2017.06.30-Black Earth, WI

We have no internet where the coach is parked, which is Spring Green, WI.  We had to drive 20 miles to Black Earth to get internet access.  I will post more when we get to a place where AT&T services.

2017.06.20 - Pelican Lake, WI

2017.06.20 - Pelican Lake, WI

Yesterday evening, Jerry ventured out in the search for sunset pictures.  This RV park is beautiful, right on the Pelican Lake, with tall trees and green grass.  These are some of his lake pictures.

We ventured out today even though rain clouds threatened; so we get a lil wet, so what?  After lunch, we stopped at the Pelican Lake town hall to take a few pictures.  There were wood sculptures of a pelican, a bear and an eagle.  Here’s the bear:

There isn’t much to do around here but we read about a house built of stovewood.  Neither of us knew what that was so off we go about 5 miles outside Pelican Lake to Jennings, WI.  I’m not sure what the population of Jennings is but it can’t be more than 10.  We saw two bars, one open the other not. The building below was made using the stovewood method characterized by “short-cut logs stacked and joined by mortar or clay.”  The pictures do the explaining.

We weren’t ready to go back to the coach so we headed to Rhinelander, a little larger town about 20 miles away.  While having ice cream we found a train museum on-line that sounded interesting.  Once we got there we discovered it was much more than that.  It had separate buildings for a one room schoolhouse, a sawmill, a CCC camp museum, a blacksmith shop, several actual trains and quite a bit of other locomotive stuff.  It was very interesting.

In this picture, the green creature is called a Hodag.  It is Rhinlander's equivalent to the jackalope

.

We learned how teachers made duplicate copies by the hectograph method, invented in 1869 long before the blue mimeograph copies we remember.  The teacher would make this jelly from gelatin, sugar, glycerin and one other ingredient and pour it into a wooden frame.  We touched gel and it felt like jello.  To make a copy the teacher used a special pencil to write or draw the subject onto normal paper, that copy was put face down and rubbed into the gel.  Much of the pencil lead was actually absorbed by the gel.  The original was removed and a clean sheet of paper was placed on the gel and the pencil lead was rubbed in.  The clean sheet was now copy.  The gel would make up to 8 copies.  Pretty cool!

2017.06.17-Iron River, WI

2017.06.17-Iron River, WI

We arrived in Iron River mid-afternoon.  Oddly enough, we registered for the RV Park in the bar again.  Seems there is a lot of alcohol around here.  Maybe it is just in the RV parks??  This is a small bar, maybe has 12-15 bar stools, but it’s homey and we’ve been there a couple times.

The best part about the bar is the back wall, which is made of windows.  The view is spectacular!  Iron Lake is ringed with tall trees and around the dock area yellow iris/flags, so pretty and peaceful.

While registering we asked about places to eat.  We were told the go to the diner in Delta, a wide spot in the road about 20 minutes away.  So, after setting up, we headed out for the Delta Diner, which was featured on the cable show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  The menu was not what you would expect for a VERY small town.  I had a PBLT, where the P was perch and Jerry had an omelet with brussels sprouts.  It was OK.  Wish I would have tried one of their breakfast choices.

That evening we headed to the local bar for some local dark beer, an oddity for these Wisconsin beer drinkers.  Folks sort of moseyed in and out.  I had a conversation with the bar tender about some of the local snow fall and what the snow mobile signs meant.  Fun stuff!

Thursday we headed to Amnicon Falls state park.  The falls were beautiful and running.  Amnicon means “where fish spawn” in Ojibway (also called Chippewa).  The water was not pretty and white, but more of a tea color.  This is due to “decaying vegetation and tannic acid which produces the root beer color.”  It was a very pretty setting though!

After the falls we headed to Superior, WI.  We were hungry for brats, so we found Shorty’s which was also recommended by the bar keep and mentioned on the show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  We were told this was THE PLACE for brats.  They no longer have brats….  Jerry had meat loaf and I tried a bangor, which was OK.  

Since we were so close to Duluth, MN, I HAD to go to the Duluth store.  Nothing special, just something I wanted to do.  They have quality stuff, but nothing for me.  <sigh>

On the way back to the coach, Jerry spotted a place called Wisconsin Point, so away we go.  It was mainly used for the ships, but at intervals, the beach was nice and sandy.  It was also windy.  Jerry did get a picture of a light house.  We found out the light houses are now connected to the internet, so no more light house keepers.

Almost home, we stopped at a winery for some tasting.  It really wasn’t a winery, but more of a mead-ery.  We tried several meads and one or two ciders none of which were terribly impressive.  I expected mead to be more like honey.  Only one bottle tasted even close, but it was $25 a bottle.  We left with no bottles in hand.

Today, we headed out for the Apostle Islands.  We didn’t actually walk on any of the islands, we took a 3 hour boat tour.  And, yes, they played the theme from Gillian’s Island while we were boarding.  This is Bayfield, WI, where the tour started.

This is Devil's Island.  The sea caves viewed from the boat were haunting and beautiful.

2017.06.11-Turtle Lake, WI

2017.06.11-Turtle Lake, WI

We woke up to a cloudy day with predictions for rain later in the day.  Jerry checked the radar, but didn’t really see much.  We decided to go to breakfast before the rain; yes, back to the greasy spoon with the cinnamon buns.  While checking out Jerry overheard some folks talking about a serious storm headed this way.  Leaving the restaurant, the sky was getting darker and just as we pulled into the RV park we heard the storm sirens going off.  I had never heard this very loud noise before.  Jerry said it was a storm/tornado warning.  The sky was getting darker yet and some serious winds were picking up.  I went inside the coach to get Lady Di.  Jerry got her carrier from the basement bay.  I grabbed my tablet and charging cords and stuffed them all into a big purse.  Jerry and I then both had to stuff Lady Di into her carrier, she knew something was up.  Did I mention she HATES her carrier?  Anyway, off we went to the building behind us which normally is the bath house and swimming pool area, but when needed a welcomed storm shelter.

A few campers with their pets and kids gathered outside the building to watch the storm approach which by now was intensifying.  As the rain and wind got harder and stronger we went inside.  The cat people in the Ladies room and the dog folks in the Mens room; this was due to one lady’s “intense cat allergies.”  Not a problem; glad to accommodate.  We only had 4 folks on our side, along with two cats and two dogs, the other side was full.  This was a photo of the western skies just before we headed inside.  We were actually concerned that it showed some storm rotation, not a good sign!

It rained hard for awhile and there was lightning.  Not my favorite thing, but what can you do.  Just take lots of deep breaths.  Fortunately, after a few minutes the storm passed over us.  We are now back in the coach.  Lady Di is in her dashboard bed happy as ever, as if nothing happened.

2017.06.10-Turtle Lake, WI

2017.06.10-Turtle Lake, WI

Another hot day here in Wisconsin, up to 93.  Oh well.

On the way to Turtle Lake, I had to call the RV Park because we were getting two different directions.  The guy who answered the phone said just past the Family Dollar store, turn left then go to the blue and white building.  Turns out the blue and white building is a liquor store and he was the RV park manager.  He had to say blue and white building, because there is another liquor store right next door!  Turtle Lake has a population of 1050, draw your own conclusions.  😊

I noticed that this little town has some very interesting street names; maybe just an afterthought.

We had lunch in town at one of the local restaurants, RV park manager called it the local greasy spoon (we went anyway.)  For dessert, we had bread pudding made from cinnamon buns with a delicious caramel sauce.  YUM!

We then drove to St Croix, WI to see the national park there, St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.  Turns out the town of St Croix was having a fair and main street was closed off for about 4 blocks.  After visiting the St Croix Park visitor’s center, we walked the fair.  There really weren’t many vendors and what was there was more along the lines of a flea market.  Jerry bought one of those new spinner things for kids with ADHD, that should tell you everything you need to know!  Walking back to the car we stopped in a small pottery store.  The potter was there making mugs, which was pretty interesting.  I bought a mug for tea.  We don’t have room for much, but one mug I can make room for.  😉

2017.06.06-Holmen, WI

2017.06.06-Holmen, WI

We left Elkader, IA this morning and are now in Holmen ,WI just outside of La Crosse, WI for those watching the map.  We crossed over the Mississippi into Wisconsin and followed the mighty river north.  Right along side the mighty lady were railroad tracks, we even came upon a barge-pusher pushing probably 15 barges upstream.  I got a picture, but you have to really look closely to see the barge in the upper right.  So, there is Jerry, the railroad tracks, the mighty Mississippi and the barges (in the second picture).

It is a bright sunny day here and the temperature is in the upper 80s; so much for our goal to search for 70 degrees!  Travel days are usually pretty lazy, as is this one.

Last Sunday we explored the Iowa area by looking for “barn quilts” which are large, colorful, wooden blocks painted with patterns that are commonly found on quilts and mounted on the outside of farm barns.  This was Jerry navigating, according to their brochure, and me driving the towed.  It was disappointing that we found less than 10 barns with the quilt squares, the brochure indicated there should be over 30.  Oh well, it was nice to see the country side.

 

After exhausting the barn quilt trail, we headed to St Olaf, IA for some lunch.  This town, in 2014, had a population of 104 – not thousand, just one hundred and four folks.  So on a Sunday the tavern was the only place open for business, but they are famous for their fried pork tenderloin sandwich.  We got the extra-large portion so we could split it.  It almost hung over the plate, easily 3 inches outside the bun all around!

Monday, we drove to Pike’s Peak State Park, still in Iowa.  The park has several lookout points that are high above the Mississippi.  From this vantage point we could see how much she is out of her banks.  I just hope the trees are used to this much water so they survive.

After Pike’s Peak, we headed to Effigy Mounds National Monument just outside of Marquette, IA.  It was fascinating.  From the NPS web site:

The mounds preserved here are considered sacred by many Americans, especially the Monument's 20 culturally associated American Indian tribes. A visit offers opportunities to contemplate the meanings of the mounds and the people who built them. The 200 plus American Indian mounds are located in one of the most picturesque sections of the Upper Mississippi River Valley.

Some excavating has been done of these burial mounds.  From a short film, we learned the mound builders started around 1000 BC and quit around 1300 AD.  While walking through the park we saw linear mounds, bear design mounds and, as Jerry calls them, dot mounds.  This park is on a steep hill, but that didn’t stop us from walking a lot of it.  It was nice and peaceful there.  There were times when Jerry and I were the only ones around.  We could hear the birds chirping, the wood peckers searching for food and the leaves gently moving in the soft breeze.  To learn more about the mounds, go to www.nps.gov/efmo

While we were in the area, we drove across the river to Prairie du Chien, WI.  When driving into town we saw a restaurant that had the following roadside advertisement:  fish, cheese and bologna.  We were hungry, but decided to pass on that place.   😉

2017.06.03-Elkader, IA

2017.06.03-Elkader, IA

We explored the Elkader, Iowa area today starting in downtown Elkader.  This is not a particularly large town, so doing the historical walking tour was not difficult.

The Turkey River runs through Elkader.  We parked the car in the court house parking lot and walked across the river bridge.  These pictures are two of the nicer historical homes, both built in the mid to late 1800s.  I can’t imagine the money the owners have spent in maintenance to date!

Next on the agenda was the Motor Mill, which was built on the Turkey River as a wheat mill.  The owners named the hoped-to-be town “Motor”, hoping it would become a “powerful, moving and thriving town.”  Looking back neither the town nor the mill made it, partly due to the Turkey river flooding and partly due to a bug that caused the wheat crops to fail.  The building is slowly being restored.  It is a huge but lovely old building.  For more information, go to their web site  www.motormill.org

From there, we drove to Guttenburg to have lunch.  The restaurant had a wonderful view of the Mississippi Dam and Lock 10.

Guttenburg had an art fair going on, so we walked around the vendors for a little while.  I think there were maybe 10-15 booths set up along the mighty Mississippi, under some tall trees with lots of shade.  Jerry and I having done a number of art shows were envious of the beautiful vendor spots.

This was another gorgeous day, except it did get up to 91 degrees.  So on the way back to the coach we HAD to stop at a local burger joint to get some ice cream.  We thought you might enjoy their nutritional announcement.  😊

2017.06.01-Kieler, WI

2017.06.01-Kieler, WI

This is the breath-taking view from the front of the coach.  There are tall trees over us so it is nice, shady and lots of birds singing.  It has also been very windy here, so we get to hear the leaves rustling in the wind.  Oh, I forgot to mention, the highs have been in the low 70s and the lows are in the high 40s.  😊

Since it was a short drive to Kieler Wisconsin from Davenport Iowa we had time to wander around the downtown of Dubuque, IA which is just across the Mississippi from the campground.

Jerry enjoyed the architecture on the Court House but, the downtown was not terribly tourist friendly.  There seemed to be lots of empty industrial-type buildings.  There was a feed store a few blocks from the Court House.  Guess we are truly in farm country.

Next on the downtown agenda was the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.  Lots of things to do and see.  I got to touch some sting-rays.  They let some folks feed them.  After the feeding, they let the public put their hands in the water to see if they would come up to you.  And, they did!  Oh, so soft and slick!

There were several buildings in this complex.  As we walked between buildings there were two birds of prey on exhibit.  We felt sorry for them being confined like that but they had been injured.  A red-tailed hawk only had one wing and a bald eagle was there but we don’t know why.

Yesterday while I was doing some laundry in their laundromat I noticed this telephone in there.  I’m not sure if it worked, but I needed a picture of it anyway.