The Great River Road & La Crosse, WI July 21 – 26th

The Great River Road on the MN side is especially attractive, with area’s to stop & view the river in all its glory. A stop for lunch is a must & the views pretty terrific. The land across the river is the Wisconsin side. Someday we’d love to travel up & down both sides of the Mississippi, at least down to St. Louis. The northern MS is the pretty part. After St. Louis, it becomes known as cancer alley.

Lunch on The Great River Road, MN side

View towards Wisconsin at our lunch stop

Lake Pepin, MN (The Mississippi River)

Our home is at Pettibone RV Park, on an island in the Mississippi River just west of La Crosse. The other good park in the area is 10 miles downriver, on Goose Island, where we stayed last year.

Pettibone RV Park Greeter

Great parking place on the West branch MS River

View down the Mississippi River

Boats along the channel

The Pettibone RV Park is a favorite stop, & this year I called early enough to secure space for 6 nights, prior to leaving for Oshkosh. Notice the wood carvings & views of the west channel of the Mississippi. The east channel is deep enough for commercial cargo, so although we can’t see the big barges, we enjoy plenty of private boats & even a few fancy party boats passing by.

Pettibone boat dock

Party Time!

La Crosse is a college town, & has attractive shops & buildings, at least in the summer months. The town is named after the game, which the Native American’s learned from the French. There is a wonderful statue of the Indians playing La Crosse when you come into town.

The wonderful wooden statues welcome you

Next, we hit Starbucks, which arrived just last year. We needed a burr grinder for all the espresso beans we carry, so not expecting to fine one, we inquired at this store. To our surprise they had just what we wanted, even though it was $125. After fooling around with other brands & not being pleased with the result, Bob went ahead & made the purchase anyway. We were shocked when she rang up the purchase & told us our grinder was on sale for $49. I was jumping with joy & had the whole crew line up for a picture with Bob, grinning from ear to ear. With all these pretty girls, it’s no wonder!

No explanation needed!

The Cass St. Bridge

Afterward we take a drive on Pettibone Island, where the Cass St. Bridge connects to La Crosse. They have a wonderful old gazebo here which is booked months in advance, at least for the summer.

Pettibone Island Gazebo

Tomorrow we get to take a day trip to a place we’ve wanted to visit for years. Stay tuned!