Exploring La Crosse

On Tuesday I drove back from Minneapolis in time to start my shift at 7pm. I got to drive during sunset, and was reminded that Midwest sunsets really are the best! There's something about the whole sky being lit up in a rainbow of colors that's pretty amazing!

In this picture, you have to ignore the fact that it's blurry, and just see what I got to appreciate through my side mirror.


I finally rounded a corner and could see the rainbow sky through my side mirror. This picture is also a little blurry, but that's because the road was bumpy and no matter how much I wanted a great picture, I really was concentrating on driving! I took this picture at 5:14, my favorite time on the clock! [Since I was born on May 14th, I feel like 5:14 is God's little gift to me each day!] This was a nice gift that day!


Since it's mostly been cloudy or foggy while I've lived in La Crosse, it was fun to drive into the city and actually see a little of it!

Today I got to see a little more of La Crosse! I worked a few 12-hour shifts so today was the first chance I've really had to drive around. We've been in a winter storm that's given us lots of snow, but I knew my 4-wheel drive could handle exploring things a little! It turns out that it's a little warmer here than some winters I've been through, which is great, but that also means wetter snow -and thick slush!

Before it got dark, I snapped this picture of my apartment complex. It's taken from the backside of the complex, on the sidewalk leading down to the river and the beach. My apartment is the bottom patio on the left.

Then, I just turned my body and snapped this one of the river. It's a little hard to tell because of all the white, but the area slopes down to a beach that is directly on the river. I've learned that La Crosse actually has three rivers that go through it, the Mississippi, the Black, and the La Crosse Rivers. I am living on the Black River, and the houses that you see across the river are on a little peninsula (or maybe it's an island?) that has the Mississippi River on the other side. I haven't quite found the La Crosse River yet, but I'm guessing I've driven on a bridge over it and didn't even realize it! Ever since I got my Garmin I haven't spent time looking at maps. I know I've been missing out because of that!


After walking down by the beach, I headed out into the snowdrifts (La Crosse doesn't plow quite as much as other cities I've lived in...) towards downtown. Last night at work my co-workers and I flipped through some of the tourist brochures I've picked up. My first stop my new favorite shop in La Crosse, "The Pearl Ice Cream Parlor and Confectionery". I'm all about ice cream being okay at any time of year, but it really was a little too cold for ice cream today. So, I picked up a couple of truffles that were AMAZING! If you ever come visit La Crosse, I'd recommend this incredible 1930's-era shop!

After this, I decided to just drive around a bit and was able to see some great old homes on State Street, I found the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus, and I accidently headed out past Onalaska towards Sparta. That's when I headed back into town and went to mecca = Target. I was on a mission for some new brown socks, and knew just the place to go... This Target is set up exactly like the Target in Fergus (except for the aisle where the picture frames are located) so needless to say, it was easy to just wander around for an hour pretending I had a home again. It's my cheap therapy -wandering around dreaming of all the different ways to decorate a home.

Tomorrow I'm planning on getting to actually go into some local shops. Since I had to sleep a little today, I didn't get out in time before most of the downtown shops closed. It turns out that working 10 out of 11 days in a row means I'll need to make the most of my time exploring!