From High-Tech to No-Tech in Under 30 Hours

At 8 am Tuesday morning, we left Rochester, MN, home of the Mayo Clinic, where some of the most sophisticated medicine in the world is practiced. A mere 29 hours later, at 1 pm on Wednesday, we arrived at our expected destination of Cashton, WI, home to a large Amish population. The Amish are a Christian sect that originated in the late 1600's in Germany and the German-speaking part of Switzerland, practicing simple living, plain dress, and avoidance of modern technologies such as electricity and motorized vehicles.

In between, we spent Tuesday night in Houston, MN, then crossed the state border into Wisconsin on Wednesday morning. The border is the Mississippi River.

As noted above, our expected destination on Wednesday was Cashton, WI, where we had a reservation at a B&B. We got to the B&B at 2 pm, but there was no one there to let us in. After waiting until 4 pm for someone to arrive, we left and cycled 27 more miles along our route to Hillsboro, WI, the next town with lodging. It was a long, hilly day, but the upside is that Thursday will be a short day.

Entering Wisconsin

Crossing the Mississippi

An Amish horse & buggy in Cashton

An Amish farmer at work with his horses

A road sign in Cashton

Peter getting a haircut in Cashton, to look presentable when lecturing at U Wisconsin later in the week