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Published: August 2nd 2017
We left Wausau this morning at 8 AM and 75 degrees. It turned out to be perfect weather. Most of the day the sun was shining, we had some clouds in the sky, and the temps were in the low 80’s. And for transplanted Floridians, that was perfect.
We hit the road and headed west to Winona, Minnesota, where we planned to meet the Mississippi River. The three hour drive took us through the farmlands of Wisconsin. Where yesterday was flatlands, today was rolling hills of green and a feast for the eyes. It appeared to me that these farms were privately owned, unlike the ones we often see in states like Kansas, where farmhouses are miles apart. There were many farms with neat little homes sitting beside red barns and 3 or 4 or even 5 silver silos with shiny domes reflecting the rays of the sun. Again, the barns were all thirsty for paint. Some had interesting signs on them which were a puzzle to me. Over a barn door there could be a square sign with a multi-colored geometric design. And they varied from farm to farm. And interestingly, one farm had 5 cow barns, each with
a different sign/design over the main entry. I am clueless.
The fields were expansive. They were seas of green, alternating between dark green carpets of soy bean plants and tall, leafy corn stalks awash with a blanket of flowers floating over them like a yellow cloud. They were ripe and ready, and we saw many fields in the process of being harvested. Timing was perfect for seeing the beauty that comes from ripe crops that have had plenty of water and sunshine to nurture them.
We saw a few dairy farms with Jersey cows and Guernsey cows grazing in pastures and some clustered around hoppers filled with corn. And we even saw a small herd of young gray donkeys in a field eating grass. That was a first for me.
The word for today is trucks. Every time I wanted to take a photo of the beautiful landscapes, there was always a big truck in the way. When one would turn off, another would replace it. They became a challenge at times and we could not seem to shake them.
We got to Winona (which is a derivative of an Indian name meaning first born daughter)
close to noon and decided to find a place to have lunch. We discovered a wonderful park on the hillside called Garvin Heights where we were able to view the entire city of Winona and the Winona River and the Mississippi River in the distance. It turned out to be a quiet and relaxing place and we spent about an hour eating sandwiches and viewing the landscape below.
Interesting fact – the Muddy Mississippi is not muddy up here in Minnesota and Iowa. It is blue and appears to be clean and deep. Another interesting fact…we saw beaches on the river, something I did not expect. We were driving south on the west side and we saw multiple beaches on the east side of the river. And finally, we saw many islands in the river. We learned that there is a great effort going on to keep the river clean and these islands and their green plants are vital to that effort.
The railroad followed us all day, again today. It had the prime real estate all along the river. And we saw many tank cars and grain cars and coal cars, all parked and waiting for an
engine to appear and tow them to their destinations.
We drove through many small towns of sparse populations, with old down town areas of mostly brick buildings in various conditions of disrepair, and some where all the houses were neat and well kept, with well manicured lawns.
We stopped in Harper’s Ferry, IA, not to be confused with Harper’s Ferry in West Virginia, the one associated with steam boats and Mark Twain. It was a small town with a lot of single wides parked along the river bank, packed in like sardines, holding onto a little piece of real estate along this mighty riverbank.
In Guttenberg we spent a good deal of time watching a scene one would expect to see on this great river. We saw a large tug boat pushing 12 barges, all tied together, down the river, and into the locks at the dam. The precision with which these captains maneuvered these barges into place was very impressive.
Time passed us quickly and we found we needed to move along, so we took a faster road down to Dubuque where we landed around 5 PM and got settled in for the night. Tomorrow,
we move on towards St. Louis.
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Kelli kernkamp
non-member comment
Beautiful farmland
So close and yet so far! Glad you had a peek at Minnesota. Our oldest granddaughter went to Winona State this last year. Lovely small town life. And farms everywhere. You wrote about everything so beautifully. I was ready to send a wave your way and then realized you are already in Iowa tonight. Safe travels tomorrow.