WEEK 10: ACROSS AMERICA

WEEK 10 RUN-WALK ACROSS AMERICA 2017 STARTS TOMORROW
 Segment 24: West Union IA to Boscobel WI
Segment 25: Boscobel WI to Madison WI
Segment 26: Madison WI to Milwaukee WI
 
WOW! ON THE FIRST DAY OF THIS WEEK’S SEGMENT WE CROSS THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI RIVER. Even virtually it seems like a really big deal. Notice, when leaving Iowa, that both it’s western and eastern borders are formed by rivers, the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, respectively.  Iowa is the only state with this distinction.
 
The National Geographic Society website has a student activity for grades 6-8, in which students examine the role of rivers in the settlement of the Americas; if your kids are walking or running this challenge, it might be worth exploring as a learning activity. Moving into Wisconsin the route follows along the Wisconsin River, a tributary of the Mississippi and the longest in the state.  Apparently there are bald eagles to be seen along the northern Mississippi River valley, between Minnesota and southern Illinois, but mostly in the months of January and February.
 
The rest of the week runners will travel across Wisconsin to it’s two largest cities. The first stop is Madison, the state’s capital, named after President James Madison, home of the University of Wisconsin, and second largest city. Milwaukee, the largest city is next.
 
According to the TrekTravel.com online itinerary for its bike tour (week 4, day 28), the route to Madison from Boscobel WI takes you through a beautiful ‘unglaciated region” of Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, where you experience steep and rolling forested hills, green valleys, and crystal clear trout streams that have dramatically carved limestone bluffs.   It says that nearby farms, which use sustainable growing practices, produce organic foods and other treasures like heirloom vegetables and artisanal cheeses likely to be found in Madison restaurants and its farmers market. Part of the company’s admitted enthusiasm for this city is due to the fact that Madison is TrekTravel’s hometown, which explains the wonderful insight into the area's charms.

Milwaukee is at the eastern edge of the route through this state and offers up scenes of the Lake Michigan western shoreline and the Brewers’ baseball team stadium, Miller Park. It is the home of iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles and its landmark-building-housed Museum. There is much to see and enjoy here. Get ready to cross the Big Lake next week!
 
RUN HAPPY!

Check out the images on the ACROSS AMERICA IN PHOTOS page.
 
http://nationalgeographic.org/activity/rivers-of-americas/
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_River
 
http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle1.html
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison,_Wisconsin
 
http://trektravel.com/trip/cross-country-usa-bike-tour/
 
http://www.harley-davidson.com/content/h-d/en_US/home/museum/visit/visitor-information.html

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mil/ballpark/