked the fridge.  Yes – we forgot to take it with us today for our picnic lunch.

 

A voice now pops up – we definitely saw a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, a White Breasted Nut Hatch, Black Capped Chickadee, Red Bellied Woodpecker and warblers which he has been unable to identify.