An October Trip

This past weekend my spouse and I went to visit our son and daughter-in-law in the Twin Cities area. It was a short, but nice visit. This post will tell of a few happenings in our trip to the land of 10,000 lakes. 

The question arises since Wisconsin has 15,000 lakes, and Minnesota has just under 12,000, we have more lakes. The problem is the WIDNR and Minnesota use different criteria, so in the end, perhaps MN has more lakes. Wisconsin may have fewer lakes, but perhaps it has more lakes per square mile since WI has 65,498 sq mi of area compared to MN 86,943. 

1 of 12,000 MN lakes

This Wisconsin Minnesota rivalry is quite strong in some cultural aspects. Gophers-Badgers; Packers-Vikings. While visiting this past weekend, I read the local Star-Tribune, and one article noted how Minnesota was rated number 3 for happiness, and of course the writer pointed out that Wisconsin was 21st. If they can outdo Wisconsin, Minnesota apparently revels in pointing that out. Then there was the message board on I-94 we saw on the way out of Minnesota as we were approaching the green pastures of Wisconsin. The changing message board read: "River, 7 minutes." Of course, the sign meant the St Croix River which is the dividing line between WI and MN. Why did it not say State border--7 minutes? Or, perhaps even Hudson, WI--7 minutes? As my wife commented, "What is the big deal of knowing when you cross the river?" Is it a point of no return as one enters Wisconsin? Apparently, it is a big deal for those in Minnesota. 

Cedar Lake, Minneapolis

There was road construction in Minnesota on part of I-94, but I did not pay sufficient attention if the construction ended before the river. There was also road construction further east on I-94 in Wisconsin. Sometimes I think the WIDOT is like my wife, they have make work projects, repaving what looks like totally good pavement to the traveler eye. There is this meme that sometimes shows up on Facebook, it has a photo of an old Roman stone road in good condition, and then one with a typical American potholed road. The caption says something to the effect that "Romans built this road 3,000 years ago...", and with the photo of the US road,  "...and then the engineers showed up." Perhaps, engineers like it that way, it keeps them gainfully employed. I noticed on I-90 near Roberts, WI a section of pavement reconstructed a year or two ago that is already developing potholes. Our road building technique still uses concrete--which was developed by the Romans. Roman roads may not have taken the punishment ours do, but still, we are a few thousand years later, one would have thought our road building would have advanced. For some reason, they are building a second set of lanes by Black River Falls and area between Osseo and Eau Claire. I suspect they are getting ready for a traffic shift for, of course, road construction yet again. They just had construction a few years ago and this year by Black River Falls, so it is probably another make work project. 

View across Highway from T Wirth Parkway Trail

On the way to Minneapolis on Friday we got stuck in a long traffic jam on I-94 where it was down to one lane. The backup, occurred while we were in a construction zone. We got off, not knowing the exit marked the end of the road work, but per GPS, we were only partially through the backup. We figured a crash had occurred ahead, and on the way home figured it was west, and out of the construction zone. GPS is nice, we used it to find the length of the back up, and my navigator, directed me to the onramp just beyond the backup. She did a a super job. This was on top of her normal job as the wife app when I drive. I must have done a pretty good job of driving, because the wife app seldom activated, even when we were in the heavy traffic in downtown Minneapolis. The main activation was, do you know you are doing 62 mph in a 55 mph zone, or the speed limit here is only 55.

Maybe MN wins an award for this burr

On the way home, the wife app checked GPS on her phone to find an ever increasing back up at Poynette, which we maneuvered around by taking Hwy 33 to Portage and then US 51 south to where it meets the interstate by the north side of Madison. WIDOT, had construction in a segment along US 51, which of course is par for the course by not only having construction on the interstate, but also having construction on a logical route to avoid the interstate backup. Apparently, the road building administrators at WIDOT fail to think of such things. 

Luce Line Bike trail

Transportation engineers of course can work on other elements, like rail and bike and pedestrian ways. When I worked as a planner, I had created a concept of what is known as the Heritage Circle Route for Fitchburg, WI. That was in the year 2000. Using old rail rights of way, the E-Way to the north, and along County M to the south, it would go near most of the designated Fitchburg local and National Register historic sites, hence the name I provided to the route. Two legs are complete, the third, I was told was not possible because some rail person said we could not use the rail right-of-way unless we were a good distance, I can't recall the number, from the line and fenced. Well, in the Twin Cities area, I biked on the Luce Line, which for is in a rail right-of-way for a good part of its length. Guess what, there is no fence, and it is probably less than thirty feet at certain points. I think WI Southern and the State Railroad commission simply wanted to make sure it did not happen. Kudos to Minnesota for getting that to work. The Heritage Circle route is mentioned and more fully described in the City's Bike and Pedestrian Plan, which you can read about here (see image 50). The eastern challenge is due to the railroad mandate of distance and fence. The Luce Line trail is 63 miles itself. Wisconsin, however, is home to the nation's first rail to trail project, the 32.5 mile Elroy-Sparta Trail opened about 1965, well before the Minnesota millennials were born. We did, however, see our fair share of OWLS (Old Women wearing Lycra, coined by my wife), and MAMLS (Middle-Aged Males wearing Lycra, coined by a presenter of bicycle planning at a national planning conference) and older men. 

OWL ahead on the Luce Line trail

The Twin Cities has many nice bike paths. The Luce Line route took us to the Theodore Wirth Parkway and a well done route within the parkway. The 740 acre Theodore Wirth Park, is the largest park in the Minneapolis regional park system. That number includes 83 acres of water. At times, as we biked the trail, I wondered if I was in northern WI or in Minneapolis, the nature present was so nice along the trail. There was one thing that made me know I was in Minnesota. They understood public space. On some of the lakes in Minneapolis, streets or public ways surround the lakes, and houses are off the shoreline. Here in Wisconsin, use Madison as an example, much of the lake fronts are almost fully developed as private property. No linear parkways along lakeshores as in Minnesota. The Minneapolis linear parks may not be very wide the whole length, but at least the lake can be viewed by the public as they drive, walk or bike. One could say the lake shore development is representative of the tragedy of the commons.

Luce Line trail. Multipurpose right-of-way
with rail, trail and power lines

We are all subject to what is common. When packing for our trip this week we understood the weather forecast, but prepared for worse weather than the forecast. Being campers we tend to pack for weather worse than expected. Saturday was forecast as sunny with a high near 75, while it began partly cloudy it turned mostly cloudy with a high in the 60's. Pack long pants, shorts, long shirt, and bike clothes, and a polar fleece. Land Girl was wondering if she could wear capris then decided it was no longer capri season. I said wear what the weather dictates. Her response was, "You're a guy." Apparently, being male means you can pay less attention to the commonalities and societal expectations. I just wanted to take clothes in which I would be comfortable, Goldilocks clothes--not too hot, not too cold. I ended up wearing shorts the whole trip. I suppose in Minnesota, other than biking OWLS, most women just simply wear flannel.

Fall colors along T Wirth Trail

In Minnesota they seem enamored with Wisconsin, in terms of disliking the state.  One example, in the first Viking game of the season the coach talked about how he did not want any green in the stands. Second, n the old TV Show "How I Met Your Mother" Marshall was from Minnesota and once stated that elbows off the table are the only thing that separates them from Wisconsin. I think the character Marshall had other comments dissing WI as well. His comments relate to that Minnesota Nice thing, but the more I hear about it from Wisconsinites who lived or live their, the more it is a passive-aggressive action. Don't fake nice, either be nice or be the other way, but faking nice is just plain bad. Funny, thing is here in southcentral WI I seldom hear comparisons to Minnesota. Most complaints in Wisconsin are about the neighboring state to our south, our Friendly Illinois Brethren (FIBs). Perhaps Paul Chryst wasn't fired because the football program was going in the wrong direction, maybe it was because he lost to Illinois, those FIBs, in Madison. A loss to Iowa may have been excusable, but Illinois?  Iowa has such a seemingly level existence that no one makes much fun of Iowa, or its residents. Although there is the acronym, I Owe the World an Apology (IOWA). Perhaps Nebraskans make fun of Iowans. It is just hard to make fun of Iowa when they owe the world an apology. Unless you are a football team, you don't something when they are down. 

Civil War Iron Brigade Historical Marker
at Mauston wayside

State rivalry will always be with us. During the Civil War regiments were raised by state, which reinforced the idea of These United States. In any event, rivalry or not, I certainly saw enough Minnesota license plats on the drive to and from Minnesota to realize there are some cross cultural currents. Minnesota may wish to avoid saying, Wisconsin-7 Minutes, but their River-7 Minutes sign would let any educated person know what that means.