Great River Road 2011: Day 9 - Travel Day to Davenport, Iowa

By: Marilyn and Bill Kern - Adventure 9

Today was a "Travel Day" from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin (the first time we have slept over in this State) to Davenport, Iowa. We drove 165 miles, much of it on the "Great River Road" route, following the meandering Mississippi River.

Along the Great River Road following the Mississippi River

Another impressive bridge across the mighty Mississippi

The road took us through hilly country with magnificent views of the river, brightly colored trees, many miles of farms growing corn and raising some cattle. Interspersed among the farms were small communities and a few larger towns, which functioned as centers of commerce for the surrounding areas.

some of the many beautiful farms we passed along the way

we saw signs of autumn in the trees along the road

One outstanding stop was at the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa. Situated in one of the State's larger towns (population 57,668), the museum is built on the River with the town rising up the Hillsides with some beautiful and old (mid-eighteen hundreds) buildings. Most of our group spent an hour or two at the museum.

The National Mississippi River Museum

Large paddle wheel in front of the museum

Erv and Trecia Attebury, Gary and Sally Johnson,
Noreene and Jeff Totten and Marilyn Kern in the Museum

Ducks, turtles and an abundance of aquatic creatures
enjoying life there in the museum aquarium

After setting up at Interstate RV Park, we had a social hour where Pat, our guide for tomorrow's bus excursion, spoke. We ended a nice day with a "LEO (Let's Eat Out) dinner at the Machine Shed. Good food and lots of it!