La Crosse, WI

 When went to dinner one evening we noticed this mural in downtown La Crosse.

 La Crosse is famous for these twin bridges in the downtown area.

 As we were leaving dinner we noticed a group getting ready to perform.  We stayed and listened and enjoyed the music, the view of the river, and the nice locals we visited with.

As we were listening to the music we noticed this huge barge coming up the river amidst the pleasure boats, so unlike any other part of the river so far.  We really like this city a lot.  The temperature has been in the low 80s with no humidity or bugs!  Unbelievable!

Prairie Du Chien, WI

 We visited Fort Crawford, or what was left of it.  It had been a military hospital.  Here is a surgeon's kit!

 They did a lot of research here on many different subjects, including gastroenterology and malaria treatments.

 They had one of the few iron lungs left on display.  I could not imagine living in this.  People who had respiratory problems due to polio were forced to use these.  One lady lived in it from the age of 22 until she died at the age of 83!!!!

They also had a sewing machine from 1854 on display.  I had never seen one of these before.

McGregor, Iowa

 After Effigy Mounds we drove to McGregor and checked out Spook Cave.  It seems they drain the cave in the winter and fill it up in the Spring so the boats can go thru.

 We had to take a boat ride through the cave and duck down a lot as the ceiling was very low.  The guide tried to make it seem spooky and to scare the children on the boat.  That was kind of dumb!

 There were some interesting formations inside the cave!

 This one was great.  At the bottom of the picture you can see a barrier to keep us from touching or hitting our heads on it.

This small waterfall was just outside the cave.

Harpers Ferry, Iowa

 We thought this might be similar to the other mounds we saw.  We learned that it was quite different.  These mounds were built by the Woodland tribes and were burial mounds only.  They are much more visible from the air.  There are lots of circular ones and 2 that are in the shape of bears.

This mound overlooked the Mississippi River where these tribes lived.

Lansing, Iowa

We drove over Black Hawk Bridge into Lansing.  We were told it is nicknamed the "singing bridge" because of the noise the tires make when you drive over it.  It is a unique structure as it was built for cars to travel over, but it is very high so it does not have to be raised to allow boats or barges to pass underneath it.

La Crosse, WI

 When we got to our campsite we were greeted by a black squirrel, the first one I had ever seen!

 We drove to Grand Dad's bluff and could look out over 3 states, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

 This does not look like the Mississippi we know.  It was so blue and clean.

Potosi, WI

This brewery started in the 1800s, closed in 1972, and reopened in 2008.  They serve several different kinds of beer and delicious and unique meals.  We ate here twice, including on our anniversary.  There were no other nice restaurants around!  The guys bought the most expensive growler (a bottle and 64 oz of beer) they have ever bought because they thought it was so good.

Dickeyville, WI

 As we were driving to our campground in the remote town of Cassville, we passed this shrine.  We went back the next day to take pictures of the Holy Ghost Church!

 All of this is done with small rocks!

 The guys wandered thru it admiring how intricate it was.

The church itself is a very old and very imposing brick building.  Down the block we found the most incredible meat market where we bought bacon, cheese curds, pork chops and meat sticks with pepper jack cheese!

Dubuque, Iowa

 Another rare white pelican floating in the Mississippi

 This is a huge 15 unit barge being pushed down the Mississppi!

 We went to the River Walk in Dubuque and looked at the artwork on display.

 We went to the Mines of Spain and saw this tower where Julian Dubuque was buried.  This was our 47th anniversary.

 We went into the old home of the Star Brewery and tasted wine.  This is located at one end of the Riverwalk.  The tall building on the right is the Shot Tower where they once made shot for rifles.

 This is the typical landscape in Iowa...cornfields and soy bean fields on huge farms.  It is so beautiful.

This is the city of Dubuque taken from the top of the Fenelon Place Elevator.

Amana Colonies, Iowa

 We drove over an hour to visit the 7 Amana Colonies, an old German settlement that was an experiment in religious communal living.

 These statues at the entrance to the visit center are painted to represent the landscape and the fruits of the earth.

We thoroughly enjoyed the area.  We found the most decadent cinnamon roll in a bakery, tasted beer and root beer and cream soda and listened to a German music group, tasted and bought delicious cranberry, peach and rhubarb wine, and enjoyed a great German meal!

LeClaire, Iowa

 The guys went to the museum and we walked thru this very quaint town.  I found another quilt store!

 We met them at the Mississippi River Distilling Company and took a tour of the distillery.  We tried several unique drinks and even bought some peach liquore and Iowish Cream.

 They told us they were only allowed to serve drinks as of July 1, 2017.  They can only serve what they make!

 As we left the distillery we noticed how calm, clean, and narrow the Mississippi was

 This was our last stop in LeClaire, the site of the Pickers TV show.  They probably have made this town a major tourist destination!

Inside one of their buildings!

Iowa

 We stopped at the Iowa 80 Truckstop Museum.  We saw an incredible display of old trucks.

 I remember the milk man delivering bottles of milk on a regular basis

 These other vintage trucks were in great condition.

Illinois

 We found this place in our book Off the Beaten Path.  It is a tiny shop that is on the national historic register and serves old fashioned drinks and malts.  Lynne had a cherry coke and we had hot fudge malts!

We actually started our trip at the Hoover Presidential Library.  We were pleasantly surprised at what we learned.  We never realized what a humanitarian Hoover was.  The library also houses artifacts from several different presidents, including Bush's golf boots with cleats and Clinton's running shoes!

Moline, IL

 Today we were able to see Dam 15.  Yesterday we saw Lock 15 at Rock Island Arsenal.

 As we were looking at the dam, we noticed an overground walkway that led to a now defunct casino.  It was open so we decided to walk across it and look out over the city.

 When we arrived at the Putnam Museum, we saw this tornado follower.  We went into the museum but decided it was geared more toward children so we left.  There were tons of camper groups here.

We then drove to Lagomarcinos and had a yummy hot fudge sundae made from homemade ice cream and homemade fudge!