Okay. I’m really jumping the gun on this one but here it is. I need Wisconsin and Minnesota, which are neighboring states and Minneapolis holds an annual half marathon on the 4th of July, which falls on a Wednesday next year. I can then go to Wisconsin and race the following Saturday. 2 races in 4 days will force me to back off a bit but if I am in decent shape, I can do it.
I could fly in on Monday (7/2) afternoon or Tuesday (7/3) morning. I’ll probably go with Tuesday morning. I’ll only get a sample of downtown but that’s okay. I can’t think of any “must do” attractions but it seems like it’s a nice city and I'll enjoy a walking tour for a few hours. If it rains, there is an extensive sky way system, which was designed to protect from the cold.
7/4- Race day in Minneapolis and from there, I’ll head east to Wisconsin. The main attraction there is Door County, which is a peninsula with Great Lakes on each side and known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest. I expect it to be jammed on the 4th and there are several special events during the day so I will probably stay the night in Green Bay area then get an early start the next morning but if I’m ahead of schedule and feeling good, who knows?
Thursday-7/5- I could take a dip and soak up some sun on the beaches but the main attractions are state and county parks and a boat tour. From there, I’ll head north to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula or simply “the U-P.” The scenery there looks even better and if I can only do one boat tour, it will be in Michigan. Part of me is thinking go straight to Michigan from Green Bay because I won’t have a lot of time on Friday.
Friday-7/6- It’ll be a 5.5 hour drive from Marquette, Michigan to the site of the 2nd race in the town of Sauk City, Wisconsin (near Madison). Fortunately, there is race day pickup so that will give me more time in Michigan. I could probably get away with leaving around 2 PM.
7/7- Race day in Wisconsin. From there, I have the option of going back to Minneapolis and taking an early flight on Sunday or going back to Door County. If I choose the latter, I won’t go all the way back to Minneapolis that evening but take an afternoon or evening flight on Sunday. If I've seen enough of Door County, I could tour Madison before heading back.
If I can do this trip along with New England next Spring, it will take me up to 36 race states and 47 with a significant experience. Iowa and Nebraska would still be missing. Iowa is debatable because I did drive into a real town (Keokuck) and in Nebraska, I did stop at a local grocery store and made light conversation with a couple locals. Previous visits to Michigan and Wisconsin involved only a visit to McDonald's and a gas station.
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