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.   😉