We’ve spent the last two days in Wisconsin having a great drive on the YT through some super scenery and excellent back roads. I’d just like to say that the YT has been a great choice for our final World Tour US leg. Anyone looking to do a local or cross country drive should really check out the Yellowstone Trail….good roads, great history and scenery…I really don’t understand why it’s not better known and more traveled.
OK, on to the blog. We left Illinois last Sat AM and headed into Wisconsin following the YT route along the Lake Michigan shoreline then on to Milwaukee. At that point we left the trail and made the short detour to Hartford, WI, the home of the Wisconsin Automotive Museum. This is a “must see” if you are in the area as it features Wisconsin built cars including Kissel, Nash, AMC and as well as other unique car brands as well as historic dirt track racing displays and a fully restored steam locomotive….
The reason for the detour off the YT trail was to meet up with Mark Mowbray, the Executive Director of the Yellowstone Trail Assoc. He kindly agreed to meet up in Hartford for lunch and go over our YT maps….he is a wealth of information and helped greatly in our YT routing.
Mark and I in front of the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in Hartford, WI
Luke and Mark Mowbray, the Executive Director of the YT next to the restored steam engine….this baby is BIG !! I’m glad I don’t collect them…
Mark has produced a write up on the Yellowstone Garage located in Fond Du Lac, WI that his father owned and operated and where Mark worked part time after school. It’s a great read and can be purchased on the YT website…www.yellowstonetrail.org. Mark had told us about the garage and it still exists today, only now called Northern Battery, also across the street is the Yellowstone Trail Park….see photo’s below. He has a lot of history and stories about the place as you can imagine…
1930’s Yellowstone Garage in Fond Du Lac, WI
Yellowstone Garage today
We left Mark mid afternoon and drove to Stevens Point, WI for the night and met up the next morning with a tried and true YT fan….Connie Milz and her husband Ray and daughter Val. They were having breakfast in a nearby town, so we stopped to say hello to them and their breakfast group. We continued to drive on and Connie and family caught up with us after breakfast and spent the rest of the day following us and helping to navigate the YT to almost the MN border….we stopped for a quick lunch to talk about the World Tour where they left us and we continued on to Granite Falls,MN for the night.
Connie and her breakfast group….Connie is on the far left
I really love this building….it is truly unique. Check out the curved glass block!
A stop along the way to discuss routing…Luke, unkown lady, Val, Connie and Ray….
Below are a few random photo’s from the afternoon drive…
Back on gravel….
Young Amish girls on bikes,….you can only find this on the backroads!!
One of many Amish buggy’s we came across..
A rock marker for the Yellowstone Trail….back in the day, this is how they used to mark the route!!
The leaves are just starting to turn….autumn in the Midwest is so scenic!!
Tomorrow on to South Dakota….Roadster is running great and weather has been very good overall…just a little rain today.
Looking great. When you get to Coullee City, Wa. if you need a motel, go to the Ala Cozy. Kim and I spent a week there last year. Great folks and nice and old timey. Hope to see you soon.