SW Wisconsin One-tank Tour  INSTRUCTIONS:

1)      Leave assembly area at 10am. Go west on Highway 20 (4 lane divided) to first signal light. This is 9 miles.

2)      Turn right (north) at light on Winnebago Road. Go north approx 4 miles

3)      Turn left (west) on Telegraph Road. This will take us to Pecatonica.

4)      At the stop sign (Main St?) in Pecatonica turn right and go north approx 6 miles.

5)      Turn left (west) on Trask Bridge Road. This road will go thru Centerville and on to Lena, IL. This will be 51 miles from our start point so; a potty break is in order. We will use the city park which has very clean facilities.

6)      Leaving Lena, we will be going west toward Warren on (love this), the Old Stage Coach Trail. (Lena to Warren 14 miles).

7)      On Highway 78, just outside Warren, we will cross over into Packer country!! LET THE FUN BEGIN!!

8)      On the first curve in Wisconsin, we will turn left (west) onto County road W.

9)      Traveling on W for 8 miles, we will come to County road A.

10)   Turning right on County road A leads right into “downtown” Shullsburg with many very good Miata curves along the way. Since Main Street is one-way coming at us, and the cheese store is on this street, will use a side street to get to our stop. There is a parking lot about a ½ block from this store so we can all park together. Note: From this parking lot, you can see a church where Carol and I were married 40 years ago (July 1967). The short walk to main street will be to the cheese store, Brewster’s  (outlet for Shullsburg cheese) This is three connected old buildings, a restaurant in one, the cheese store in the center, and a gift store in the third. When I was there a few weeks ago, was told they will have FREE samples of cheese and wine for us. (Didn’t look real good, but, didn’t see any Cheesehead hats for sale there.) Before leaving, this is a good place for another potty stop before getting back on the road.

11)  We will leave Shullsburg on County road U.

12)  At stop sign, we will turn right on W (yes, same W as we were on earlier.)

13)  At the first 90 degree curve on W, is the farm where my now deceased brother and sister-in-law (Carol’s sister) lived for over 50 years. There were many nights where someone would knock on their door and Bill would get the tractor out to pull them back onto the road. (Anyone in the market for a Wisconsin farm?)

14)  On W, you will see old Lead mines on both sides of the road. We will cross thru New Diggings. At one time over 1000 people lived there during the Lead Mine days but now is just a bar, a church and a few homes.

15)  Continuing on W, we will see County road J to the left. Stay on W, go 2.8 miles to a sign to the left, Rustic Road.

16)  Turn left on Rustic Road. This road is paved but was made for horseless carriages. This will pass thru some farms and thru a beautiful valley with hills on both sides and a small creek running thru the valley.   

17)  At the stop sign, turn right (unknown road name) to Highway 80.

18)  Turn right (north) on highway 80, thru Hazel Green to Cuba City. At the north edge of Cuba City is Weber’s Meat Market on the left. If enough interest, we could make this another stop. As you walk into the meat market you are impressed by their display of Blue Ribbons they have won with their hams. You can buy whole or partial hams and would be a good item for a Sunday dinner at home. Very yummy hams!

19)  Continuing on north on 80 to Platteville. Go straight thru two traffic signals. At the Stop sign (Main Street), turn right. At the top of the slight hill, bear left onto County road B. This leads to the mound where the world’s largest M is located. We will go right by the base of the mound. Note: The M was built by students of the old Wisconsin School of Mines in Platteville during 1936 and 1937. At the time, my parents were both students so played a part in building the M. When I attended this school in the late 1950’s, every spring we would clean and whitewash the M. Of course, afterwards, was a big beer party.

20)  We are now on West Mound Road. Follow this to Sunnydale Road.

21)  Turning left (north) onto Sunnydale Road which connects with County road C, and goes thru the small town, Rewey. (Carol has an aunt and uncle living in Rewey.)

22)  North of Rewey we look for Lower Mifflin Road.

23)  Turn right (northeast) on Lower Mifflin Road. Again, more great roads. This road connects with State Highway 39.

24)  Turn right (east) onto 39 which leads to Mineral Point. At business 151, turn left for a short, then right to downtown.

25)  Time for lunch!! Lunch will be at the Red Rooster Cafe on Main street. Parking will be wherever we can find. The Rooster specializes in Cornish Pasty. If you’ve never had one, you are in for a real treat. My mouth is watering as I write this…… You can also buy carryouts if you want.

26)  After lunch, we will leave Mineral Point (toward Darlington) on State Highway 23.

27)  After crossing thru Darlington and at the top of a hill, turn left on County road K. This is more great Miata driving to settle your lunch. This leads us to Gratiot. (Note: a couple miles before Gratiot, we go by an old one room school – now a home. You guessed it, that’s Carol’s old grade school!)

28)  From Gratiot, we will go south on State Highway 78 to Warren. We will again run the Old Stagecoach Trail back to Lena. (Note: when I made this trip a few weeks ago, gasoline in Lena was the cheapest I saw if you wanted to fill up before heading home)

29)  At Lena, suggest we now are all ready to head for home so we can get on Highway 20 towards Rockford.