Saturday, September 17, 2016


We got up and walked around Guttenberg in time to see the sunrise.  I couldn't resist this shot of someone's idea of humor.  When you live in a place called Guttenberg, you might as well point the way to the other great places of the world.
By the way, I'll bet you won't be surprised to learn their newspaper is the Guttenberg Press.
 
After breakfast we learned that the Riverpark Cruisers annual car show was being held in Guttenberg this weekend.  Before I left town, I took a few pictures.  On the road out of town I saw many more cars headed for the show that was to start at noon.  They will give out 28 trophies and have a parade at 2:30.
 




 
Another fun thing about Guttenberg was reconnecting with Miles and Leslie Anderson.  We met them in Fountain city, WI.  They too are riding the MRT to the Gulf and they are doing it carrying all their gear on their bikes and mostly camping.
 
After reading about it, Cathy and I agreed to meet in Balltown at the oldest restaurant in Iowa.  They also advertised great pie and we were not disappointed.
 
 I got back on the road to climb more hills.  At the top of one I had this thought:  You know you're in Iowa when all you see is
 
When we met at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, Cathy and I realized we had been ambitious about the day's destination (another 40 miles down the road) and we wanted to spend time in the museum.  Our tickets are good for two days and we may visit it again in the morning.  Consequently, we decided to stay tonight in Dubuque and figure out tomorrow's destination in the morning.
 
I was quite lucky to get two unusual photos at the aquarium.  This is NOT a romantic interlude between snapping turtles.
Their 58 year old female alligator rarely moves.  Many people have assumed she was artificial.  I wish I could figure out why I cannot load a video.  I assure you she started moving a lot before we left. If you look at her left foot, you can tell it is in motion.
 
She kept swimming back and forth--a really beautiful animal.
 
You can see a video at my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bill.hibler
 
The final treat of the day.  We had been communicating back and forth with Miles and Leslie and agreed to get together for dinner.
 
 
 We hope to see more of each other as we work our ways south.
 
Data for today is disjointed.  I don't know why but my GPS quit tracking in Balltown and started over.
 



 

2 comments:

  1. Hi Bill and Cathy, I am enjoying the blog. What a great trip! I used to live in Illinois and Missouri. I raised my kids there. I lived in St. Louis for a long time, so these images bring back a lot of memories. Thanks for sharing your trip with the rest of us.

    p.s. Bill, you'll be glad to know that I have FINALLY finished the conifer list for the website :) It has been live for about 2 weeks now.

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  2. I noticed yesterday when I was showing someone the website. I was glad to see images of the greenhouse construction. Please email me a picture when it is done.

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