Day 16: 144 miles from Wabasha, MN to Prairie du Chien,  Wisconsin.  The road followed the Mississippi River all the way with fantastic views. The river continues to be full of islands, all underwater with striking bluffs on both shores. We saw 6 eagles and 3 eagle nests - exciting! We stopped at the small old depot in Winona, MN just in time to see the Amtrak train of 12 cars roll in. There was a crew change and a 10 min stop. Dad got chatting with the head conductor and mentioned he collected train items. The conductor immediately responded with a grin, "I'm keeping my hat and my eyes are on you".
We stopped at one of the lock and dams which are massive and were surprised that the water is the same level on both sides; there is still a huge amount of floodwater heading downstream.
We stopped at the Fish Farm Indian mounds just off the highway on a terrace about 40 feet above. We could see about a dozen of the 30 mounds in the preserve. Finally, we stopped at the 2nd Ft Crawford museum in Prairie du Chien . The first was built on a river island in the early 1800s and was flooded out. This one was built in the 1830s and all but one building demolished after the civil war. Lots of interesting local history.
Tomorrow we continue our journey south.