On the way to Madison, Wi

We are stopped at a beautiful rest stop in Wisconsin. We’ve just been through Dubuque, Iowa and are at the first Wisconsin exit. There is a huge mowed field so Teddy had a good run and I’m having a sandwich under a tree.

It’s been a beautiful drive through the farms of Iowa, the prosperous farms of Iowa! The fields are patchworks of green with farmhouses and barns dotted as though they were the knotting on a quilt. There was really no place to stop for a good picture as the shoulders were all gravel, wish there had been as the lighting was beautiful out the passenger side where I couldn’t get a shot.

The barns of this part of Iowa have a distinctive feature, each has a cupola. Some have windows and some just appear to be decorative. I can just imagine playing in the hayloft and climbing the ladder to the cupola dreaming of being a bird and flying off from there!

When I was on the bike path in Amana I was surrounded by grasshoppers! They took me back to childhood memories of spending time at my Aunt and Uncle’s farm. I have a very clear memory when I was about eight being there around this time of year when Uncle Jim was haying. There were grasshoppers everywhere! It must have been a year when we had an infestation, like the locusts that scoured Kansas. I remember you could hardly walk without stepping on them. My cousin and I played in the fields where Uncle Jim worked and we ended up with a very itch rash, wether from the hay or the hoppers I don’t remember. I had some really great times out on the farm. Uncle Jim is now gone, but last year Aunt Dorothy had a family picnic there and the laughter and play of four generations rang out, along with wonderful stories and memories from the past.

We have a couple of more hours to drive to the stop north of Madison. See you later!

At Dubuque, Iowa we crossed the Mississippi River. Guess we could drop the kayak and float on home! The Dubuque courthouse was a beautiful building just off of the highway. I've put a picture up for you to see. Also pictures of the capitol and a cool building built to fit the corner across from the capitol.

We’ve pulled into the KOA, it’s really an RV city. Looks like a lot of permanent rentals, huge place with pool, go karts, hay ride, I don’t know what else there is to do around here.

The drive over took us through downtown Madison, right by the capitol building. It probably would have been a real challenge during the week, but a Saturday was deluxe!

My phone had been giving me fits, but I was finally able to reach Luanne. Dentist is clear, so am meeting her at a rest stop north of here tomorrow morning. Should arrive in the campground early afternoon, hope to be kayaking by mid afternoon!!

The weather is beautiful and I can’t wait. This will be the last post for a week if all goes well. There is no connection at Trout Lake so next time I’ll be back with lots of pictures and tales of the north woods!

I'm going to post this and then add pictures. The KOA said free wifi but it's free for an hour and they monitor for "excessive broadband usage" which may mean my pictures, so I'll get this up first then attempt a few pictures. See you in a week!