Touring, Booze, Bait, Bullets and Brats

Finished the NE tour with a day in McGregor and a trip to Pike's Peak and Effigy Mounds. Finished out the day at Stark's (the home of Booze, Bait, Bullets and Brats - they have it all in Prairie du Chien. Had a great day. A side trip to the River Junction Trade Co. brought a chuckle with another "juxtaposition" photo. After a visit up the bluffs to Effigy Mounds we came back over the Mississippi, passing the casino and visited Starks's. Outgoing owner, great wine prices, guns and cheese curds too....how could you ask for more?

Gunder, Spillville and St. Olaf, Iowa

We had three buffets the previous day - breakfast at the hotel, lunch in Dyersville and dinner at Breitbach's - time to go for the menu (simple yet appealing) approach. Breakfast easily accommodated at the Elkader B and B - delicious French Toast - on toward Gunder for the incredible "gunderburger" experience at the Iris Shanti. The owner Kevin Walsh was a robust and outgoing man who immediately entered into Irish bantering about what ever the Irish from Boston banter about....a delight.....except for the introverts amongst us.

On to Spillville to visit the Bily Clocks Museum.
No pictures due to the "they might copy the clocks from the photos"policy....

A fine finish at the end of the day after wine and artichoke dip at the Elkader B and B was a dinner trip to St. Olaf for a Pork Tender Loin.

A "No Buffet Day" sucessfully completed with a fine 1/2 tenderloin sandwich.

Elkader, Iowa

Elkader is the County Seat of Clayton County. It seems to be a robust and growing community.....they have a beautifully renovated Opera House and a vibrant group of performers who have kept it alive and thriving. The main street is lined with insurance agencies.....not sure why....
The town is named after the Emir Abdel Kader who was the father of modern Algeria. A picture of him hangs in the City Hall located in the basement of the Opera House.

A well done, original and interesting drop on the Opera Hall stage depicting a number of the early sponsors.

The Keystone arch bridge crossing the Turkey River is one of the earliest west of the Mississippi.

Balltown, Iowa & Breitbach's

We drove on from Luxemburg through Holy Cross to Balltown. Incredible views they say but we arrived just at dusk in a slight drizzle....saw naught.....dinner was at Breitbach's ...excellent and fun...buffet loaded with all you could want of 'down home" Iowa food....Mike Breitbach, the owner pauses at every table to "howdy" and we did just that. He popped for dessert - wowie/zowie loaded with sugar and good stuff that hurts your teeth and gets you dancing with a sugar rush. If you check out the Des Moines Register's article you will get a full dose of Mike...As for Balltown...on the Great River Road and...small....

Luxemburg, Iowa

Sometimes the most interesting things pop up on a road trip completely by happenstance, serendipity, luck...call it what you will...so we needed to stop to get gas and use rest rooms and we pull into the only gas station in Luxemburg ....the whole interior of the combination gas station, convenience store and beer sales shop (including the unisex bathroom) was plastered with Bible verses....the owner had his personal favorites posted in front of the register - click on the pictures to get a clear view of his selections. I loved the name of the place....

Dyersville Proper

Dyersville seems to have a lot to offer....still can't figure out why I am able to take pictures with impunity from the middle of Main Streets looking down at the long road....
The sign at the town border kind of says it all I guess.

The Basilica of St. Francis Xavier is darned impressive. The stained glass window of the Priest converting the indigenous folks made me a bit uneasy but hey....as wikipedia notes "Another window features Saint Francis Xavier ministering to the Indians. The maker of the window had mistakenly used images of Native Americans instead of images of people from India." ...regardless, it is one impressive building....

Field of Dreams

Having never seen the movie I was intrigued....I also kept looking around for the buffalo herd from Dances with Wolves and for Susan Sarandon from Bull Durham...0 for 2 on those...The movie site is out in the country about three miles from town. There were cars from several states bringing families to view the site. Probably would have had more meaning if I had seen the film.....

Dyersville, IA

Three things drew us to Dyersville - lunch, the Field of Dreams movie site and The Basilica of St. Xavier. The first was a pretty good (Minnesotan for excellent) place for pie and a old fashion (with creamy jello like grandma used to make) buffet. As the wine list was a bit suspect (see the grigio comment) we passed. The decision was confirmed as we were reluctant to see what type of a "surprise" the Rhubarbie might offer.

Urban "Red" Faber Exhibit

The exhibit was complete and enjoyable. The mural dominates a wall and is well suited to group "we were at the Red Faber exhibit in Cascade, Iowa" photo opps.

The two street scenes are of the main street in Cascade. One is from across the hotel as seen from the Dugout Bar today and the other is from the same side of the street as the hotel on "Red Faber Day".

Cascade, IA and Urban "Red" Faber

Rainy, cold, dreary weather kept the farmers out of the fields and the corn crop in jeopardy. We pressed on toward Dyersville when we noticed a sign to Cascade and the Urban "Red" Faber Exhibit. We detoured south and cruised town looking for directions and a place for lunch. we happened into the Hickory Hill antique shop which was located in the building which at one time functioned as the hotel operated by the Faber family. Red was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.

Hickory Hill offered great fun and interesting items. This was my first encounter of many "platitude plaques" as I came to call them. It seemed they were in any gift store , pharmacy or antique shop in NE Iowa. This one has a close ring of Philippians 4:6-7 to it.

Touring Northeastern Iowa

Northeast Iowa - ostensibly Clayton County has a rich and varied history. It is in the portion of Iowa adjacent to southwestern Wisconsin and nearby northwestern Illinois. The Wisconsin River joins the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien heading south to the Gulf. It is part of the "Driftless area" which escaped glaciation during the Ice Age. The result is a hilly and dramatic scene. Clayton County can boast that it does not have a single stoplight. The population has been shrinking steadily from 27,750 in 1900 to 18,678 in 2000. Elkader is the County seat and was our base for touring the area. The Elkader B and B offered excellent accommodations and wonderful hospitality.

Our journey began in Cascade and moved to Dyersville, Balltown, Elkader, Gunder, Spillville, St. Olaf, McGregor, Effigy Mounds and Prairie du Chien.

Rain and Loss

It pretty much rained all day and the Cornell Rams got pummeled by the University of Dubuque 61-31.

Easy, quiet yellow brick road....

A lovely paved pathway is the main artery for students to travel from the residence halls to the academic buildings. It affords a great sense of community as classes change and students pass one another on this thoroughfare.

Odd juxtaposition

I'm always interested in things that create a sense of puzzlement or at least get your attention for a "hmmm...what's that about?"
The juxtaposition of the King Chapel steeple and the box edged outline of the Theater building gave me pause....

King Chapel

You can see King Chapel as you approach Mt. Vernon from any direction. It is at the heart of the college and truly a signature.

Homecoming in Iowa

Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa
a small liberal arts college in the Heartland....
Reunions are always an opportunity to revisit the core values and dreams we had as undergraduate students......not unlike the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon to their home in Israel....seems much of life is involved with exile and return metaphors.
The home base for the events was a large hotel/motel on the outskirts of Cedar Rapids.
I love these places where you can see almost the whole place from the glass elevator.

Going backwards...

The Chaco adventure of last March turned into a road trip to NC and then north to PA and across to MI. I picked up the blog fever going west and created www.joeguy.tumblr.com
You might want to check it out.

Gallo Camp Ground

Camp sites are limited and initially seem primitive at the Gallo Camp Ground. It is a beautiful place and creates it's own ethos.

Sunrise on the Equinox

One always hopes for a clear day to observe sun alignments at the equinox and solstice....
Got lucky on this day.....

Fajada Butte

Fajada Butte dominates the landscape of Chaco Canyon. The changing weather and sky make it a wonderful photo opportunity.
A helpful link is
www.colorado.edu/Conferences/chaco/tour/fajada.htm

Seeking Chaco

This photo was taken on March 21, 2007 at the Spring Equinox at Casa Rinconada in Chaco Canyon NM