It's a day off from riding the MRT.  Cathy and I are going to explore La Crosse a bit--some by bicycle.  There are several great bike routes around this town.  Check out

www.bicyclelacrosse.com
www.ridebctc.com
www.driftlessbicycle.org
www.bike-trails.net
http://www.bike4trails.com
http://lacrosseriverstatetrail.org

This was a perfect day off.  After breakfast, we headed out to the La Crosse River trail where we got in a bike ride together. 

After that, it was off for ice cream and espresso in an old-fashioned confectionary and soda bar (with modern prices though the ice cream was still cheaper than in West Seattle).

After running a few errands, we went to Riverside Park. 

Mostly, we walked around an enjoyed the gardens.  La Crosse has several sister cities and they have developed a series of International Friendship Gardens to celebrate diversity and honor their successful partnerships. You can read more at http://riversidegardens.org.  They also have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RiversideInternationalFriendshipGardens/about/?entry_point=page_nav_about_item&tab=overview

I took a lot of pictures and I have edited it down to one per garden, especially since I learned you can see a great gallery of photos at their website.

 

 

This one is still under construction

 

 

 

OK. I had to include a third picture of the Norwegian Garden

 

Once we toured the gardens, we relaxed here

 

 

Of course, Cathy had to notice that some of my 'relaxing' involved working on an order of conifers for West Seattle Nursery.

 

 

We then went back to the motel where we split the leftovers from my dinner of last night.  We still have her leftovers for tomorrow.  Tomorrow I ride into Iowa. We'll see if I stay dry.  There are thunderstorms in the forecast and it is currently pouring.