Trumped

It's actually been four years since Natureman and I last cycled a particularly scenic stretch of the Great River Bike Trail with its numerous bridges to the Mississippi town of Trempealeau (pronounced trump-e-lo). You see we were headed here for a bike ride on May 31st, 2012 when upon making a turn to go to the trail's parking lot, we were rear ended by an 18 yr old texter and the car rolled. We never made it to the bike trail but the emergency room instead... We replaced our mangled bikes but with our stitches and injuries bike riding was out for the summer of 2012.

Fast forward to June 2015, a sunny beautiful day with a slight breeze perfect for a bike outing beckons and today's the day to complete the 2012 trip.  We have since gone bike riding together but not this particular route. Too many ghosts but it was time to revisit the scene of the accident. And you know what? No flash backs. It was a great ride with no painful memories.

wild roses

wood anemone

Wild roses, colonies of  wood anemone and pink phlox flanked the trail. Birds darted to and fro in front of us and garter snakes and frogs seem to like using the trail too, some more successfully than others. A baby bunny rabbit hopped as fast as he could off the road and inch worms dangled by single threads from overhead tree branches. 

The once railroad bed was bumpier than usual as the local turtles had been busy digging in the sandy road bed to lay their eggs.  It was a bit like an obstacle course. No deer sightings this trip. Being a Monday, the people population was also scarce on the 15 mile trek.

waterfall caused by beaver dams

The marsh scenery didn't disappoint as in one section the beavers had been busy damming a section and now there was a waterfall feature. It's amazing how those little guys can accomplish so much.

picnic lunch

We enjoyed our picnic lunch - (courtesy of buddy Jennifer) on a bench with a river view.  

Mississippi View from Trempealeau 's Porch

After chowing down, we opted for an ice cold root beer on the local Trempealeau Hotel's porch. Lo and behold we were blessed with no trains passing during our visit.


Their garden bi colored peonies were gorgeous. 

Bi color peony in Trempealeau Hotel's Beer Garden

The return ride always goes faster for some reason and in no time we were back at the car. With great relief I felt like I had trumped the PTSD demon at Trempealeau at least for this trip...