Friday,
August 25th – Monday, August 28th
Miller
Riverview RV Park, Dubuque, Iowa
We packed up and headed south out of the Saint Paul
Minnesota area towards Dubuque Iowa. Our goal was to stay on the Mississippi
River and experience more of the river and its history. As we drove south out
of Minnesota and through Iowa we saw more massive farms along the way. As we
got closer to Dubuque and the Mississippi River we noticed that the farming
process was different, Kurt called it contour farming. We later found out that
there are farming regulations for any watershed from farms that drain into the
Mississippi River. Crop row ridges of varying crop types are built by tilling
and planting on the contour of the land to create hundreds of small dams. These
ridges or dams slow the water flow and increase filtration, which reduces
erosion and sediments. It was really quite beautiful to see, especially looking
at satellite views of the farms and the amazing designs in the crops. He just
loves this stuff and looking at the farmlands.
As we drove along the Great River Road southward, there were
a couple of overlooks where we were able to view the Mississippi River and
learn more history about the river. We finally arrived in Dubuque Iowa. It was
really exciting to arrive at the Riverview RV Park right down at the river
level. It was quite beautiful and we were able to watch barges and other boats
heading up and down the river.
We decided on the first full day there to drive around area,
particularly in the City and check out the variety of interesting places to
visit. The city is a river port, very industrial and with so many original
brick buildings throughout downtown. We found a beautiful riverside park that
was dedicated to the founder of Dubuque, Julien Dubuque, from Quebec Canada.
His grave site is at this park named the Mines of Spain, on a lovely overlook.
This park is near the location of his lead mines where he made his fortune,
along with fur trading with the Indians. Another day we found downtown along
the Riverside was an enormous museum, The National Mississippi River Museum
& Aquarium. At this wonderful Museum we learned more history of Dubuque,
how Julien Dubuque founded the city and was an important person in the life of
the people. There was a lot of information in the museum regarding Mark Twain.
We learned how paddle/steam boat building was a major industry in Dubuque for
many decades. We were also able to tour a historical river boat that was a
dredging ship and built in Dubuque. The museum has a 3D movie theater and we
were able to watch a National Geographic movie called Extreme Weather. It was
really cool as it was in 4D, which along with the 3D, provided special effects
of wind, smells and moisture that coordinated with the scenes you were
viewing. It was pretty awesome.
Another day we drove up to Eagle Point Park, where we were able to see some beautiful long-distance views of the river and the Mississippi River Lock and Dam # 11. On another day, Kurt was also able to paddle from the campground up to the dam and then paddle back. He was really excited to again get his kayak on the Mississippi River. From our campground we were able to see a major bridge that crossed the river over into Wisconsin. That highway is along the border between Wisconsin and Illinois, they call this the Tri-State area.
We truly enjoyed our visit to Dubuque. There is
so much history there that we learned about. We met a lot of really nice local
people. This would probably be the last time we would be crossing or be near
the Mississippi River on this trip, it was a fun journey. Next, we will head
south into Illinois
