I headed down to Milwaukee from Hudson (last Wednesday) taking the back roads the whole way. I love Highway 33 down by Wild cat Mountain and Reedsburg and Highway 95 by Arcadia. The total trip took 9:40 (not counting pit stops) and travelled 395 Miles. By comparison, taking I-94 would have taken about 4:30 and been about 300 miles.
I don't know how those "Iron Butt" guys and gals do it. My cheeks were begging for a break about 6 hours in.
On the way back (last Monday) I tried to avoid all the detours caused by the flooding (the roads around Baraboo and Devils Lake were all washed away). I took I-94 to Mauston and the weather looked good, so I decided to hit the backroads again. Hghway 71 to Sparta is a lot of fun as well. Unfortunately, the heavens opened up a can of whoop a$$ on me about 20 miles East of the Winona bridge. Taking Highway 35 to Hudson would have been nice, but I managed to run into every raindrop that I could find for the next two hours.
All in all, it was a good time (and it makes me want to live by LaCrosse, if only it was a bigger city).