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.

Minnesota

Blue Mounds State Park, Minnesota

They were really goats??

Arrived late in the evening and sat out with a glass of wine watching the fireflies dance around us.  They are like tiny Christmas lights flashing on and off.   Either that or the wine was mighty strong.

The next day we walked around some of the park which is approximately 1500 acres of prairie perched on top of Sioux quartzite rock.  The prairie was covered in tall wild flowers and we could see prickly pear and cacti growing in the shallow soil covering the rock.  Allen was able to photograph a herd of Bison and some white tailed deer.

Maple Springs RV Campsite





This site rates number one with us.  I feel Doris needs a special mention for being the most welcoming hostess.  She made us feel like we were extended family rather than sharing a camping ground.   A small personal site tucked away in a valley of green rolling hills next to a trout steam.   Allen disappeared as soon as he heard the sound of water...........we ate fresh trout for breakfast!!

Harmony and Canton are two small towns that have a large Amish community.  This particular community belong to the Oldest Order, they are very private people who resist any modern day luxuries.  The ladies still wear long dark clothes and bonnets and they go into town on horse drawn buggies.   We stopped at the Amish Roadside Market and bought some bread.  As you can see they don't like their photograph taken.

Forestville State Park
We purchased $6 tickets to take part in the Forestville Historical Trail.   In hindsight we would have paid $50 for this performance!! 

 We were plunged back into the mid 1800's and visited the original Store owned by early settler Felix Meighen and his brother in law Robert Foster and were able to view some of the authentic goods still on the shelves.  All the staff (mostly retired teachers) dressed up in period costume and acted out their Meighen family character with great gusto.   A visit to the house, garden, blacksmith shop and barn were absolutely amazing.

Heading East

Friday 9th July
Badlands National Park, South Dakota

This place is a geologist's dream come true.  Unique rock formations, coloured layers of volcanic ash deposited up to 30 million years ago.  The terrain is constantly changing due to the weather.  Walked the fossil trail and ended up at a first class Visitor Centre.   The sunset was absolutely beautiful.  The rocks look totally different every 5 minutes.

9.00pm we took part in the Night Sky Program at the Park ampitheatre.  Approximately 200 visitors assembled to watch a slide show of planets/stars, sing songs and listen to stories.  The Ranger, with the help of a laser light, pointed out the Northern Cross, Big Dipper, Milky Way and he named numerous other stars.  Even saw the International Space Station fly over.  3 telescopes were set up for everyone to view the constellations, stars and planets.  We were invited to stay with the Ranger until the early hours of the morning and star gaze. 

Minuteman Missile

Visitor Centre.  Read the history of the Cold War.  During the early 60's South Dakota had 450 underground missile silos and 15 launch control centres.  Each missile had the explosive equivalent of 1 million tons of dynamite.  Scary stuff. 

 

Finally arrived at Mitchell after driving

along the endless Highway 90!!  During the journey Al kept mentioning the black cloud that was following us.  "It's a strange shape and colour" he said.  I totally ignored him as I hate storms.  He was actually breaking the news of a tornado wall cloud.  We reached the  Campground and the Receptionist calmly announced that Mitchell was on tornado alert and that if we hear a siren we are required to take shelter in the Laundry Building.  I don't want to hear this!  The storm arrived later that evening and the hail stones pelted down on us and the wind rocked the RV for about 3 hours.  Thankfully no siren 'cos I wasn't going out in that weather for anyone.

The Corn Palace, Mitchell

The outside walls of this unique Palace is decorated with corn and grain.  Every year since 1892 the Palace walls are stripped and redecorated with a new theme.  Over half a million ears of corn are nailed or stapled in place.   The Palace is used as an entertainment venue for concerts, basketball games and trade shows. 

Back in the USA

1st July - Happy Canada Day!
Al drove from Calgary, Alberta to cross the US border some 350 klms later.  We were greeted by a big sign 'Welcome to Montana'.  ,

Yellowstone National Park
Sprawling across 3 States - Wyoming, Montana and Idaho this park covers 2 million acres of heaven.  Lakes, mountains, rivers, steaming geysers, hot springs and bubbling mud pools.  It was like landing on another planet.










The hydrothermal area near the Mud Volcano is permanently steaming and the mud pots are constantly bubbling giving off a disgusting smell of sulphur.

Bee Hive is a very volatile geyser, just ask anyone standing nearby.  You never know just how high it's going to shoot. 

Old Faithful is one of the largest geysers that erupts twice a day shooting anything up to 55m of boiling water into the air.  A spectacular sight.

Our campsite had NO electricity, water, sani-station, internet or mobile coverage but in return we got to see the most amazing animals in their natural surroundings. 





During the evening we rugged up and walked to the outdoor ampitheatre to listen to a presentation by the Park Ranger.  Young and old, in all sorts of attire, sat out under the stars and spent a very chilly night listening to stories about Yellowstone. 

Devil's Tower, Wyoming
For anyone over 30 years of age you will no doubt remember the classic Steven Spielberg movie
Close Encounters of a Third Kind.   Well this is it.

Rushmore Cave, South Dakota 
Glorious hot day so what did we do??  We explored a cold, wet, dark cave!!  The early gold miners discovered this cave in 1876.  We squeezed through passageways and climbed some pretty steep steps and eventually got to the stalactites and the rare helictite formations.  Not the most dynamic cave in the world but it was good.

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota 

The carving of the 4 great American Presidents high up on the southwest face of Mt Rushmore mountain was an incredible sight.  It was hand carved in 1927 by Gutzon Borglum and his 400 helpers.  The granite portraits represents the birth, growth, development and preservation of the nation.  I found the whole thing very emotional especially after September 11.