Prairie du Chien

Last night we were able to find a dry camping spot. Most of the park was still flooded but one of the RV sections was high enough. We were a little cold at night but that's probably the last time for that. Mosquitos aren't hatched yet because the water is still moving fast and the gnats don't bite so it was quite pleasant. 

This section of the river is very wide due to all the navigational locks and dams. It's also a wildlife refuge for migrating birds. We've seen a bald eagle, a white pelican and a couple herons but we've been told that winter and spring bring thousands of these birds through the area.

 The rolling hills are getting a little bigger and when we cross into Iowa tomorrow they'll probably be steeper. We're enjoying a hotel with laundry today because we're heading to RAGBRAI tomorrow and a full week of camping. We'll only ride 23 miles to Guttenberg, IA in the morning and then we'll catch the shuttle to the west side only to spend the whole week riding right back to Guttenberg. (Along with 10,000 other riders)

 We met 3 different groups of riders yesterday. One doing a shortened version  of the MRT and 2 going east west. The largest group was an organized tour with martching jerseys and a truck to carry their bags. 

 So far we rode about 550 miles so we're  about 1/4 of the way down the Mississippi.