"From the river split to lighthouses on the lakefront"

Western terminus: Pierce County, at U.S. 10 and State Highway 35, just outside Prescott

Eastern terminus: Kewaunee County, at Highway 42 in downtown Kewaunee

Mileage: about 290 miles

Counties along the way: Pierce, St. Croix, Dunn, Chippewa, Clark, Marathon, Shawano, Brown, Outagamie (for two seconds), and Kewaunee

Sample towns along the way: Prescott, River Falls, Menomonie, Chippewa Falls, Thorp, Abbotsford, Wausau, Shawano, Green Bay, Kewaunee

Bypass alternates at: Actually, the alternates are to run the "old" 29 through towns it now bypasses; major "Business" 29 routes exist at Chippewa Falls, Abbotsford, Wittenberg and Shawano.

Quickie Summary: State “Trunk” Highway 29 is a "coast to coast" highway, running between Prescott at the Mississippi/St. Croix river split and the shore of Lake Michigan in Kewaunee. On the way, you traverse hills along the St. Croix River Valley, brush by several UW college campuses, kiss the middle of two hemispheres at once, zoom past Rib Mountain, go through the heart of Green Bay, and even visit Poland before landing at Lake Michigan's doorstep. The middle two-thirds of Highway 29 is high-speed expressway; west of Chippewa Falls and east of Green Bay it's a rural two-lane just like most state highways. It's one of the most significant east-west roads in the state and carries the designation of the World War I Veterans Memorial Highway for its entire length.

The Drive (West To East):The best place to start is actually in the heart of Prescott, which lies right at the spot where the Mississippi River turns away from the Wisconsin-Minnesota border and heads straight for Minneapolis and St. Paul. Prescott itself (pop. 4,000) is Wisconsin's westernmost incorporated city and is an old river town dating back to 1839, named after its founder, whose first name was Philander (I believe they just called him "Phil" for short.) Prescott's location along the rivers just 25 miles from the Twin Cities means its future includes becoming a suburb. While the outskirts are seeing subdivision popping up, in the downtown area up and down Broad Street (also Highway 35) lie marinas, antique shops, a goldsmith shop and a walking tour of historic homes, all just south of where 29 begins. A great place to start is at Muddy Waters Bar & Grill (231 Broad Street, 715-262-5999). Seems like every year it gets bigger and adds more decks out back that overlook the rivers, a road and rail bridge, and the barges being flanked by boaters and jet-skiers (whom I assume aren't present in the winter.) The Welcome & Heritage Center, which chronicles local history and features displays, sits next to Muddy Waters at the U.S. 10 bridge crossing into Minnesota.

View of the St. Croix and Mississippi from Muddy Waters Bar. Wisconsin is on the near side; the Mississippi continues to the top right into Minnesota. The St. Croix River flows into the Mississippi at this point and begins forming the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin.

From Prescott, heading north on Broad Street/Highway 35 will bring you to the technical start of State Highway 29, about one mile north of downtown. Once you hit 29, you're instantly (as of 2006, at least) in open countryside. The road, multiplexed with Highway 35 for the 11 miles into River Falls, winds around, up and down hills and valleys that characterize the area close to the St. Croix River.

Can you believe there are two Kinnickinnics??

I guess it stands to reason: Wisconsin has more than one Fox River, more than one Wolf River... but more than one Kinnickinnic River? Indeed. One is in Milwaukee, draining the city's south side into Lake Michigan. The other flows through western Wisconsin into the St. Croix. Kinnickinnic State Park, located along the latter, offers swimming, boat mooring, fishing, cross-country skiing, panoramic views and good bird-watching. Note to fishermen: this version of the Kinnickinnic River is a nationally recognized Class One Trout Stream. Incidentally, the word "Kinnickinnic" comes from the Ojibwa, meaning "what is mixed." Seems that Kinnickinnic deals with mixing various plant material, including tobacco. Highway 29 offers access to the river and park between Prescott and River Falls.

You can "float the Kinni" with rentals from the Kinni Creek Lodge and Outfitters (877-504-9705), which also offers cabins and features a B&B. They're located along Highway 35 just north of where Highway 29 turns east in River Falls. Snaking through the hills on Highway 29 between Spring Valley and Menomonie.

River Falls - the start of two college towns

Next up on Highway 29 is River Falls (pop. 14,015), "The City on the Kinni", as it calls itself. River Falls is definitely a college town: about 14,000 regular residents and 6,000 college students. The city is home to UW-River Falls, which served as the summer practice facility for the Kansas City Chiefs until 2009, and Chippewa Valley Technical College. River Falls is also increasingly a Twin Cities suburb. Highway 35 branches off and heads north at this point; Highway 29 continues its push east. After a short coupling with U.S. Highway 63, State Highway 29 head east into Spring Valley (pop. 1,189), home of Crystal Cave, "Wisconsin's Longest Showcave!", as it says.

State Trunk Tour Fact: Founded the same year Wisconsin became a state (1848), River Falls' original name was Greenwood. Problem was, there already was a Greenwood, Wisconsin. Then they noticed there a falls along the river, and the name change seemed obvious.

Spring Valley is clearly a valley - as you cross the Eau Galle River, you can see the bluffs and ridges on either side. Swimmers frequent the Eau Galle Dam and Recreation Area, home to the largest earthen dam in the Midwest.

Menomonie Beyond Spring Valley, you enter Menomonie (pop. 14,937), which flanks the Red Cedar River. There is a Menomonee River in Wisconsin, and a Menomonee, Michigan across from Marinette; the Muppets even had a song called Ma-Na-Ma-Na. But this Menomonie, with its slightly different spelling, is the one that tends to confuse people. Home to another state campus, UW-Stout, Menomonie's downtown runs along State Highways 29 and 25, which combine for a short distance. U.S. 12 also runs through town and I-94 flanks the town to the north, which allows some people who live in Menomonie to commute to Minneapolis or Eau Claire. Highway 29 winds extensively thru Menomonie, combining with U.S. 12 on the town's east side past the Stout campus. UW-Stout was designated as "Wisconsin's Polytechnic University" by the Board of Regents, so if you want to study polytechnics, this is the place to go. Menomonie is also home to the Mabel Tainter Theater, a gorgeous sandstone theater built in 1890.

Above: the old tower rising above the UW-Stout campus. Left: The Mabel Tainter Theater, built in 1890 and still fulfilling its mission of bringing the finest in arts and culture to Menomonie and western Wisconsin. The theater and areas around it host a series of events throughout the year. Credit for photo from Flickr.

Heading east from Menomonie and past the Hoffman Hills Recreation Area, Highway 29 parallels I-94, which runs just about 1-2 miles to the north, over to Elk Mound, when the two routes cross. At this junction, which features a store called Private Pleasures (I'm guessing it's an adult store; I didn't stop in, honest), Highway 29 begins its voyage as a 4-lane expressway, which it continues as all the way to Green Bay.

The upgrades to Highway 29 have been going on for almost two decades and the result is a new, smooth, fast highway that lets you jet across the middle of the state with ease. It's more interesting, of course, to stop and check things out, so that's why I recommend stopping off in some of the towns the upgraded Highway 29 now whizzes past.

Chippewa Falls (pop. 12,925) is Eau Claire's northern counterpart and calls itself "Gateway to the North Woods." A drive on the old 29, now known as "Business 29", takes you through the city on County X, River Street and Seymour Cray Blvd, named after the famous engineer who took supercomputers to a whole new level in the latter half of the 20th century. From Minneapolis-based CDC to his own company, Cray Research (you may have heard of the Cray-2 supercomputer, for example), Seymour Cray played a key role in making computers what they are today. He died in 1996, and Highway 29's Business route through Chippewa Falls carries his name in memoriam.

BREWERY ALERT!
Of course, a major stop for many in Chippewa Falls is the Leinenkugel Brewing Company, famous for beers like Leinie's Red, Honey Weiss, Berry Weiss, Big Butt Doppelbock (ya hear that, Sir Mix-A-Lot??), Sunset Wheat, Summer Shandy, Classic Amber...the list goes on and on! Tours are available year-round, every day except major holidays. Check the tour link or call (888) LEINIES for details.

Above: The Leinenkugel Brewery has been at it since 1867. Tours are extremely popular, so be prepared for lots of thirsty and appreciative cohorts. Their tasting area (right) offers a wide variety of Leinie beverages and a gift shop where you're pretty much guaranteed to find something you'll like.

Chippewa Falls is known to giddy female movie-goers worldwide as the hometown of Jack Dawson, Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the movie epic Titanic. The famous hole in the script deals with Lake Wissota, which actually did not exist when Titanic sunk -- it was developed in 1916, when work on a dam created the now-famous body of water.

At Chippewa Falls, Highway 29 hits a junction with U.S. Highway 53, now on a newly-built freeway bypass that connects to Duluth-Superior, Rice Lake and Spooner to the north and provides access to I-94 for destinations to the south. Of course, since we're "touring" Highway 29, we'll keep heading east.

As you pass Lake Wissota east of Chippewa Falls, Highway 29 continues its path as a major 4-lane expressway. The "old" 29 parallels this road just to the north as County X, which runs you right through the center of towns like Cadott, Boyd, Stanley and Thorp. The new 29 as an expressway provides exits to each of these towns. Cadott, at the junction with Highway 27 (Exit 91), features the Wisconsin Veterans Tribute.

	Where Highway 29 meets Highway 27, the Wisconsin Veterans Tribute overlooks the landscape around Cadott.
Cadott lies along the 45th parallel, halfway between the Equator and the North Pole (although the weather is more like the North Pole than the Equator much of the year). This is one claim to fame Cadott wants you to know about as you enter town.

Thorp is a town at the crossing with Highway 73. To get some grub, you can stop at the creatively-named Thorpedo Restaurant, just north of Highway 29. Between Thorp and Withee, Highway 29 crosses the Black River, which begins in the Chequamegon National Forest a little bit north of there and flows through Black River Falls on its way to the Mississippi.

On the Clark-Marathon County line at the junction with Highway 13 is Abbotsford (pop. 2,000), known as "Wisconsin's First City". It's "first" in terms of the alphabet, by the way, not in population or age (those distinctions go to Milwaukee and Green Bay, respectively). The downtown drive on Highway 13 is a good example of a Wisconsin main street.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, THE CENTER OF TWO HEMISPHERES??

Well, yes, you can be. Following the County M turnoff from Highway 29, approximately at mile marker 149, you can go about 5 miles north, take a right on County U and then left at the Geological marker sign, onto Meridian Road. The meridian of which it speaks is the 90th Meridian, halfway between the Prime Meridian (London) and the Int'l Date Line. In other words, you're at the central point of the Western Hemisphere.

But that's not all.

At the Geological (shouldn't it be a "geographical"?) Marker, about ¼ mile north on Meridian Road, you're also at the 45th Parallel, which is halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. So right there in the middle of the cornfields, you're at the center of both the Western and Northern Hemispheres. Stand there and feel the self-absorption!

And there you are, the center of two hemispheres. And a lot of corn in the summer.

A stone's throw from this center point is Poniatowski (pronounced, as I discovered, without the first "i"), a tiny hamlet featuring a few houses and a bar. In T&C's Pub, I found a friendly, if not tipsy, crowd that generously treated me to a Pabst for joining the "45x90 Club", which is the informal group you join when visiting the Center of Two Hemispheres.

Making your way back to Highway 29 on either County M or H, you can make quick time to Wausau, with a nice view of Rib Mountain guiding you in. Rib Mountain (elevation 1,924 feet) is an imposing ridge that dominates the surrounding landscape and provides area residents with great winter skiing right nearby. The hill is one billion years old, but doesn't look a day over 600 million. It's the second-highest peak in the state (the highest being Timms Hill, about forty miles to the northwest) and the hill highest when compared to the average surrounding terrain, which explains why it can be seen for miles and miles around.

Wausau
Wausau (pop. 38,426) itself is the center of the Wausau-Stevens Point metro area and functions as a larger city than it really is. You can bypass the city by following Highway 29, which takes you west and south of the main city but lets you see its fastest-growing areas, or go through the city itself on Business 29. To follow 29's old route, follow Elm Street east instead of joining Highway 29 & I-39. Elm Street will bring you downtown; then, follow Grand (also Business U.S. 51) south through the city.

Wausau is perhaps most famous for Wausau Insurance, but also provides numerous amenities. Recreation abounds: the Wisconsin River splits the city and widens into a lake at times and provides great canoeing and kayaking; Rib Mountain offers skiing, hiking and mountain biking; and numerous restaurants abound for aspiring competitive eaters.

Wausau hosts a professional baseball team, the Wausau Woodchucks of the Northwoods League. Also worth a stop is the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum (715-845-7010), featuring numerous works of art its world-renowned "Birds In Art" exhibit. It's also worth noting Wausau lies in the midst of an area that grows a lot of Panax quinquefolius, also known as American Ginseng. The area's large Hmong population, as well as the plant's popularity around the world - especially Asia - contributes to the demand and significance of this product.

"Old" 29 rejoins the current Highway 29 south of Wausau at Exit 171. From Wausau and its eastern suburbs of Rothschild, Weston and Ringle, Highway 29 is expressway all the way east to Green Bay. Bicycle enthusiasts may note that the Mountain-Bay Trail, a rail-to-trail conversion that runs the span between Wausau and Green Bay, parallels this stretch of 29 just a few miles north.

Shortly after crossing the subcontinential divide (the point where water starts draining to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean vs. the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico), you reach Highway 49, which begins at Highway 29 and heads south to Elderon, Waupaca and eventually the Horicon Marsh area. After crossing into Shawano County, Highway 29 (as the now-freeway bypass) snakes around little Wittenberg (pop. 1,177), where U.S. 45 joins for a few miles heading east before heading south toward Clintonville.

Bacon Alert. In the midst of this coupling with U.S. 45, Highway 29 passes Wittenberg's most famous business: Neuske's Applewood Smoked Meats. Neuske's makes "the beluga of bacon", according to the New York Times. Neuske's was founded in 1887 by Prussian immigrants, drawn to Wisconsin because everybody was immigrating here at the time and Wittenberg appealed to them - in part because of the significance of the city's German counterpart (apparently Wittenberg, Germany is where Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church, touching off the Reformation. A little history note for ya.) Neuske's began with a smokehouse and during the Great Depression R.C. Neuske sold smoked bacon, sausages, hams and turkeys to budding resorts across northern Wisconsin. Long story short, today Neuske's sells through mail order and supermarkets across the nation and a few foreign markets. Their bacon (a State Trunk Tour favorite) is the preferred bacon for a plethora of famous, tony restauarants across the country, including Balthazar and An American Place in New York, Commander's Place in New Orleans, The Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, and Pinot in Los Angeles. But lucky you, you can buy Neuske's right at the Wittenberg Retail Store, located on Grand Avenue between Exit 196 and 198, in full view of Highway 29. In fact, Grand Avenue was Highway 29 before the expressway was built. So there.

Further east, you reach Shawano (pop. 8.298), the main city between Green Bay and Wausau. Shawano is perched on Shawano Lake and offers the most amenities on this stretch. Highway 29 officially bypasses the city to the south on a freeway bypass - which is only fitting, since the name "Shawano" is Native American Menomonee for "to the south." You can follow Business 29 into town and go through its center. Being the main city between Wausau and Green Bay, it's also the main city along the Mountain-Bay Trail. A former railroad depot in town has been retrofitted to Joe BikeLer's Bike Shop (620 South Main Street, 715-526-2216) and offers everything from bicycles to a coffee bar. It's just south of Business 29 along adjacent Highway 22. Weekends from 8am to 4pm, the Trailside Farmers Market runs late May through October and features vendors offering crafts, produce, baked goods, ceramics and more.

In the downtown area, Business Highway 29 follows a stretch of Green Bay Avenue for several miles, combining 29 with State Trunk Tour Highways 22, 47 and 55. Gas tends to be a little cheaper in Shawano than surrounding areas, so just note that for the trip.

	Joe BikeLer's Bike Shop serves hungry, thirsty and flat-tired bikers huffing up and down the trail from Wausau to Green Bay...and drivers touring Highway 29!
A whole lotta State Trunk Tour highways combine for the ride through Shawano.

Hydro-whatting?
While going through town, I saw a sign for Shawano Well Drilling. They do hydrofracking. So what in the name of all creatures big and small is hydrofracking? Well, hydrofracking is the process of pumping water to open new or existing water veins or lines to increase the water flow, designed mainly to create or increase production of water wells. To me, it sounded like something naughty involving a swimming pool. Either way, I learned a new word driving through Shawano.

If you follow the Highway 29 freeway bypass - which saves probably 10-15 minutes - check out the view as you cross the tree-lined Wolf River. Especially on the eastbound run, the view of the trees framing the river makes for a great picture. If only I'd had my camera ready at the time...

East of Shawano, Highway 47 combines with 29 to Bonduel and Highway 55 sticks around until Angelica. At Bonduel, check out Doc's Zoo & Muscle Car Museum (715-758-9080), which features a variety of 60's muscle cars, motorcycles, a classic 1930's Standard gas station, and a whole line of unique autos, including one of the 1958 Plymouth Fury cars used in the Stephen King classic "Christine". It's hard to miss; part of Doc's Harley-Davidson, Inc. of Shawano County, you'll notice Bo & Luke Duke's General Lee looking like it just leaped the building (yes, it's one of the actual General Lee cars used in filming "The Dukes of Hazzard."

Just northwest of Green Bay, Highway 29 ducks into Brown County, and then Outagamie County for such a short time, you can see the Brown County sign ahead of you again. The signs themselves are small, but you literally cut the northeast corner of Outagamie within a few blocks.

On the west edge of Green Bay itself lies Pamperin Park. No, it was not named for the female-targeting pain medicine (that's Pamprin.) Pamperin Park is the largest park in Brown County, which holds the Green Bay Metro Area. The park offers a huge wooden children's playground area, a stone pavilion, fireplace, gardens and a picturesque suspension bridge. Pamperin serves as a nice recreational stop for relaxation or letting kids get their energy spent before resuming the journey.

Pamperin Park, just off Highway 29 on Green Bay's west side (click on picture for larger image.)

GREEN BAY
Entering Green Bay (pop. 102,313 and a.k.a. "Titletown U.S.A."), Highway 29 becomes Shawano Ave. and cuts through the heart of downtown. Green Bay is Wisconsin's oldest city and - not sure if you heard about this or not - are the smallest city to host a National Football League team. They're called the "Packers" and...what, you've already heard about them? Okay. Green Bay is also the headquarters of ShopKo Stores and Schneider National (admit it, you know the commercials and you've seen the "big orange trucks"). Famous people from Green Bay include Tony Shalhoub of Monk fame, ESPN SportsCenter anchor John Anderson, comedian and Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator Joel Hodgson, Pat MacDonald of the group Timbuk 3 - you know, "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"? - that group. Naturally, Green Bay is home to tons of atheletes too, among them NFL stars Curly Lambeau, Jerry Tagge, Ted Fritsch Jr., Arnie Herber and Aaron Stecker, as well as baseball pitcher Bob Wickman.

Highway 29 cuts straight through a line of residential neighborhoods for a while. You'll know downtown is close when you find the old-fashioned, neon-signed McDonald's, and a 24-hour Subway nearby - the only one this author has seen. (Click on the picture for a view at sunset with the McDonald's neon sign all aglow).

For Lambeau Field seekers on this route, the "frozen tundra" lies about 3 miles south of Highway 29; you can cut south to it via Oneida Street or Military Avenue. Trust me, you WILL be able to find Lambeau, the home of the Green Bay Packers...the cross street is Lombardi Avenue, after all.

Brewery Alert! Green Bay calls itself "Titletown", so when some guys decided to start up a brewery there, it only made sense to call it the Titletown Brewing Company. Coincidentally - or perhaps not - Titletown Brewing started in December of 1996, right before the Packers' most recent Super Bowl victory. Located just north of Highway 29 on 200 Dousman Street (cut north on any cross street to access Dousman, which is also U.S. 141) in a classic old railroad station built in 1899, Titletown brews Packer-backer beverages such as the Johnny "Blood" Red and Canadeo Gold as well as a great root beer called Sno-Cap, which uses Clyde the Penguin as its mascot. Trains, football, beer, food... definitely a good stop on the State Trunk Tour. In front of the entrance to Titletown Brewing on Dousman Street, one block off Highway 29. This used to be Green Bay's actual train station, and they did a great job refurbishing it. One of the tracks running past the brewery is still active with freight trains, though the days of passenger trains is long gone. Fortunately, there's elk burgers and beer in there nowadays.

As Highway 29 enters downtown, it crosses the Fox River, one of the few northward-flowing rivers in North America. Here, bridges are lit up at night with condos, bars and shops springing up. At the intersection with Broadway, a Farmers Market offers produce and other items on Wednesday afternoons from June through September from 3pm-8pm. Highway 29 is also Walnut Street here, and just north along Dousman Street (U.S. 141) is the Neville Public Museum, which focuses on art, history and science for northeastern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. There is also a Children's Museum, currently undergoing redevelopment.

East of the Fox River, blocks adjacent to Highway 29 feature an array of bars and restaurants. Places to party include Kittner's Pub, Hip Cats, Liquid 8, Confetti, Washington Street Pub, the Fox Harbor Pub & Grill, and Stir-Ups (Stir-Ups is a country bar - yes, think about it.) Green Bay's party crowd hangs out in this area, and it's not uncommon for Packers players to be seen, getting asked what it was like to play with Favre.

The Brown County Courthouse, at Highway 29 (Walnut Street) and Jefferson Avenue.

For train enthusiasts, Green Bay is the site of the National Railroad Museum (2285 S. Broadway, south of Highway 29 via Highway 32), which features over 70 locomotives and train cars, including the world's largest steam locomotive, known as "Big Boy."

East of downtown Green Bay, a strip known as "Olde Main Street" offers a variety of shops. Around these points, Highway 29 meets up with Highway 54 and Highway 57 before heading out of town on what is also US Highway 141. This commercial strip was the main road to Milwaukee before I-43 was constructed.

Leaving Green Bay, Highway 29 turns southeast heading out of Green Bay, crossing over I-43 on the way to Bellevue (pop. 13,836), a fast-growing village that turns 5 this year. From Bellevue, Highway 29 becomes a two-lane road again and makes a beeline toward the remaining 22 miles to Lake Michigan.

On the way, it's mostly farmland. But you do go through Poland, in this case not the country but an unincorporated burg named after the nation that is indeed the source of approximately 60% of all lightbulb-changing jokes. It might be best to skip telling them here. However, if you want to share your theories about aliens from other planets, well, the UFO landing port (slogan: "We're not the only ones") in Poland is a good place to do it. Featured in RoadsideAmerica.Com, the port is owned by Bob Tohak and he maintains it in anticipation of aliens landing someday. And you thought immigration was a wild subject now!

The er, bustling area known as Poland, Wisconsin.

Into Kewaunee County, you also hit little unincorporated Pilsen, named after Czech town where Pilsener beer was invented, so I think you know how to salute the place. In wine is more your thing, the Parallel 44 Vineyard & Winery can be found just south of Highway 29 along Sleepy Hollow Road. Parallel 44 is named for its geographical location along not only Kewaunee County but also the Bordeaux region of France and the Tuscany region of Italy - two of the finest areas in the world for winemaking. While the climate in Kewaunee isn't quite the same as Tuscany's (shame, isn't it?), owners & winemakers Steve Johnson and Maria Milano manage to grow a variety of French hybrid grapes that have led to award-winning wines. Their first harvest was in September, 2007 and in the coming year they plan to release an ice wine. Stay tuned. They offer tours and complimentary tastings - within reasonable limits! Weekly tours are available Saturdays at 3pm, and you can call them at (920) 362-1550.

The final stop on Highway 29 is Kewaunee (pop. 2,833), where on this particular day I happened upon Troutfest, an annual event saluting - yes - trout! An Art Fair, motorcycle run, Venetian boat parade, fireworks, music, and a parade are all part of the festival. The final few blocks of Highway 29 in downtown were closed for the parade, actually, so I detoured through town and happened upon this:

From the "You'll Never Know What You'll Stumble Across" Department: spotted two blocks south of Highway 29 in Kewaunee.

Yes, you never know what you'll find on the State Trunk Tour. Near Lake Michigan, Kewaunee is a hilly town and as I stood at the eastern end of Highway 29, at its downtown intersection with Highway 42, listening to a marching band playing Blink 182's "All The Small Things", I couldn't help but marvel at how fun the 300-mile trek across the state was, from the Mississippi River all the way to Lake Michigan.

Kewaunee Trout Fest parade-watchers await the show at the end of Highway 29, at the corner with Highway 42...

...and when the parade passes by the end of Highway 29, they march on toward the Lake Michigan shore, visible in the background.

Total miles on the trip: 300.7
Mileage in the Ford Escape Hybrid: 28.3 mpg

Upcoming events in places along Highway 29:
Shawano County Fair, Shawano, September 1-6, 2010
Green Bay Botanical Gardens Art Harvest, Green Bay, September 11, 2010
Art on the Kinni, River Falls, September 11, 2010
Oktoberfest, Chippewa Falls, September 17-19, 2010

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Prescott to River Falls

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River Falls interactive map

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Menomonie interactive map

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Chippewa Falls
Highway 29 technically runs around the city - follow Highway X, which is the Old Highway 29, to see downtown, the Leinenkugel Brewery, and more! Click for an interactive map.

Below: a Google Earth shot (apparently taken during winter) showing the spot along Meridian Road where you can stand at the center of both hemispheres (45N, 90W). It's about 5 minutes off Highway 29 near Poniatowski. Click the interactive map to find your way around!

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Wausau
Highway 29 runs around the west and south sides of Wausau as a freeway. To follow the city route, head east on Stewart Street and then follow Business U.S. 51 south (see the dotted line). Click for an interactive map.

Best Western Midway Hotel 2901 Hummingbird Rd. Wausau, WI 54401 (715) 842-1616 Link to hotel and reservations

Best Western Wittenberg Inn W17267 Red Oak Lane Wittenberg, WI 54499 (715) 253-3755 Link to hotel and reservations

Best Western Midway Hotel Green Bay 780 Armed Forces Drive Green Bay, WI 54304 (920) 499-3161 Link to hotel and reservations