Heading back to UK.....25th August 2016...

Cloud formations over the mesa.....I-40 New Mexico... 

Hopefully we'll "Be On The Road Again" in 2017 but for now it's bye bye from
Yorkieman and Mrs Blogger...

10th August 2016.....Update from Missouri....

Dear Blog Followers....

Sadly I have to say that this will be the last post of our latest road trip....we had shocking news, a few days ago, that my brother, John, passed away in his sleep....

He loved music and had an eclectic collection of albums...

As this was a trip with a music theme I would like to  finish this blog with a song that was a big favourite of his....

Dedicated to the memory of my big brother....

MacArthur Park....the Richard Harris version...

3rd August....Wisconsin through Iowa to Missouri...with a side trip to the future !!!

We are back on the road today fairly early as a longer journey south to Missouri....one of the Mississippi River Cruise Boats at Dubuque....

Most of our journey today will be through Iowa...

For most of our drive down the US151 & 61 highways it is corn fields for as far as the eye can see...we are fascinated by the patterns of the corn fields...also it's so neat and tidy.....

And my day is made....Yorkieman had discovered via Roadside America that Riverside, Iowa is the future birth place of James T Kirk....

What would we do without Google Earth to check that we can park our home on wheels here....

In 1984 Riverside City wrote to Gene Roddenberry requesting that the small town of Riverside be the birth place of  James T and he agreed...

Check out the sign below Kirk....not complaining but it is now 92 degrees....

Great fun and a good diversion on our drive today....we also topped off the diesel at the cheapest since the beginning of this road trip....

We just love these straight quiet roads....

And into Missouri and our stop for a couple of nights at The Mark Twain Cave and Campground in Hannibal....
Warp factor one Mr Sulu.....
The Spaced Out campers....

1st & 2nd August.....Cassville, WI & Dubuque, Iowa.....

Only 115 miles today and a nice scenic drive along the US151.....pretty wild flowers in abundance...cornfields in the background, it's getting higher !!

Sightly different landscape, more rolling hills....
The last few miles were rather stressed as our campsite is in a remote area and the directional signs were rather lacking....Charmin' Garmin was confident but while towing a 38ft trailer and the road is getting narrower !!!
Help was at hand, we woke a poor utility guy from his lunchtime nap in his truck who very graciously said yes we were on the right road..phew !!

Tuesday 2nd August....
The Grotto in the small town of Dickeyville,WI.....it's one of the things we love about the small towns you never know what you will find...
The Grotto & Shrines were built by Father Matthias Wernerus between 1925 and 1930 and dedicated to the unity of the love of God and country...

Amazing....built in stone, mortar coloured glass, gems, shells and bright coloured objects....

Christopher Columbus...

And across the Mighty Mississippi to  Dubuque, Iowa...
The City Hall....

Recommendation by the staff at the visitors centre to ride the Fenelon Place Elevator....a funicular railroad...for the view of the city, the Mississippi River and 3 states, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.....
Originally built in 1882 and rebuilt several times due to fire the last time in 1977......
It is claimed to be the world's steepest & shortest railroad...

Good views even though cloudy......one of the many bridges and the tower of the St Raphael Cathedral....we had thought it might be a carillon tower as the ringing of the bells at midday were very reminiscent of the carillon tower at Bok Gardens, Florida...I did forget to mention that Madison has a carillon tower....

The city clock...
We travelled up in the rail car with a lovely family from Chicago and had a good chat with them.....

On to the Riverside Walk, a pleasant walk despite the heat (not complaining but in the 90's)....

The Star Brewing Company...no longer brewing now a winery, craft beer tasting centre and restaurant...

The Shot Tower and one of the last remaining shot towers in the US...
This was a big lead mining area.....molten lead was poured from the top of the tower through various grills until the right sized shot fell into the water at the bottom of the tower...

 Barges are still an integral part of the Mississippi River...

A tour paddle steamer passing through the "opened" rail bridge...

We are in a "Tri State" area and had a recommendation to visit Galena in Illinois.....only a 13 miles easy drive...

Being as it's the railroad alongside of the  Mississippi River we are going for our song of today as Arlo Guthrie's great song City Of New Orleans...

Lovely historic town of Galena, we had a good walk about and would have gone to the dam & locks a few miles farther on but need to get home and get ready to move on tomorrow to Missouri....
For now...
The Sightseeing Campers....

29th, 30th & 31st July 2016......DeForest & Madison, WI....

29th July...
We must say farewell to Minnesota today, hitch up the trailer and head for Deforest, Wisconsin....the first part of our journey is on a very pretty & scenic section of the US61 South...

We spotted several bald eagles soaring and in the trees on this stretch but not able to snap with the camera....
With all of the posts about the Mississippi I have forgotten to mention the main song we have been singing..."Mississippi" by Pussycat although of course there are several songs about the great river....

Prior to our turning east and crossing the river the landscape changes to bluffs and rolling hills...
Big construction on the bridge and feeder roads as we head into WI....they only have a few summer months in these northern states for road repairs....
Today is certainly a journey of 2 halves...the first part being nice and relaxing and the second not so much, heavy rain on a very busy interstate !!!
But we arrive in DeForest ready to meet up over the weekend with old and new friends....

Saturday 30th July...
Friends we met in Florida earlier in the year collected us from our campsite and gave us a great tour of the City of Madison.....
These next few photos are not in a good chronological order but I have been having a bit of trouble with the blog site and going with what I have !!!
First stop is a wander through the big Farmers Market in Capitol Square then visiting the Capitol Building.....
This is one of the many fossils found in the marble in the building......

One of the views after climbing up to the observation deck of the Capitol Building...

Yorkieman with Marilynne & Howard on the observation deck...

An interior shot of the very impressive capitol building....

The Capitol Building showing some of the popular farmer's market.....

Beautiful flowers on the Monona Terrace and our next stop...
The Frank Lloyd Wright designed community and convention centre opened in 1997 after nearly 60 years of debate... great views from here of lake Monona....

Our last stop on the Madison tour is at The Memorial Union Terrace a popular gathering place...Madison is a university city....
The brightly coloured sun chairs are an iconic feature of the terrace.... 

The terrace is a great place to eat our exceedingly yummy Babcock's ice-cream and watch the fun on Lake Mendota.....

Wow and wow a sea of sunflowers...
This is Pope Farm Conservancy....a popular spot to view these "happiest" of flowers....
This year they planted 9 acres and approximately half a million sunflowers...

As tall as us !!....

These are my favourite flowers on a tie with daffodils in the spring...

It is estimated birds will consume one third of the crop before harvest approx 4,000 pounds of sunflower seeds...
The seeds are harvested in October and sold to a local pet store....

Part of the 7 miles of hiking and equestrian trails and fabulous views of the surrounding countryside...
A ski jump in the background...
We have had a really lovely day rounded off by delicious steaks, corn and salad at their house...
Until the next post....
The Well Fed Campers...

27th & 28th July 2016..... Wabasha and Kellogg, Minnesota...

Rain overnight and this morning but light rain and not the torrential rains of the past week....a quick hitch up with an eye on the mosquitoes and we are on the road again south to Wabasha bypassing the Twin Cites of Minneapolis and St Pauls....although heavy traffic as with any city in the world it was not as bad as we thought it would be....

US61 south and a pretty drive and mainly alongside of the great river... less residential and more countryside and farmsteads... 

We had a truck detour around Red Wing, well sign posted...
Then our lunchtime sandwich spot at another excellent Minnesota rest area at Lake Pepin on The Mississippi River....Lake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake & the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi.....
In the late 1800s and early 1900s more than 500 clammers worked the lake gathering mussels for their shells to be used for making buttons...Lake Pepin was unusually rich in mussels but by 1929 the mussel supply was almost exhausted due over farming for the 50 button factories along this stretch of the river...stocks are now being replenished...

Rather a grey day as this pic of the Wisconsin Bluffs shows......we do get a thunder storm by 6pm but by then we are settled into our spot at The Big River Resort, Wabasha...it's the river that is big not the resort....but it is a really lovely campsite and a shame we are only here for 2 nights...
YAY we have cable TV  so a TV fest of Major Crimes and The Golden Girls...also very robust wifi hence catch up on blog and all things internet...

Our home on wheels at the Lake Pepin scenic rest area....

Thursday 28th July......
First stop is at the National Eagle Centre, Wabasha....a non government funded facility  that as well as caring for injured "raptors" is an educational centre...we attended the very informative 1 hour lecture....very very interesting, we still have a problem with any bird or animal in "captivity" but the alternative would be death....
This is female called Angel who was found with a broken wing a few years ago....
Luckily this was an indoor event as it's drizzly rain this morning....

We found this to be very interesting especially considering that back in the 1950's the bald eagle was on the extinction list due to excessive use of DDT....
One reference that amused us was that Benjamin Franklin was not happy about the bald eagle becoming the national symbol saying that it would be more appropriate to be the turkey !!!

The rain has stopped for our walk around town...

As mentioned before we love small town USA....and this one had a small bakery and coffee shop...ummm time for yummy coffee and cake....

Next stop is in Kellogg, 5 miles from Wabasha, at the Lark Toys Museum and Toy Shop.....fascinating museum and extensive collection of toys for sale....

But this is the highlight....
The Lark Toys Carousel...
Hand carved from basswood in exquisite detail and competed in 1997.....

Each animal is a rideable work of art....the carousel runs every 30 minutes for $2 a ride...

Not part of the carousel but another exquisitely carved piece....

Oppps...

We have really enjoyed our stay here and could easily have stayed a few extra days but need to be in Madison, WI for the weekend...
Wabasha is one of the oldest cities on the upper Mississippi River and the oldest town in Minnesota...
The grandfather of writer Mark Steven Johnson and inspiration for the films Grumpy & Grumpier Old Men was a Wabasha native....
Also Laura Ingalls Wilder was born just south of here with The Little House In The Big Woods being based on her own home...
Tomorrow we move back across the Great River into Wisconsin...
More soon from...
The Very Happy Campers.....