The Grandview Motel was my favorite motel stay of the trip.  It has but nine units, all with log cabin-ish decor and that "grand view" up and down the river.  If the view from your room isn't enough, you can walk out the door and use one of the benches or tables and read the newspaper, write in your notebook, have a beer, look at the bluffs, and watch the barges & the trains running through the valley.  When the sun goes down on the Iowa side of the river, a big power plant upriver lights up like a galaxy full of stars.  Who needs a television when you can watch that view?  My bed was right next to the window, but I didn't close the curtain for fear of missing something out there.

I've been to the city of La Crosse more than a dozen times and I always stop to see "The World's Largest Six-Pack" at the City Brewery.  But not this time.  For some reason every driver in the city wanted to kill me today.  Highway 61 had four tight lanes, deteriorating pavement in the right lane, and a heavy proportion of drivers who would not move over an inch for a poor cyclist.  If they are not out and out bicycle-haters, I assume they are Elvis Presley fans, Harley-Davidson riders, gun rights advocates, weather forecasters, RV owners, citizens of De Witt, Mormons, campers who drive to the restroom, or members of any other group I've offended in this journal.

By sheer luck, I rode all the way through La Crosse without getting run over and I navigated my way to the Great River State Bike Trail.  The State of Wisconsin wanted me to pay $4.00 to ride it.  Being a major cheapskate, I paused at the trailhead and contemplated whether I wanted to pay the fee, or keep riding on the public roadways, or take my chances on the trail without paying.  Really, what are the odds that I'd meet up with a Department of Natural Resources Officer on a 17-mile trail through remote backwoods, wetlands, and river bottoms on a weekday? 

The honorable, legal and safe part of me overcame the cheapskate part of me and I purchased a trail pass at the Blue Heron Bike Shop. I felt pretty good about myself.

I felt even better when, five miles later, I actually spotted a DNR Ranger who was hiking on the trail.  I slowed down and said "Hi" and waited for him to ask to see my permit which, of course, I would proudly produce for him.  He said "Hi" back to me and that was the end of the encounter.

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Perrot State Park tonight.  Warm, sunny, buggy, woodpeckers pecking constantly.  Pretty nice!