Fall Trip Part 3 of 3

Note: Quilt shops are in a separate post

We left Two Harbors in rain and knew we were so fortunate to have had great weather the previous day. 

Thank goodness the jeep smelled better - did I tell you about the bug repellent incident? A bag containing a couple different bug repellants was in my backpack. When we hiked the first two days, I removed the bag, left it in the Jeep, and replaced it after our hike. The third day, we could smell repellent in the car and when I checked my pack, one bottle had leaked but it seemed to be totally contained in a ziploc. We tossed the whole bag in the garbage and continued on but my pack smelled. Of course, I wasn't bothered with any bugs or gnats on hikes that day! We also had the smell in the car. So I tried to wash off my leather pack and air it out, and we attempted to wipe out the car. The smell was much better by the time we left Two Harbors.

We drove the St. Croix Scenic Byway from Askov, MN, through Pine City, Taylors Falls, and Stillwater, MN. We did see the sun for a while but the rain returned. 

We had lunch in Askov at Little Mermaid Cafe. We read about it online and someone mentioned aebleskivers (Danish pancake balls). So we stopped and found they only make them on the 4th Saturday of the month. We still enjoyed a good meal.

Our rental was across the river from Stillwater, MN, in Hudson, WI. I have an aunt that lives in the area. My cousin and her husband also live in Hudson but were out of town. 

Our rental was small but mighty - I loved the kitchen.

  

It was drizzling when we moved into our rental and only got worse. 

We appreciated our little fireplace and our warm, dry apartment.

On our first full day in the area, we visited my aunt. Instead of taking her out to lunch, we ordered in because the weather was so miserable. The forecast predicted rain and wind for another 24 hours so when we left Aunt, we found a grocery store and stocked up for a few meals. After we got 'home', we saw this boat on the river and were happy we weren't on that dinner cruise!

Our rental is right on the St Croix River and 
this River Boat passed by despite the weather.

Our second day in Hudson, we had the sun shine for a while! We went to the Hudson Farmer's Market and tasted freeze-dried candy - a little strange but interesting!

We headed across the river to Stillwater, MN. There were A LOT of people. We finally figured out that this wasn't a normal Saturday - it was Harvest Fest, a huge festival. There were also huge pumpkins.

We did walk on the Stillwater Lift Bridge. "It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The lift bridge closed to all traffic in August of 2017. It was reopened in 2020 and is now used for pedestrians and bicycles and connects the Loop Trail from Minnesota to Wisconsin."

We enjoyed pizza  and watching the Wisconsin football game on TV with my aunt. She and Ray are singing to me at my surprise, early birthday party.

In case you are counting the cake has a group of 7 candles
and a group of 5. My birthday is actually the 18th.

Our next and final stop on this trip was LaCrosse, WI. where we both received our bachelor's degrees from University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse. We traveled in good weather and enjoyed a stop in LeCresent, MN to get a few apples. After we crossed the Mississippi River, we  enjoyed some time in Riverside Park in LaCrosse. 

We spent some time on Granddad's Bluff taking photos of the sunset.

Our rental house was just completely renovated inside. The living room is very comfy!

We walked around the campus of UW-L and were able to get into the brand new field house which is almost finished. We also found other new buildings. Many things have changed but many stayed the same - the students in general are still kind and respectful. It was amazing how many acknowledged us as we wondered around. We weren't sure where the bookstore was (it moved!) so I asked a small group of students. They not only gave us explicit instructions, they walked upstairs with us and made sure we turned the right way and could see the sign. As we were leaving the student union, a young man was leaving and caught sight of us; he immediately grabbed the door and held it for both of us. We had a couple of conversations with students and I loved how much they were similar to the many college students I taught through the years and even to us during our college days. 

We visited a couple of quilt shops (next post) and walked around downtown for a while. It was fun to be back.

Our rental was at the base of Granddad's Bluff. As we looked up the last night at sunset, this was our view.

This morning we delayed leaving LaCrosse for an hour due to fog. When we left, we travelled along the Mississippi for awhile, hoping to see more color in the trees. We eventually left that route and headed away from the river.

We found some pretty trees!

We are now home and unpacked. We have been to the grocery store and will soon begin laundry. It was a great fall trip although we saw more color today within a 100 miles of home than anywhere else! We especially loved seeing family.

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel 

is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, 

to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted. 

-Bill Bryson