The road to Marscon (part 3)

Now that posts about the Super Bowl and Olympics are done, time to continue the guide I am writing for my wife who is planning on driving to Marscon with my daughter in two weeks.

Madison, WI to Hudson, WI (238 total miles)



Route: 90/94/39 (29 mi) 90/94 (63 mi) 94 (146 mi)

Route issues: On two occasions the expressway will split. The first is at Portage, WI. Interstate 39 splits from the interstate heading to north central Wisconsin. Stay on 90/94. Since the entrance ramps are confusing, I strongly recommend not exiting there either since getting back on the expressway going the correct direction is not simple from that stop.

Interstates 90 and 94 split at Tomah (about 45 miles north of the Wisconsin Dells). you will need to follow 94 and not 90. Once you pass Tomah, the mile marker number will go back up to 146 and count down from there since it will designate the miles from Minnesota border through 94 and not 90. If the mile marker number does not go back up, you took the wrong route.

Stopping: Once north of Madison, exits for the most part are less frequent. Also when traveling north past Madison, the road gets hilly and gas mileage will be about 10-15 percent less than expected. Do not wait until the last possible moment to fill the gas tank. As mentioned in the previous part, exits that have gas stations and places to eat that are visible from the road are much better to use.

I recommend the exits at the Wisconsin Dells, Black River Falls, Osseo, and Menomonie since they have easy on and off places to stop for gas and food along with Hudson which is the last recommended stop for the trip since the exits in Minnesota are urban and are not catered for travelers.

Depending on when the trip started, it might start to get dark outside. The road does have reflectors on it to guide at night and overhead lighting only at some exits.