A couple of interesting days since you last heard from us. When we last checked in with you all, we had made it to Winona, MN. A nice college town in Minnesota, and we ran into freshman orientation which made it tough to find a room. Our plan was to leave Winona and head to Lansing, Iowa, a small town on the banks of the Mississippi. We did finally make it to Lansing, but we were without cell service or email. We found that parts of Iowa are without cell / internet service for AT&T customers. Anyway, it was a beautiful ride. We again learned that when a sign says "road closed" you can count on the road being closed. We again ran into a small bridge under repair, but this time we were able to find a way around by following the rail road tracks immediately next the Mississippi. (pictures to follow) We made it to Lansing, pop. 1,050. A place where time has passed by, ....................oh, and of course the bridge at Lansing going over the Mississippi was also closed. (pictures to follow). We ran into some really nice people. No real motels, but we did find a place that was owned/run by the local bank. Talked to a lady, who new another lady............etc., and we ended up with a nice room looking out over the Mississippi. Of course it was right next to the River View Bar and Restaurant, which pleased Rex as his responsibility it to make sure at each destination the beer is cold and they carry micro beers on tap. We took a walk around town and marveled at the old time beauty of a city that time has passed by. We had a great dinner............David, fried catfish, Bill, fried Chicken. Rex just looked at us............as he ate his BLT. After dinner we took another stroll around town looking for .........you guessed it..............ice cream. Anyway, we also found Friday night football in a small town. They were playing "8" man football, which is typical in smaller schools in the US. It was great. Really low key. All in all a great night.
So, our next leg of the trip was going to take us from Lansing to Dupuque, Iowa. We originally thought is was about 70 miles, and we planned to leave extra early to make sure we did not get caught running out of time. Well 12 hours and 10 minutes later, and 85 miles, we finally made it to Dupuque. We should have known it was going to be a tough day when we had to hang around for an extra hour in the AM as a thunder shower came through. Not a little shower like we have in CA...........these type of showers drop buckets of rain in a relatively short period. Anyway, we finally pushed off at 8:00 AM, after a hearty breakfast the the Kwik Star market,which is David's new favorite. We have found several of these along our way and they provide just about everything a person could want. Very clear the locals use them consistently. We saw a lot of Iowa. Now, let me ask everyone...............how many of you think of Iowa as being "flat"............well let us tell you that is not true. We went up and down, and up and down for 12 hours. Every time we thought we hand finally turned the corner and were finished with all the up hill climbs, we would come to another long uphill grade. Luckily the day was relatively cool. We saw corn, and soy beans, and corn, and corn, and corn, and corn, and some more soy beans. At every little town, and in many places in between we saw beautiful old Churches. All of the farms, and houses are extremely well kept in Iowa, and Minnesota. Very nice environment. We have not come across many "junk" houses. Every one seems to take a pride of ownership. Of course we are in farm county, and there are lots of pickup trucks. Looks like this might be Ford country. Everything is looking very prosperous, relatively speaking. Clearly a lot of retired live in proximity to the Mississippi for fishing and quality of life. You would need to slow way way way down to live in MN,or IA.
Anyway, lots of pictures to follow as well as some commentary by David with respect to "facts" on the trip. Rex, David, and I are turning in early, and will need every minute of sleep as we are off to Clinton Sunday.
Have fun. Cheers.
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