Day by Day breakdown - the planned stops

(I'm hoping to share what I *think* each day will encompass, in terms of sights to see, Kodak moments, and where we'll stop for the night. We'll see how close I get once the trip is underway. In any case, I'm showing my hand a bit on what I *think* we'll do and we can see how that varies once we are underway. So many little things can alter plans significantly...)



Major Stopping Points - Day One



Fort Wayne, IN to Mauston, WI - about 386 miles.

Day one begins with our departure, planned tentatively for about 7 am from my driveway. The hope is to clear what little Saturday morning traffic there is in Fort Wayne by departing before it gets the slightest bit heavy. We're heading west on US 30 to start the route and since that's primarily country areas and farms (yes, I know that MOST of Indiana is farms!) we should be able to make good time in getting to Valpo.



The hope is to bed down for the night in Mauston, WI, about 20 miles from the Wisconsin Dells, which ought to be good and hectic considering this will be a holiday weekend in an enhanced, high traffic summer time weekend. Depending on what kind of arrangement, if any, I can get done with a major hotel chain or group of hotels, we'll likely end day one at a recognizable brand name hotel. In my mind's eye, I picture great weather, light traffic and the ability to 'swiftly' get through Chicago's wonderful pothole-infested highway snarl without being swallowed up into a toll-road gorge. The official website for Mauston is http://www.mauston.com/ is light on detail, sparse on excitement, but at least it's there. That gives us a good starting point. Another may be the local newspaper, http://www.wiscnews.com/jcst/, but I haven't really looked that site over yet. Doing so at the moment just seems like work and since it's a Saturday night as I type this, I'm not in 'work' mode. Since I'm really raring to get a lot of miles under our belts as early as possible, we may simply wave at Mauston and keep on trucking, depending on our fatigue, weather, traffic and the time of day. If that happens, it's likely that Eau Claire, WI will be our next stopping point for the evening.



BUT considering that Mauston is still planned for the first night's rest, I did find a couple rave reviews online for the Roman Castle Restaurant, which may be our stop for dinner. It looks to be less than a mile form the interstate, and depending on where our hotel is, it could be it. It doesn't sound bad for an Italian eatery, and what I can tell, they don't serve your meal in a wrapper, so that's already a bonus! As usual, I'll try talking to someone 'official' before the date comes and see if they can recommend something more 'reflective' of their community's belief that this is the 'best place to eat and mingle with Mautsonites, or Maustonians (and I'll clear that up as well!).



Other than just getting day one under our belts, I don't really plan on stopping anywhere else along the way. Sorry about that Illinois and Wisconsin, but you are a day trip away, so we'll save the sightseeing for another time when we don't have the "4,800 miles to go" sign staring us in the face as we unload for the night.



If you know this area, or have some great suggestions for things we should see, (or you'd like us to see and report back on) lemme know by commenting below. But keep in mind, Cubs fans, that we aren't stopping in Chicago for the most obvious reasons...(we can come here anytime. This time we just wanna blow by this windy city and get some miles in.)



And that's just Day One.