The interurban and train we road on today.

Day 21: 44 miles to and from the Illinois Railroad Museum where we walked 4.5 miles today. Dad got in free because it is father's day.  It is the largest railroad museum in the country with about 450 different rail cars and engines. We enjoyed riding on an early interurban similar to what would have gone from St Johns to Lansing 100 years ago. And we road in a 1916 passenger car pulled by a 1917 steam engine. We wandered through 5 huge building full of various kinds of trains, trolleys, passenger and freight cars, a train station and displays of all kinds of train items large and small. We had lunch in a diner and dinner at the Chinese buffet. A fun but tiring day. We head for home tomorrow.
PS One railcar is set up to sell used train books. Dad asked "I know this is a silly question, but do you have anything about train whistles"? The fellow handed him 18 different copies of an out of print magazine called Horn and Whistle. He was a happy camper!

One wing of a gigantic octopus mall.

Day 20: 144 miles from Le Claire,  Iowa to Elgin, IL. We drove on secondary roads most of the way. Along the Rock River we stopped for a while to watch the finish line for a kayak race as some very tired people hauled their boats out and stumbled over the finish line. The weather has been overcast, sprinkly and in the mid 60s. So many farm fields we passed are still too wet to plant.
We stopped at a huge mall near our hotel where we are at a delicious Chinese buffet, walked the place and read magazines at Barnes and Noble.
Off to the Illinois train museum tomorrow.

Davenport house; pelicans

Little Big Horn rifles

This is the largest arsenal in the country.

Day 19: Today we visited to the Rock Island Arsenal established in 1862 to make rifles, pistols, officer's swords etc. and all the things that went with them for military. It is still active. They have a small but excellent museum with rifles known to be used at the Battle of the Big Horn. Bullet casings found at the battlefield and those test shot at the arsenal from 6 weapons confiscated later from Indians  matched up. They had a wall of Indian rifles turned in to the Army when those Indians were forced onto reservations in the 1880s. And much more.
The army has hired women workers since the civil war; many a Rosy worked here during WWII.
We enjoyed a small visitors center overlooking another lock and dam at the south end of this island in the middle of the Mississippi River.  Again, the gates were wide open.
An early fort was located on the island in fur trading days and the fur trader, Davenport, became a trader with the Army too.
During the Civil War a Confederate prison was located on the Island holding about 2,000 men. There is a large Confederate as well as National cemetery.
More construction heading across the river as they are buildig a new bridge adjacent to the one we were on. So many orange cones, so many headaches! Getting to the arsenal from our hotel involved negotiating heavy city traffic and one lane over the bridge, 40 miles round trip.
We are heading to Elgin, IL tomorrow and we'll probably be home on Monday.

Seasick yet?

Day 18: 103 miles from Dubuque to Le Claire, Iowa with side trips. The river road alternates from along the river where streams enter and towns are located to high up in the hills with beautiful views of farmland and sometimes the river valley. We stopped in Savanna, IL where Frank Fritz has a restaurant /bar/antique shop; all pretty grubby and seedy. The place caters to bikers, especially on weekends. Nearby we drove to the top of Palisades Park and hiked to a dramatic view of the river, especially now with high water. Dam 12 was wide open.
We arrived in Le Claire about 2:30 and visited Antique Archaeology; lots of tourist things and Mike Wolf's collectables but not a whole lot of antiques for sale.
We are now comfortably looking at the Mississippi River from our room. Another nice 70 degree, sunny day.

Wrought Iron Grill

Lock and dam 10

Mississippi valley; Lock keeper house, lock 10

Effigy Mounds National Monument

Day 17: About 85 miles today from Prairie du Chien to Dubuque, Iowa with sidetrips. Overcast and light rain in the morning but not enough to affect us. We visited Effigy Mounds National Monument with many interesting mounds on ridges high above the Mississippi River. We climbed up through beautiful forest to see a mound the length of a football field. Apparently all tribes in the area considered the place neutral and a place of prayer even though the people who built the mounds were unknown to them.
We drove through quaint river towns and stopped in Guttenberg to see the only remaining lock keepers house on the river. Lucky for us a tug was pushing a long barge through the lock. The river is so high the drop through the lock was only one foot.
We have one more day on the river road tomorrow as we head to Le Claire.
We hiked 4.5 miles today.

Fish Farm Indian mounds; Ft Crawford hospital building

Winona, MN

Lock and dam 9

Views of the Mississippi River today

Day 16: 144 miles from Wabasha, MN to Prairie du Chien,  Wisconsin.  The road followed the Mississippi River all the way with fantastic views. The river continues to be full of islands, all underwater with striking bluffs on both shores. We saw 6 eagles and 3 eagle nests - exciting! We stopped at the small old depot in Winona, MN just in time to see the Amtrak train of 12 cars roll in. There was a crew change and a 10 min stop. Dad got chatting with the head conductor and mentioned he collected train items. The conductor immediately responded with a grin, "I'm keeping my hat and my eyes are on you".
We stopped at one of the lock and dams which are massive and were surprised that the water is the same level on both sides; there is still a huge amount of floodwater heading downstream.
We stopped at the Fish Farm Indian mounds just off the highway on a terrace about 40 feet above. We could see about a dozen of the 30 mounds in the preserve. Finally, we stopped at the 2nd Ft Crawford museum in Prairie du Chien . The first was built on a river island in the early 1800s and was flooded out. This one was built in the 1830s and all but one building demolished after the civil war. Lots of interesting local history.
Tomorrow we continue our journey south.

Spring has sprung

Little house in the big woods; Pepin depot; quilt on right was Laura ' s (handmade).

Lake Pepin; flooded large islands in the middle of the river.

Day 15:  124 miles today from St Paul to Wabasha, MN with side trips . Again so many detours and delays due to roadwork. We really enjoyed traveling along Lake Pepin,  a natural lake created by 3-4 miles of islands choking the river at the southern end (a canal has been dredged through for large river barges) . The river is 2 miles wide and many boaters were enjoying the good weather today. The water is still quite high.
We drove across the islands to the Wisconsin side and visited the Laura Ingles Wilder museum in Pepin. Then we drove 7 miles inland to the area where the family homestead was located. A replica little house in the big woods has been built there although now days it is surrounded by farms. Laura was born here, lived here a year,  moved back from about 7-9 years of age and then moved away for good.
The area is know for eagle watching in the winter and pelicans in the summer. Dad saw several pelicans. Heading south again in the morning.

Museum views.

Mississippi River from Ft Snelling. Note Minneapolis in the background.

Ft Snelling. 1820 commandant house in last photo.