Tuesday, August 12
On our way home from La Crosse and Grandad Bluff we decided to take a different route. We went through Houston.
The town of Houston is in Houston County. My research shows the town & county were actually named after Sam Houston from Texas. I guess the influence of Texas is everywhere. Ha Ha
In this area of Minnesota the farmers vary their field with corn, soy beans and sometimes grass. The following 5 pictures show the patterns of various fields as we drove around.
All the taller crops are corn. We learned at the county fair that there are only one ear of corn per stalk usually. Sometimes there may be two. When I think about all the corn on the cob you see in the stores and knowing it is all over the country that way, it's mind boggling to me to think about all the corn stalks that must produce AND the corn doesn't get ruined by storms, deer or others hazards. Also think about the fact that corn is canned, fed to livestock, put in pet food, and used to make ethanol just to name a few other uses. No wonder so much corn is grown.
We went into the town of Caledonia to go to the hardware store. We came across a couple of antique trucks.
This old Ford pickup was sitting in front of the car wash. It was just on display.
This old Jeep pickup was for sale. It was parked next to the Ford above.
While we were in Caledonia, we learned there was going to be the Houston County Fair held in Caledonia during the coming weekend. We enjoy county fairs so decided to see if we could rearrange our plans and stay through the weekend.
When we went to the Farmers Market in Mabel, MN, this truck pulled in. The owner took an actual Kenworth cab and turned it into a pickup. He uses this as his only farm truck. A feller has to have something to keep him occupied during those long cold winters!
We also went to Beaver Creek State Park near our campground. We walked across this suspension bridge.
You can't read the sign but it said, "One person at one time. No jumping on bridge." It did swing and move a lot as you were walking across.
This is the view from the bridge when looking to the right. Then the next picture is the view from the bridge when looking to the left. The water was absolutely clear.
It was a smaller park. It did have some camping sites but we would not bring our home here.
We were on our way home from Walmart in Decorah, Iowa. Out in the country near Decorah, Iowa, which was only 35 miles away, there was this lone windmill erected by Luther College. The electricity from the turbine
will serve Alliant Energy's customers on the west side of Decorah,
including Luther College. The 5.2 million kilowatt hours of net
electricity generated per year are enough to power more than 500 homes
in Decorah and represents approximately one third of Luther's annual
consumption.
Before we reached home, we pass the town of Burr Oak, IA. We saw a sign for a Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.
It was late in the day so we did not stop.
Sunday, August 10
Today we headed for the southeast corner of Minnesota. I did not post a picture of our entry to Minnesota previously so.....
As I seem to have a talent for picking campgrounds in the back country. We had about 5 miles of gravel roads down into a valley between hills. Then suddenly this valley opens up and here is the Hidden Bluffs Resort. This is part of the Coast to Coast group. There is a large swimming pool with a hot tub; plenty of nice sized RV sites, cabins and tent sites along with laundry facilities, restrooms, showers, free wifi, library of DVDs that can be checked out for free and a small camp store. Everyone is very friendly.
This is our campsite. Our grassy area is actually on the left side of the picture.
This is our large grassy area. All the sites are large. Because we are in such a deep valley, we don't get TV or phone service, but everything else is so nice that we really like it here.
These are the bluffs behind our campsite. You can also see one of the cabins for rent.
Here is a closeup of the bluffs. There are lots of trails we will be hiking later.
On our way to Hidden Bluffs we saw a few more barn quilts. This is zoomed in but it is a different looking quilt.
Here is another barn quilt. I'm not going to post any more. I did think it was interesting that there were barn quilts here in Minnesota also.
Monday, August 11
This morning it is overcast and the internet says 40% chance of rain. I needed to get my necklace fixed and Tic was hoping to find a camera shop. We decided to drive into LaCrosse, WI. since it is a fair size city. Unfortunately the camera stores that showed up on the internet search were closed. I did get my necklace fixed. While I was getting my necklace fixed, I was chatting with a local and they said we should go see Grandad Bluff. Even though it was rainy, we decided to go.
From down the street we were able to see the flag at the top of the hill even though it was misting.
Here is a little history on the Grandad Bluff.
It was still a beautiful view even though it was misty.
Another gorgeous view from Grandad Bluff on a misty day.
It was so beautiful on a misty day, that we decided we would have to come back the next day when it was supposed to be sunny.
This is a zoom of one of the bridges that crosses the Mississippi River between Minnesota & Wisconsin.
Old Glory flies majestic even on a misty day.
Here we are getting ready to cross the bridge back into Minnesota. Remember one of the above pictures?
It was a pretty bridge. We went home for the day.
Tuesday, August 12
We decided we needed to go see the view from Grandad Bluff in the sunshine. On the drive through town we saw the 2 old houses below.
Even though they both need some repair they are interesting houses.
Here is the flag today in the sunshine from the same spot as yesterday. Still some clouds but mostly sunny.
This is the view from the top on a sunny day.
Looking down at the town of La Crosse, WI.
Another viewing area at the top. Gorgeous!!
Same view of Old Glory as yesterday, only in the sun light.
There was a golf course at the bottom of Grandad Bluff. We decided to head back towards home and go shopping in a little town close to the campground called Caledonia. Tic is looking for some specific hardware and we saw a True Value there.
Friday, Aug 8
This morning we leave Lake Wissota State Park, WI and go to Wabasha, MN. The drive was only 1.75 hrs so we took our time at getting ready to leave.
Finally about 11 am one of the last things we did was try to close our big awning. Well it only closed half way and it quit. After a phone call to the manufacturer, it was determined that the motor died. We were given detailed instructions how to roll it up manually and have to order a new motor. It was about 1 pm before we left the park. On the way out of the park, we took our first picture of the lake itself.
We learned that Lake Wissota is 6,000 acres and man made.
It is a nice clear day. As you can imagine, this only a small part of the lake.
This is a bit hazy, but here is our entry to Minnesota as we cross the Mississippi River.
We arrived at Big River RV Resort about 2:50pm. This park does not have many trees, but has great facilities. There are restrooms with showers in 3 areas of the campground. There is a laundry facility, free wifi, cable & pool.
All sites have full hookups with 20/30/50 amp service. The cost is a little more than we like to pay ($38.50/nite), but after being here we found out this is a prime tourist area; partly because there is a bridge that crosses the Mississippi River from Nelson, WI to Wabasha, MN. The bridges that cross the Mississippi are spaced a ways apart.
As you can see, our site is nice and long on hard gravel with a concrete pad and picnic table.
This is our backyard. We think this is a soybean crop. There are hills slightly inland from the river. We plan a short driving trip into the hills tomorrow.
Saturday, Aug 9
After looking over the visitor info we were given, we discovered we have been blessed again! The National Eagle Center is here in Wabasha and they have live seminars daily. We decided to attend the 11 am seminar. As we were walking to the center, this eagle was outside.
As Tic took the picture, she lifted one foot. When inside we learned this is Harriett. She is 33 yrs old. In the wild, 70-80% of eagles die before they reach adulthood at five
years of age. An eagle that makes it to adulthood might live 20-25
years. In captivity, eagles are known to live much longer, 40+ and up to
50 years, due to a controlled environment, nutrient rich diet and
veterinary care. Harriett is there because she was hit by a car and can no longer fly.
Inside the center was a room that visitors could enter that had 4 perches for different eagles. This bald eagle is Angel. She is 15 and very vocal. She likes attention. Again she cannot fly due to being hit by a car. We learned that most eagles are killed by cars because eagles like roadkill. It is easy meat since it doesn't run away. Since it is an easy dinner, the eagle may overeat and is not so swift to be able to fly away. That is when they get hit by a vehicle.
This bald eagle is Columbia. She is 13. They believe the gray marks on the sides of her head are due to lead poisoning. She was found after being hit by a car also. They believe she got lead poisoning by eating a lead pellet used to shoot an animal that she was probably eating. Again she cannot fly. We learned that female eagles are larger than the males. The only male eagle at this facility was out traveling. The females average only 10lbs full grown and the males about 7 lbs full grown. Eagles reach their full grown size by 12-14 weeks of age. However, the bald eagles do not get their adult feathers till about 5-6 yrs old.
This is Donald. He is an adult golden eagle. They have no idea how old he is because he already had his adult feathers when brought to them. Again he was hit by a car and cannot fly. Golden eagles are more rare along a river. They usually stay more inland because they do not eat fish; only small rodents and rabbits.
Here is Dusty holding up a full grown eagle.
This is the seminar classroom. The girl in the green shirt was the host/teacher and the girl in the black shirt was Columbia's handler. We got to see Columbia get her lunch, which was fish today.
Here the handler is about to feed Columbia a piece of fish. Look at Columbia's intent look.
Columbia finally took the fish after some prodding. See the long heavy leather glove on the handlers arm. It is only to prevent scratching. If the eagle gets nervous or upset it could easily squeeze its talon right thru that leather. They can squeeze 400 foot lbs of pressure with each talon and there are 4 talons on each "foot". Their prey doesn't have a chance to escape once caught.
Doesn't Columbia look majestic. You can see her left wing (as you look at her) is messed up. She weighs about 10 lbs. Each eagle has thousands of feathers and that is what makes them look so large. Eagles bones are hollow. So between hollow bones and lots of feathers that is why they do not weigh much. When the eagles do molt or lose feathers, the feathers must be collected and sent to a federal facility in Colorado. There, native Americans can apply for a permit to obtain feathers for ceremonial events. It is against federal law for anyone to possess an eagle feather, even one you may find in the wild. Leave it behind.
There are children on the floor in front of Columbia and she is getting nervous and readjusting herself. The parts of the picture that are blurry are because she is moving so fast the camera could not keep up. BTW that is a mural in the background.
Just after the seminar, we got our picture taken with Angel. That is as close as we were allowed to stand. We had to walk up and leave by a certain path so we did not upset Angel.
This is actually a mating dance. They are not fighting. They frequently lock talons and fall almost to the ground before letting go and soaring up and doing it all over again.
This is a snow owl they had mounted. There were taxidermy of all the kinds of eagles and owls on display. They were beautiful but for most the lighting was not good for pictures so this is the only other picture.
From a viewing deck at the center, this is the view north looking at the bridge that crosses the Mississippi River. Notice the river is pretty narrow here.
This is the view south. You will see more about the monument in a minute.
This is the National Eagle Center. See the deck on the right side of the picture. That is where Tic took the pictures up and down river.
This is a statue of Wapahasha II, an Indian chief. There were 3 of them. See below.
Sorry some of the words are cut off but you can get some history anyway.
Wow as we were standing there, this tugboat came by pushing a large barge. The barge is 3 sections wide and 3 sections deep.
Here is the whole tugboat and barge.
We decided to drive into the hills and see what we could see.
I was amazed at how tall the corn was, so I made Tic stretch and he still could not reach the tops. Yes, Jean Donald this picture is for you. Ha, Ha
Then across from the corn field was a wild turkey. Could not pass up a picture!
It is kind of hazy today. Northward view. This picture looks exactly like we saw it. Gorgeous!
Southward view. The Mississippi River Valley in all its glory!
This is zoomed in so seems even more hazy. That is the same/only bridge crossing the Mississippi River in this area.
We drove across the Mississippi River to the WI side and saw these pretty cliffs near the town of Nelson, WI.
Home for the evening. Then off to Spring Grove, MN for 5 days. Thank you Lord for all our blessings. Amen
