Day 30: Winona, MN to Viroqua, WI

We are now in the 7th of the 12 states we will pass through on our cross country journey. Wisconsin was the state I was most excited for; I've heard a lot of good things about it from friends that came from or ended up living here. The ride today was only supposed to be 65 miles, but we had a reroute due to construction and I got some bonus miles when Tom, Luke, and I missed our turn and went a bit out of the way. In the end, it turned out to be around 80 miles total. It was our first really hot day of the trip- 95º and 95% humidity, eek! It was bearable though, and when you're moving on the bike at least there's a breeze. Our first rest stop was the home of the Meyers family, who as young girls started serving refreshments and baked goods to Big Riders when they came to their town and over a decade later are still hooking us up as we pass through! It was a delicious spread with tables set up on the lawn and photos and interviews of all the previous Big Riders. Thank you Meyers family! The next exciting thing was crossing the state line and the Misissippi River. We stopped at both points to get some pictures and enjoy the view and then carried on with our day. Once we crossed into Wisconsin it started to get a lot prettier and a lot more hilly. We had some of the steepest inclines we've encountered thus far today (about 11% grade). I am super excited to get to Madison tomorrow and meet up with a friend from high school and do some exploring on my day off!