I'll spare us the pictures of the cornfields and farms of the breadbasket, but, suffice it to say that you see very little but cornfields and soybeans the entire way from northeastern Colorado to Pennsylvania along the Interstates. Our first stop was at the Windmill State Recreation Area along Route 80 in Gibbon, Nebraska.
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| There really were antique windmills on the property. This is one of several areas that have been developed along Nebraska's "chain of lakes" which were formed from the gravel pits created when they built the railroads along what is now Interstate 80. |
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| And a beautiful lake. It was very peaceful and a great place for a quick stop along the highway. |
The second night on the road we discovered a lovely lake in northeast Iowa called Clear Lake. We are now plugging in every night because it is so hot and muggy and we can plug in Jim's CPAP.
We took a nice walk along the lake shore but the bugs were getting to us, so we quickly went back
to good ole Maxine.
We decided to take a little detour on this trip, to make it a little more interesting, so went north up the Great River Road (GRR). Created in 1938 from national, state and local roads from its headwaters in Minnesota to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico. We did the section from Wabasha, MN to Rock Island, IL. The river changes constantly-you see alot of recreational use in the northern part of the road, many small towns, wineries, farms, swamps, forests, high bluffs and many parks and wildlife refuges along with industry and railroads and quaint little shops and restaurants. We did not have much time, so narrowed our tour to a few things that interested us. Our first stop was in Wabasha to see the National Eagle Center.
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| The grounds of the Center are just beautiful. The bridge in this picture joins Minnesota and Wisconsin. |
There are four live eagles at the center-all of which have been injured in some way and unable to live in the wild. You can attend interpretive programs and see exhibits, live birds up close and watch eagles through their telescopes that are living wild nearby. These birds enjoy the ice free winters along the Mississippi Flyway because of the combination of wetlands, forests and high bluffs.
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| This is Was'aka which means strength. She is blind in one eye. |
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| This is Donald, a golden eagle, who has a broken wing. |
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| The atrium Just being in this building was a treat. |
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| Look how big an eagle's nest is. It could accommodate an entire family of humans! |
There was a statue of Wapahasha III, who was a Dakota chief in the mid to late 1800s. His grandfather, Wapahasha I fought with the British and became a British Chief in the 1700s. His father, Wapahasha II became the first Dakota Chief and fought in the War of 1812 against the Americans. Wabasha was named after him. He spent most of his life fighting against the encroachment of the Americans in their territory. Wapahasha III gradually accepted the religion and customs of the white people, signed many treaties, which became an embarrassment to him as his people were eventually forced out of their homeland to Crow Creek.
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| Our first lock and dam in Alma |
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| We got a kick out of this sign. |
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| We walked up a pedestrian bridge and watched this train come rumbling under us. There are railroad tracks the whole length of the GRR. |
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| We ended up in the funniest camp site yet. This was a cornfield which a farmer had converted to an RV park because his kids and grandkids didn't want to farm the land. He thought this would give them an income. It was great because it was brand new. |
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| A misty, moisty, humid but beautiful sunrise |
Our next formal stop was at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona. It amazed us with its beautiful grounds, right by the river, and its astonishing exhibits. There was everything from local art, Hudson River and Impressionist exhibits and famous paintings like Washington Crossing the Delaware. The security guide there gave us a special tour and explanation of the paintings which made the experience all that more interesting.
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| This was a part of a special exhibition entitled, Ocean Soul, which is a show of amazing photography by the National Geographic photographer, Brian Skerry. We loved this one of a tiny fish peering out through the pop top of a discarded can. |
My very favorite exhibit was Water's Edge (Clare O'Neil), which was a black and white photographic exhibit. Each photo was accompanied by two poetic interpretations of the photograph. If the book hadn't been $60, I would have bought it. It was incredibly moving. It was amazing to see how differently two people can view the meaning of a photograph. I was so mesmerized, I didn't remember to take a single picture.
Next up was The Effigy Mounds National Monument, established in 1948, near Harper's Ferry, Iowa. (The GRR straddles the Mississippi through many states. The crossings are numerous.) Effigy Mounds celebrates the Late Woodland period when natives lived here about 2500 years ago. They began building mounds about 1400 years ago when family groups lived in rock shelters in the river valleys and bluffs surrounding the Mississippi. These were possibly religious sites or clan symbols used in seasonal ceremonies. Some mounds contained burial remains which also had exotic trade items included in the mound. Some are shaped like animals, usually birds or bear which are called effigy (animal shaped) mounds; others are conical or linear or a combination of those two. The mounds origins remain a mystery. Many have been destroyed but this monument and several others in the area are preserved out of respect for these ancient people whose relationship with nature inspired these creations.
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| The walk up through the woods was beautiful but hot and muggy. |
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| The views of the river are beautiful. |
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| One of the conical mounds. |
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| And another. I missed photographing the little bear-the heat was frying my brain. I loved the ones shaped like animals. |
Our next stop was the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. We had stopped here at a hotel on our way to Lake Erie two years ago and thought it was beautiful. This time we camped at the park here. Lake Michigan originally formed 11,000 years ago when a glacier began to melt, leaving behind this and the four other Great Lakes. It scraped and pulverized mountains into boulders, rubble and sand. Winds shaped the sand into dunes with wetlands between them. The dunes are still moving, as you can see in the picture below.
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| We walked from the campground towards the beach. |
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| OMG-a gazillion people: not what we were in the mood for, although we both took a quick dip in the water. |
We stopped to see our old friend, Chris Provard, and her husband Rick at their wonderful cottage on Lake Erie in Mentor, OH. Chris and I worked together at Walter Reed many moons ago. We had a great visit, lots of laughs and a fabulous dinner at their home. Their dog, Harry, and Boo had a wonderful time romping in the waves.
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| Harry was a little intimidating for poor little Boo. And, he's not easily intimidated! |
One more stop on our way to Lake Erie: Geneva on the Lake, Ohio. Julie Thorpe has for years regaled us with stories of being a waitress at Eddie's Grill. So, since we were near, we decided to take a look for ourselves.
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| We were told to get glazed donuts at Madsen's and they did not disappoint. Never tasted anything so wonderfully airy! |
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| For Julie |
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| We bought a dozen to bring to the kids and ate several before arriving. |
Eddie, apparently started as a high school junior by acquiring a root beer franchise with money he made from odd jobs and borrowed from his mother. The same family owns the place today. We met Eddie's sister, Rose Marie, who was just delightful and remembered Julie and her family.
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| The fabulous Eddie's |
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| Rose Marie |
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| Complete with a working juke box. Ah, the memories! Even the tables had individual juke boxes. |
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