Iowa, Wisconsin & Illinois.

Friday 16 July

Iowa

Loved beautiful Marquette, population 521.  An early railroad town with a strong French connection.   We found lots of  interesting antique shops, wineries and quaint buildings.  

 As luck would have it, Allen got his train fix for the day.  We climbed up a hill and found a perfect spot overlooking the Mississipi to view the whole town and watched a train with over 100 carriages pass through.     

Walked into the local Hardware Shop only to discover it was originally the town's cinema.  The lady behind the counter was a wealth of information and only too happy to show us books and photographs of the early Marquette.  As we were leaving she strongly recommended we visit Macgregor especially the pub next to the Mississippi.   (No, I didn't pay her to say that!)

She was absolutely right.  Lunch at the Beer and Brits was idyllic.  It was hot and sunny and we sat in the beer garden looking at the boats and a big paddle steamer on the Mississippi River. 

  Just when you think it couldn't get any better we met Jim and Sue.  They were also having lunch and we got chatting.......3 hours later we decided to stay at their campsite called Pikes Peak State Park as our plan of driving to another State was now history.  The view of the waterways from the Lookout was amazing. 

The highlight of the day was Allen going for a ride on Jim's Harley Davidson, he hasn't been the same since! 

That night we all sat around the campfire

with a glass of wine or two into the wee small hours............just magic!!

 Here is a photograph of the Macgregor-Joliet bridge that connects Macgregor Iowa to Wisconsin across the Mississippi River.

We left early the next morning to make up some miles but just had to stop at Valley Fish.  A fabulous shop in Prarie du Chein, Wisconsin.

 It's no secret that we love our food so with signs advertising elk meat and emu balls we just had to pay a visit.  Came out armed with turkey jerky, smoked trout, bison steak and salmon spread.  Thank you God for my cast iron stomach.

Madison, Wisconsin

After many hours of driving we treated ourselves to a pitstop at Madison.  We could see in the distance a massive building with a gold dome so once again we sussed it out.  Apparently it's the highest building in Wisconsin called Wisconsin State Capitol.  On top of the dome is a 3 ton gold leaf statue of the 'Golden Lady'.  The ceiling inside was an incredible sight. 

Lake Geneva, Illinois

In early days the railroad made it easy for the people of Chicago to holiday in Lake Geneva.   Judging by the amount of tourists we saw I think it's still a popular holiday destination.  We arrived late in the afternoon and it was packed.   We tried in vain to find a campsite but unfortunately there was nothing available so we spent the night in the Wal-Mart carpark.  

Chicago

After a crazy journey Allen drove the RV straight into Downtown Chicago and I hung on by the seat of my pants.  The sight that greeted us was skyscrapers, office blocks, monuments, museums, bridges, lots of traffic, traffic and more traffic.  Luckily we got one of the last parking spaces in the city.

Millennium Park had heaps of family entertainment, free concerts and activities for the children.  The water park had 2 tall towers with a face superimposed on each of them.  Every couple of minutes water gushed out of their mouths like big gargoyles!!

We took a photograph of Cloud Gate, an enormous silver sculpture that reflects the city skyline as well as everyone standing nearby.

 

In the middle of Downtown we came across a film crew filming Transformers III.  They opened up one of the bridges for a special effects shot, we managed to photograph it just before it poured with rain.    The summer storms over this part of the world come quick and furious but it was a very welcome drenching as the humidity was sky high.