July 12-14, Albert Lea, Minnesota

Museum in Austin, Minn.

Ready to work the line for some Spam.

Bicycle collection in a bicycle store in Austin. An amazing collection.

Fountain Lake in Albert Lea.

Marion Ross was a resident in this area. Theatre in Albert Lea.

Monday: we had to drive back to Forest City, Iowa, to visit this museum and go on the tour since the place is closed on weekends.

Chassis inventory for the A-class motor homes.

Chassis inventory for the C-class motor homes.

The line.

A side wall having the steel reinforcement for attaching cabinetry installed.

There's a Ventura here in Iowa.

An other Iowa town.

Still in Iowa on our way back to Minnesota camp ground.

Tomorrow we head farther north for a few days in a camp ground with no Internet or cell phone service, really rustic and out in the wilderness.

We'll have some catching up to do again. We have to sit outside here to get a strong enough signal.

At least we have had two days without rain. The wind was pretty strong late yesterday, but just a nice breeze today.

July 9-12 Charles City, Iowa

Welcome to Iowa.

We have seen miles and miles of corn and soy bean fields. We haven't seen any of the flood damaged areas yet.

Iowa Visitors' Center. The sculpture depicts the products and industries of the state.

Historical marker for the Mormon Handcart Trail.

Pond on the grounds of the RV park where we are staying. We are in Charles City.

Our spot. There is a stream to the left of this shot.

One of the main attractions of Charles City is the Historic Swinging Bridge. This is what is left after the flooding. We can see where the water level had risen by looking at some of the houses along the road by this bridge. However, the clean up that has been achieved is amazing.

The Cedar River. There is a lot of damage here next to the bridge. The main road through the town is closed to the north of town due to flood damage. We have also seen areas of damage in some of the corn fields between here and the state border.

The stream running through the camp ground.
Most of our time here is spent relaxing and getting the oil changed in the van. We learn from the RV park owner the the town library has an art collection of original works of lithographs, etchings, wood block prints, and other art print mediums. This collection was given to the library by Mr. Mooney. There are works by Rembrandt, Chagall, Manet, Dali, Currier & Ives, and several other renowned artist. Most of these are works I have never seen prints of in books. It is very exciting, but the lighting system has malfunctioned so not all of the pieces are properly illuminated. Even with poor lighting the pieces are viewable. There are also works by local artists in this library available for check out.

July 7-9 Port Byron, Illinois

The RV park is right on the banks of the Mississippi river. The water level looks high, but the manager shows us a photo of the place a week ago and the office was surrounded by water. He also told us that he is having a sale on driftwood: All you can carry away for FREE!


One of the local robins who stopped by to say hello. There are tree squirrels every where, but they don't sit still long enough to photograph. We have ground squirrels at home, they scamper, but the tree squirrels hop. Their movement makes us think of the animated feature "Ice Age".

We are checking out the river front community when we see these electric vehicles. We just have to stop and find out about them. We meet Bruce and Amy who have left their careers to start this business venture with electric vehicles. We find that Bruce has resided in California and one of the cars he is promoting is assembled in Camarillo, CA., just 15 minutes south of where we live. We also learn that he was employed at John Deere for many years before starting this new business, and he offers to show us around the Museum and Headquarters when we tell him we stopped here just to visit John Deere.

We learn that Amy is an artist and Adjunct Professor in the college art department. Her works are fabulous! She teaches and still devotes time to the electric car venture. She is a very busy person.

We joined the couple for lunch and learned all about the ePower company they have set up. Check out their web site at ePower.com. We think they are on the right track for the future with their line of cars, scooters and even a little flat bed "truck".

On the Mighty Mississippi.

Museum with a collection farming equipment built by Deere. The Antiques & Classics are hands off, but the public is welcome to climb aboard the new models.

Today's tractor.

Antique

Antique.

The green machines are the farming line.

The yellow machines are the earth movers: building & road work.

Just to give you an idea of the size of this equipment here I am in the scoop.

What is it about men and machinery. Here is Dan manning the ginormous harvester.

We can see that tonight's sunset is going to be good. The clouds are the "back end of the storm". Every time I think I've got the best shot and turn to go back to the trailer I look back and see that the colors have intensified, so I go back to the river's edge to get a couple more shots. In the course of shooting this spectacular sunset on the Mighty Mississippi I have been chewed up by mosquitoes. But isn't this worth it?

July 4,5,6 & 7 Joiliet, Illinois

We are camped at the Oasis RV Park at the Empress Casino on the Des Plains River. This is the only RV park we were able to get into for these days. This park caters to those who come to gamble in the casino and there are no brochures in the office on local points of interest. There is no Internet service of any kind. We check out the hotel to see if Internet connections are available there, but no. We do get a Joliet area map which will be helpful. We find a few places to visit. We also need to do laundry and find a laundromat.


The Casino on the River. The walls inside resemble Egyptian temples & tombs, some in relief.

Hey! there's a White Castle burger place! We have to stop there for lunch. We have been wanting to eat at a White Castle and now's the chance. Out impression: so-so, but interesting.

Another place we have been looking for, and Aldi grocery store. We stopped here for some supplies. Very nicely laid out and very low prices. On our way out the toddler in the cart in front of us reaches out for Dan and squeals as if he knew Dan as we pass by.

Bird Haven Green House and Conservatory.

we are looking through the water fall as the walkway goes behind it.

The fall and pond. The place is beautiful and we spend some time wandering through the green house and around the grounds.