Travel Notes: Johnsburg, IL » Trempealeau, WI » Sioux Falls, SD

Across the southern regions of Wisconsin and Minnesota, vast and gently rolling hills stretch to every horizon, interrupted only by quiet county roads. Occasionally, a cluster of oaks or conifers reminds one of the forest that once covered these hills. The fertile earth found here is used to grow corn and soybeans. Massive, yet graceful, wind turbines rise up into the lazy, hazy blue skies, where not a single airplane or soaring bird is seen. The roadsides are lined with clover in bloom. Now that I have reached South Dakota, the hills are steeper and more rocky. Cropland gives way to grazing land. My desire to wander is now what drives me. I knew once I departed Trempealeau that I would not decide to turn back.