The Mississippi Cruise ‘N Ride - Day 1 (The Dream)

Ok, for those of you who have trouble dreaming let me do it for you. (I don’t have any trouble in that area!)

Here’s how I would imagine the first day of our Mississippi River Cruise ‘N Ride would go down. (Put yourself on one of the bikes.)

The first bike arrives at the La Crosse marina about 1:30 pm. It’s a couple. (I’ve already been there for a day with the captain and crew to set things up.) The people are supposed to arrive between 3:00 and 5:00 pm but somebody always shows up early! (Is that you?)

By 4:00 pm everybody has arrived except one. He’s phoned to say he’s been delayed and should arrive by 7:00. (Somebody is always late! Is that you?)

We’re busy getting settled into the various bedrooms and getting to know each other over cold drinks around the top deck bar. We’re pouring over maps and making up last minute food lists so that everything is absolutely perfect for the next 4 days. (It won’t be!)

The crew and I are also getting the BBQ ready for the evening’s meal - something simple like chicken, corn on the cob and salad.

I’m also video recording the event for posterity and will be after basic information from everyone to start us off (what kind of bike you ride, how long have you been riding, where are you from, are you afraid of spiders – that sort of thing).

Then we eat and settle around the boat with coffee and cold drinks for more mixing. (I’ll make sure everybody knows everybody else quickly – I’ve written a book on how to do that, so it’ll be a snap.)

Finally, at 9:00 pm the last rider arrives and we feed him and grill him and then settle in for the evening.

Around 8:00am the next morning, we’re “at the trough” downing pancakes, bacon, toast, eggs, coffee and orange juice and getting ready for our first day’s ride.

We manage to depart just after 9:00 – 7 bikes and 10 people headed south down highway 26 along the river to the Effigy Mounds National Monument (Iowa) for coffee and a stretch.

Eventually we head west and end up at Grundy Center for lunch in a quaint little diner.

I shoot some footage in the diner (so we know where we’ve been) and catch people throughout the day rounding a bend, cresting a hill and passing as a group and stop shooting when I get “the finger” from 2 bikers in a row!

The rest of the day we head south and west to meet up with the river again. We pass Maquoketa Caves but don’t have time to visit. (Maybe we’ll have time to return tomorrow?)

By 5:00 pm we’re at Prairie du Chien where we meet the boat and are greeted with cold drinks and a hot tub and time to relax and tell lies before supper.

287 miles – I could have done that on an electric scooter!