Day 32 - Monday, August 18, 1997

Pettitbone RV Resort, La Crosse, Wisconsin - We woke up to some very overcast skies today, so we stayed near camp until around noon. Once we were convinced that it wouldn't start raining again, we loaded up the bikes and headed to Onalask, which is just north of La Crosse. We then biked along the Great River trail, which parallels the Mississippi River as part of the great Rails to Trails program in Wisconsin.

This bike trail offered spectacular views of the river and its backwaters. Part of the trail went through National Wildlife Refuges. We only encountered a few other bikers on the trail, so we pretty much got to enjoy the wildlife free of disturbance. We rode about 26 miles of the trail. There were lots of butterflies on the path. They would sometimes fly alongside us.

Back at camp Jim got stung in the head by some nasty creature. It was painful. Very painful. Very very painful. Asked to comment, Jim said, "Ouch." A proper application of TLC by Marci, which included Sting-Eze, aspirin, anti-histamines, and ice, enabled Jim to finally go to sleep that evening. At least we think it was sleep...maybe it was just a coma.