Two days of travel have brought us to the Quad Cities; our campground is in Rock Island, Illinois, most of our excursions the next three days will be in the Davenport, Iowa area. Our driving since we left Minneapolis has been increasingly along the Mississippi; it’s fun to see how the river grows and changes.

Both days had stops along the way. Between Minneapolis and Prairie du Chien (Prairie of the Dogs? That’s got to be tough to make into a tourist t-shirt) we toured the National Eagle Center on the banks of the river in Wabasha, MN. They help with the rehabilitation of injured eagles; we saw several up close and personal, and enjoyed a presentation on the life of an eagle. We spent the rest of the drive and that night making a cameo appearance in Wisconsin…never going more than about 5 miles across the border.

Next day we headed out on a very foggy morning. For the first couple of hours it was hard to see the road, let alone the river in the valley below us. We persevered, and arrived in Dubuque at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. The museum reminded us of OMSI in Portland; lots of displays meant to engage kids, including a salt water tide pool. Dubuque seems like it’s a long ways from salt water, but there you go.

The rest of the drive was very pretty. We arrived at our campground, got setup, and a thunderstorm started to move in just in time for the group to drive over to a dinner cruise on the river. The storm put on a pretty good show, the dinner was very nice, and a keyboard player kept the audience entertained; eventually some line dancing broke out. Fun was had by all.

Today we start exploring…more later.

We’re now halfway through our 70 day RV trip. It’s all downhill from here, literally as we start moving further south on our way to New Orleans. Tonight is our last night in Minnesota; tomorrow we drive to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin for one night. We give the state of Wisconsin a very brief visit, not straying very far from its border on the Mississippi River.

Tuesday the caravan went by bus first to Minnehaha Falls (more of a cliff, as there was no water cascading over it), then to St Paul for a tour of St Paul Cathedral and for a Gangster tour. The sacred portion of the day was beautiful; the church is quite the piece of architecture, and a very moving space. As for the gangsters, we toured a man-made sandstone cave that had served as a speakeasy during Prohibition, then welcomed John Dillinger and his tommy gun onto our bus for a tour of St Paul’s seedy history (of which there was plenty).

The next day saw us return to St Paul for a lunch cruise on the Mississippi. The meal was fine, the river was finer. We saw a number of eagles and buzzards, and the fish were jumping. It was a beautiful day to be on the river. We also toured St Paul’s old post office, which has been turned into a center for the local arts scene. Leila had fun playing a number of keyboard instruments, including a harpsichord.

Today was a free day; we drove into St Paul to tour the J.J. Hill mansion, 36,000 square feet of family home for the builder of the Great Northern RR. It was magnificent, and amazing that it’s been preserved. After lunch we drove to Minneapolis to see the Old Mill Museum; the building had been the site of a historic General Mills flour mill. The tour was intriguing, and the views of the river and its falls were beautiful.

But now it’s time to move on…more next time.

The first two travel days are in the books, we’re now just south of Minneapolis in an RV park next to a really big tribal casino. The campground is nice, level, paved pull-through sites with full hookups. Makes life setting up easy!

Our first day’s drive was short, taking us to the shores of Crow Wing Lake, near Brainerd. The lake was pretty, and the campground had lots of trees…it was very pleasant. The Mississippi continues to grow bigger as we move south; we’ll see more of it today at St Paul.

Last night was a free evening, and we took advantage of it. We and three other couples went to a baseball game…Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays. We were rooting for the Twins to pull the upset, but it didn’t happen. Lots of runs, multiple home runs for both teams, and a nice ballpark made it a good evening.

We have a bus outing to St Paul today…more later.

It’s been a enjoyable time here in Bemidji. We’re reached the northernmost point in our trip, and while not as high an elevation as we saw in Wyoming we are at 1350 feet now…it’s roughly all downhill from here to New Orleans.

Our stay started with an orientation meeting and a dinner. Greg had walleye (very good) and Leila had prime rib (about the size of her plate…a lot went home for last night’s dinner). We also did a little walk around downtown, looking at sculptures done from salvaged metal. Some of them were very nice.

Just a quick note about Bemidji: we’re told it’s the birthplace of Jane Russell, the actress, it’s the First City of the Mississippi. It’s also the home of the Lumberjacks (Bemidji HS) and the home of the Beavers (Bemidji State University). Greg felt right at home.

Yesterday was the first bus excursion of the trip. The bus driver, Greg, did his best to sound like a Minnesotan; he had a great sense of humor too. The group got their picture taken with a statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, then a tour of a woolen mill, then on to the headwaters of the Mississippi.

It is remarkable to see how humble a beginning the river makes. Lake Itasca has a shallow end, and the river just sorta tumbles out of it. We did indeed wade across. The water wasn’t too cold, I’m sure the lake warms it up a bit. After a box lunch we were taken on a two hour boat ride across the lake, and heard a bit of history along the way.

Day 31 is a travel day, but we don’t go very far…just two hours or so. We’ll have our first driver’s meeting, then hit the road.

The first leg of our trip is complete, we have arrived in Bemidji today. The caravan officially starts tomorrow, but most of the group is already here; we had a campfire tonight and got to meet a lot of really fine people.

Days 26 and 27 were spent traveling from Iowa to Bemidji. We had fun touring the Spam Museum (and buying Spam for a taste testing when we get home). That night we were treated to another thunderstorm; thankfully it only lasted 30 minutes.

The next morning showed that the cold front had moved through, the weather turned off 20 degrees cooler and a bit drizzly…felt like beach weather. We checked out another quilt shop (no comparison to an earlier stop), then settled in to a Harvest Host camp site behind a brew pub. They served a great sausage sampler and some tasty beverages.

Today’s drive took us across the Mississippi River three times; since we were headed north each time we crossed it the river was smaller. By the third crossing it wasn’t much bigger than the Coweeman back in Kelso. Saturday it will even smaller yet as we visit the headwaters.

So, 2/5 of the trip is in the books, and now we slowly start moving south. We spend three nights here, and we are excited to see places we’ve never been.

We are now 5/14 of the way through this epic journey, and have pointed our heading towards the northlands. We had a short drive today, ending up in Glenwood, Iowa; we are in a Harvest Host site, parked in the parking lot of a candy and popcorn store. Sounds unlikely doesn’t it? The hosts are very friendly and the popcorn comes in about 12 different flavors. We moved on past the candy display…

During a really warm afternoon (95 degrees or so) we drove the car to Council Bluffs and took a walk across the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge, crossing the Missouri River to Omaha. There you go…just when we thought we were done with Nebraska it pulls us right back in. The bridge was beautiful and made for an easy walk.

We drove back to Glenwood for dinner, and now are resting in the motorhome. Our bonus surprise today was electric…we thought we’d be dry camping here, but the host has 30 amp electrical hookups. Huzzah! We have AC!

Tomorrow we drive a little more than 300 miles, but make our first foray into Minnesota. I’m not sure how many lakes we will see tomorrow…more then.

It’s been great being in Missouri, our first trip to the state. We return later in the trip, but the first three days have been fun.

We’re in Hamilton, a small town of about 1200 people. It’s not quite a company town, but Missouri Star Quilt Company occupies a big hunk of downtown with their 13 storefronts (plus the quilt museum in an old high school and the quilting retreat center and the quilting airbnbs). On top of all that…the town has famous citizens. J C Penney spent his childhood here (and the high school is named Penney HS, the Hornets!), and baseball Hall of Famer Zach Wheat is from here (well, he’s been gone a very long time. You may need to look him up…).

So, Leila has been looking forward to this stop. We spent something over five hours going from shop to shop, and she gained inspiration from nearly all of them, plus she gained parcels from nearly of all of them. Her quilting projects are lining up nicely, she’ll have a busy winter.

Since the quilt shops are closed on Sundays we switched gears and drove to Independence, MO. They had the middle of town all blocked off for a Labor Day celebration of the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trails that all began in Independence. It was quite a festive scene on a really warm day. The event featured people in period clothing giving a sense of what things were like in Western Missouri in 1840 or so. We got a great tour of a log building that served as the county courthouse for a while starting in 1829, and again as recently as 1932 when Judge Harry S Truman presided there temporarily.

Yes, that Truman. He went on to become a US Senator, and then in 1944 was elected VP…serving just 88 days (if I have the story right) before he became president on FDR’s death. We were able to take a tour of his home, now a National historic monument. It’s just as it was at Mrs. Truman’s death. President Truman truly was the last average American to hold the office…no gated estates, no fancy vacation home, just a nice house in a nice old neighborhood in Independence. He even had a Frigidaire refrigerator like those we sold at Korten’s in the early 1980’s, and a Zenith French provincial console TV. The 4 door sedan he bought six months before his death is still in the garage; not a sporty car, a really sensible family car.

We also visited the Truman Library. I thought they did a nice job of working through his complicated career. Truman was not a successful businessman, and was a product of a corrupt political machine, but he was an honest politician. He once was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, but became a key figure in integrating the armed forces. Truman managed to lead the country through turbulent times; the atomic bomb, post-war recovery, the beginning of the Cold War, the beginning of the Korean War were all on his watch. It’s impressive, and incentive to reread his biography.

So, we turn our faces towards Bemidji tomorrow. The first drive is a short one…more then.

Our stay here in Grand Island is almost over, and we’ve had a blast. Like last trip to Nebraska, we left some things on the table for next trip. As Tiny Tunes Adventures remind us, we can’t do everything on the first trip.

We had a great lunch with Greg’s cousins Gary, Patti (and her husband Mark), and Marti. It’s great staying connected with this crew, and we’re thankful to have had a chance to see them.

That day also was spent at the Stuhr Museum, looking at how life on the prairie was lived in the late 1800’s. The static displays were great, and the museum has done a wonderful job of rescuing historic buildings, then moving them to the museum grounds. One of these is Henry Fonda’s birthplace; it was a really cute bungalow. Leila had a nice chat with an active milliner; she might have bought a cute hat, but couldn’t think of anywhere to wear it. Not too many ladies wearing hats to church anymore…

Today was spent at the Nebraska State Fair. Everyone we had met the previous two days had asked us if we had been to the fair, and we know now why they were so excited to share it. We got to take a ride on a combine! We saw everything from a calf that was just 30 minutes old, to great antique tractors, to all sorts of quilts. Consider Leila inspired!

Speaking of quilts, tomorrow we drive to Hamilton, Missouri, the home of Missouri Star Quilts. Leila is excited…more details soon.

We continue our trip through Nebraska…

We spent day 18 moving from Mitchell to North Platte. Along the way we stopped at Scotts Bluff National Monument. A great sandstone bluff and a badlands area blocked the path of the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail as they followed the Platte River and its fresh water. A narrow gap in the bluff allowed passage with just a short detour. There is a winding drive to the summit of the bluff that gives a great view of the gap and of the valley in all directions.

At North Platte we turned our attention to one of Greg’s favorite subjects: railroads. The Golden Spike Tower lets you see into one of the most amazing beehives of activity, the Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard. This huge place directs the path of rail cars as they travel east/west, services both cars and locomotives, and generally serves as the hub of the transcontinental railway. We also visited Cody Park, where a Challenger steam locomotive, a diesel locomotive, and a baggage car and mail car are displayed. It always amazes Greg just how big steam locomotives are.

Day 19 took us to Grand Island, where we will stay for three nights. On the way we stopped in Kearney and visited The Archway, a really cool museum that stretches across I-80. It tells the story of the various people groups that have travelled through the Platte River Valley over time and of how they travel, starting with Native Americans, to the Oregon/California/Mormon trails, to the Pony Express, to the railroads, and finally to the Lincoln Highway and I-80. There were some really moving stories of pioneer life.

The two days ahead are going to be great fun…more next time.

One last note about Gillette before we move on: the convention grounds had hosted the National High School Rodeo championships 10 days before we got there, and a large hog sale seven days before. All well and good, except for the flies that were left behind. The day we arrived was hot, and we were dry camping that first day, so no air conditioning. We put the canopy out and were trying to have lunch in the shade, except for the swarms of flies. At one point there must have been 20 on Leila’s foot…we got an appreciation for how the Egyptians must have felt during the Biblical plagues.

Today’s drive was, for now, the last of our mountain driving (at least until we head for home). The roads were easy to drive, but we found ourselves in the midst of thunderstorms…literally. There was lightning in every direction. The rain wasn’t too hard until it was, and no hail thankfully. While “enjoying’ the weather one windshield wiper came unmoored; fortunately it did not break or fly away, but we were able to stop and get it remounted.

Tonight we are parked at a Harvest Host site just outside of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Our host has a farm growing vegetables for farmer’s markets; we bought some fresh veggies that will taste pretty good over the next few days. There’s more lightning tonight, but now that’s calmed down.

Tomorrow takes us first to Scotts Bluff National Monument, then to North Platt for the night. More then…