Why? Not for the reason you're probably thinking.
First off, it was a very short travel day, only 44-miles separated our two camping spots, both of them in Iowa State Parks.
Secondly, it was raining the entire time and rolling down the windows to snap photos just was not an option.
Lastly, there just wasn't much worth photographing on the route today.
That's not to say we didn't have a little excitement today. As we were getting ready to make the turn off of the highway and start heading towards the town of McGregor, IA where our next campsite is located, we were greeted with "Road Closed" and "No Trucks" signs.
I pulled off into the long turning lane anyway and tried to get partially off the roadway. Very quickly we brought up Google Maps, which usually has the lastest road conditions and traffic information, to see if indeed the road we needed to travel on was closed.
There were still people exiting the highway and heading down the road into town so I decided we'd give it a try.
As we got deeper into town there were additional warning signs, but still no apparent closures. Then we came upon an "S curve" in the road which prevented me from seeing very far ahead and a sign indicating "Road Closed in 500 feet".
Not wanting to get ourselves into a situation where I'd have to possibly "back my way" out of town with THE POD attached I made a split second decision to take a detour around town instead of through it.
It was only a 2-mile detour through a residential area and the road looked to be in pretty good shape. At least the first 100-yards or so was before in turned into a muddy and wet gravel road with no where to turn around.
So we plowed our way up and down a few hills, plus around a few blind corners, while making a terrible muddy mess of both ROVER and THE POD.
The detour brought us out on the other side of town and right in front of the entrance to the State Park. It wasn't long before we were all set up and since it was close to dinner time we went into town for something to eat.
There is a 6-block long section of Main Street which is being dug up to install what looks to be new water supply pipes. There is a detour one block off Main Street down a narrow residential area and I can see why they wouldn't want tractor trailer drivers trying to make their way through town on this side road.
We had a short 3-night visit near here back then to explore the nearby Crystal Lake Cave and the "Field of Dreams" Movie Site.
As a matter of fact, we ate dinner yesterday in the same restaurant where we ate lunch back in August of 2021, the Backwoods Bar & Grill.
I made a point of sitting at the same table we did back then and wondered if any of the employees would recognize us. No one did of course, but then again, I didn't recognize any of them either. Maybe they're all new?
We awoke this morning with another weather alert warning of dense fog cover until 9:00AM.
To Tricia that meant another chance to capture additional stunning photos.
Here is what she saw on her 6:30AM early morning walk this morning.
When we were in this area back in August of 2021 we visited the Effigy Mounds National Monument located 7¾-miles north of here in the town of Harpers Ferry, IA. After reading our blogpost of our previous visit I realized we didn't actually give it a proper visit.
Today we're going to revisit the park and give it another try.
On the drive north along the western shoreline of the Mississippi River we saw an old-timey casino boat in the river just outside the town of Marquette.
We did our usual routine when visiting a National Park Service property, we entered the Visitor Center and watched the short film, then strolled through the little museum they have on display. All of this was very interesting and worth a visit.
After that we inquired about "the effigy mounds" we could see by hiking along the trails. The volunteer explained the first three mounds were right outside the back door of the Visitor Center. If we wanted to see more it would involve a 2-mile hike up a steep incline to see any additional mounds.
Now I'm remembering our previous visit ended in much the same manner!
On our way back to camp we filled ROVER with $3.19 gasoline in the town of Marquette and then drove over to the Pikes Peak Observation Overlook before returning to the campsite.
Back in August of 2021 we took a photo of the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers from the overlook. We took another photo today for comparision.
and the water in the foreground is the Mississippi River.
When we returned to the parking lot this Candy Apple Red Beauty was spotted across the parking lot from where ROVER was at. Anybody want to guess what kind of car this is?
I knew exactly what it was, because for a brief time in the mid-1980s I drove one to work.
Mine was a 1963 model (the oldest car I ever owned), this one is in the 2nd-generation category of 1965-1969. Of course mine wasn't nearly as nice as this one, but it was fun to drive this rear engined 6-cylinder sports car.
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no·mad·i·ver·sa·ry
/ˌnō-ˌmadˈəˈvərs(ə)rē/ noun |
That's right, today is our 6th nomadiversary! We've been traveling for 6-years as of today and haven't yet found any reason to stop. |
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Those are "our" Big Red Numbers!
All you Airstreamers out there know what I'm talking about.
All members of the Airstream Club International get to pick their own personalized membership number and we chose 18512.
Let me word it another way, 2018 MAY 12th. It's the date we left Broward County, FL behind to begin our new fulltime traveling lifestyle exactly 6-years ago today!.
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