The final day of my trip to Mackinaw City and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, like the 1st two, started with interludes of rain/drizzle as I left Rhinelander, WI. Heading southwest, I approached Tomahawk, WI. Having never traveled thru there, it was my 1st "exploration" of the day. Tomahawk is located on Lake Mohawksin along the Wisconsin River, and is home to a huge Packaging Corporation of America plant....
Piles and piles of logs surrounding the facility. At 7am, not much was moving in downtown Tomahawk, so I continued on, heading out of town. I soon realized that the road I was on was NOT heading south, as desired. So I had to get a bit more serious about getting back to Hiway 51.... Soon I came upon the Wisconsin River again, and several neat river cabins/homes, which looked like great getaway places... There were references to the "GrandFather" and "GrandMother" Flowages, but not really sure what those were relating to. This portion of the Wisconsin River was narrow and "lively".... according to a fishing article this is a great fishing environment. It also looks like a great canoeing river.
Following country roads further east, I finally ran into the main Wisconsin North/South Hiway 51 (often referred to as "the Route 66" of Wisconsin). I settled in with coffee and sports talk radio and set sights on the Wisconsin Dells. As I approached the Dells, the rain started to fall again, and it was at that point I opted for my "rain deterrent" plan - a casino......
Located just south of The Dells on Hiway 12, the Ho Chunk Casino is a stopping point Sue and I came across a few years back.
Knowing I was up $20, I figured I had "house money" to gamble with. Sure enough, I hit it "big" on the penny slots, and found myself up $75 for the day! Being the wise person I am (NOT), I kept playing.. well, to make a long story short, I left the casino up only $30. This is a 1st... two casino visits, and AHEAD $50.... in the 20 years of visiting casinos, I have never left ahead!
With that, I decided to head back out, and as with the 1st casino visit, the rain had stopped. Though the sun had not broken out yet, it was working on it. At this point in the trip, the reality of the mini-vacation coming to an end was setting in, and thoughts of all the things I had waiting for me to do back at home began filling my mind. So I set the cruise control and headed SW down 2 lane hiways thru the picturesque Southern Wisconsin countryside. Hiway 60 follows along the banks of the Wisconsin River, and compared to my previous encounters with the River earlier in the day, this portion was wide, and shallow, and very placid.... much, much different than upstream in North Central Wisconsin.
Soon the bluffs around Prairie du Chien appeared. Time for one final gas stop before the last leg back to Waterloo via Strawberry Point. I arrived back in Waterloo approximately 3pm. The trip was a little over 1500 miles, and with the on and off rain, this three day journey was one of the more taxing trips I have taken. But I was able to see some beautiful countryside, and interesting sights, and get some good ideas for a future trip to the Mackinaw area with Sue!
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