For the 4th of July weekend, we traveled through the state of Wisconsin by motorcycle.  Here’s our route.

Day 1:
New Glarus Hilltop Brewery
The brewery sits atop a tall hill, overlooking some gorgeous scenery. We sampled some local beers and sat outside admiring the view.

The Grumpy Troll, Mount Horeb
We’d been here once before on a bike trip; it is always worth stopping by.

Prairie Du Chien
We spent our first night on the road at a Best Western, and totally lucked out and ended up in the themed “Fur Trader Suite.” Very Twin Peaks-ian.

Day 2:
After a surprisingly hearty continental breakfast, we were back on the road headed to La Crosse. Part of our route included a particularly twisty road full of curves which at one point cut through high rocky bluffs, creating an awesome tunnel. I kept expecting Wario to ride up and throw a banana peel at us.

Kurt’s favorite sign spotted: “Welcome to Ontario, WI: Canoe Capital of The Kickapoo.”

La Crosse
After checking into our hotel and getting some lunch, we went out on another run, heading north of the city and swinging back down. The city was holding its annual RiverFest celebration, so we drank cheap beer and watched cover bands along the Mississippi River.

Day 3:
We took Hwy 33 towards Baraboo, one of my favorite stretches of the trip.  This road had the best farm-animal-watching by far; I saw tons of horses, newly shorn lambs, and even a miniature goat with a long white beard. I wanted to put tiny glasses on him and make him tell me a story.

My favorite sign spotted: “Welcome to Lido, WI: Home of Susie the Duck.”

Circus World Museum, Baraboo
We stopped here to see a small circus show and got to pet the elephant.

Madison
After checking into our hotel, we ate some surprisingly excellent Chinese food and drank New Glarus drafts into the night.

Day 4:
After one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had at Monty’s Blue Plate Diner (egg, bacon, and spinach sandwich with goat cheese on jalapeno bread, everything I love in this world), we jumped on the highway and hightailed it home.