Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Saturday Afternoon Road Trip

It was unusually warm on Saturday so a friend and I decided to go for a cruise along the Mississippi in the afternoon. We drove along the river for a ways and then wandered the hills and valleys of western Wisconsin.

The mode of transportation...
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The Mississippi River. The "scooped" bluffs are the opening of Lake Pepin - a large lake-like part of the Mississippi. I never quite understood how there can be a lake in a river but with a bit of Googling, it is explained here.
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We left the river at the town of Pepin. We followed a garage sale sign and stopped to find some home canned goodies. I bought a pint of corn relish and a quart of raspberry sauce which I think is too pretty to eat. We decided to not go back to the highway. The road kept getting narrower and narrower. It stopped when there was a blue gate at the end of the road. No dead end signs or anything. Discovered later it was a state wildlife area. Here's the road.
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When we got back on to the main road, we spotted a unique barn off in the distance. Hard to see from this photo - it's in the hills above my hand.
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We were in awe of this place. Talked to a woman mowing the grass. It was originally an Amish homestead. The barn has been in many calendars and magazines. It's a beautiful, secluded location with 400 acres. If I win the lottery...
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Hillside south of barn...
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The house...
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One of the many tarpapered outbuildings...
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On the road again...
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End of the day...
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5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! Great pics! The barn ones are bea-u-ti-ful!

Anonymous said...

The Mississippi flows through Lake Bemidji too! Somehow the not so mighty river comes into the south end of the lake heading north, then turns and heads out the east side of the lake. :) Thanks for the pretty pictures!

morealyera said...

looks like an awesome day. I really like these shots. My favorite is the last one, with the silhouette of the silo and the cows at sunset. Breathtaking!

Unknown said...

If you would have driven further south you would have passed right by the first apartment I lived in by myself. That is a beautiful drive ...

Bone said...

Gorgeous pictures. That last one is just a perect one for the end of the day. Makes me want to go for a drive.