Too hot! Too wet!

The rains have been on a monsoon scale. The Woman likes a good rain, especially if it is a thunderstorm – makes her feel toasty warm inside Colectiva listening to the thunder rumbling and the patter of rain on the roof. But this has been way beyond that – high winds blowing sheets upon sheets of heavy rain. Every place we go is completely flooded – standing water is everywhere – telephone poles and fences and picnic tables all standing in lakes. It’s impressive and just a bit creepy!

And it’s hot! We have had a couple weeks of degrees in the high nineties, with pretty much matching humidity. When we decided to visit Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area we had visions of hiking and biking and such, but we have been holed up inside Colectiva with both AC units running continuously. This morning we decided to try a bike ride at 7 AM figuring we would get it in before it got oppressively hot. Well, about half done with what I planned, the Woman got heat stroke and we had to cash it in! You can see why folks in the park have invested in swamp fans – massive beasts but about the only defense you can attempt.

We ended up seeing something here that we have not seen before. We are amazed at times that the RV crowd has an intense need for their TV programs. While we make due with whatever we can get over the air, and then supplement with videos if needed, most RVers seem to need to drag along satellite dishes to bring in their needed fix. But honestly, just how much TV and internet does one couple need!

Land Between the Lakes, locally known as LBL, is interesting. This area was home to thousands of homesteads, towns, businesses – a normal US rural setting. In 1933, the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) was established by Congress with the focus on taming the Tennessee River while also stimulating the economy in an area hard hit by the Depression. Several dam projects flooded areas of existing residential occupation, and those displaced folk were compensated for their losses. However, the TVA, in its wisdom and with its governmental authority, did not stop there.

The TVA decided that all the land between the lakes created by the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, some 170,000 acres, needed to become public lands. At first the TVA used their federally mandated authority to just take the land, and provide its rightful owners a “fair” price, as determined by the TVA. When landowners brought legal action, the courts agreed that the TVA had way overstepped. So the TVA entered a new phase – when they took a residents rightful land, they appointed a 3 person panel to determine the “fair” value. Of course, the 3 persons in the panel were appointed by the TVA.

Finally, in another of the continuous legal battles the rightful owners to the land waged, the courts upheld that landowners being displaced by the TVA had the right to a jury of their peers’ trial to determine the “fair” value. Unfortunately, most of the 170,000 acres had already been unfairly taken, so very few residents were actually afforded the ability to get “fair” compensation. I guess we don’t just do it to Native Americans. To give you some idea how many Americans lived on and owned this land prior to the TVA’s land grab, there are still over 200 cemeteries on the “island” that are being cared for by groups who have decided to make it their mission to make sure these holy grounds are not forever lost.

We did make some more connections in our American history quest that we try to work into every one of our trips. When we were in the Galena area, we visited a number of sites that were visited by, lived in, or used by Ulysses S Grant. Well, not far from the southern tip of the Land Between the Lakes NRA is fort Donelson National Battlefield. During the Civil War, the early encounters left the Union in bad shape. Apparently the Army Generals that Lincoln had at his disposal were slow acting and not very aggressive. Accordingly, the early skirmishes between the North and the South generally did not favor the North. Apparently Lincoln was even quoted as saying “Well, if General McClelland is not planning to use his army at all in this conflict, perhaps I could borrow them for a while!”

The Confederate army recognized the need to protect Nashville both from the risk of invasion by land, but also control the waterways that would supply Nashville and the surrounding area. So the South built forts on both the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers – Fort Henry on the Tennessee and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. In February 1862, an unknown Union General, Ulysses S Grant, planned to take these two forts in an effort to break the Confederate ranks along their northern boundary, and open up Tennessee for land invasions by the North. Grant also believed that controlling the waterways would eventually strangle the South by cutting off its supply lines.

Grant used ironclad gun boats on the Tennessee River to begin the attack on Fort Henry on February 6 1862. The attack was so well planned and overpowering that before Grant even began marching his troops in to follow up after the gunboat assault, the white flag of surrender was up. This was the very first decisive victory by the Union army, and Lincoln took notice.

Grant then proceeded to attempt the same at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. We visited the remains of Fort Donelson high on the bluffs overlooking the Cumberland River. The elevated position of Fort Donelson compared to Fort Henry resulted in the ironclad gunboat assault being relatively unsuccessful – in fact, 3 of the gunboats had been damaged so badly that they were floating hulks on the Cumberland. However, the ground assaults by Grant were well planned and aggressively carried out. On February 14-16, his aggression eventually resulted in the Confederate forces surrendering. The General in charge of the Confederate forces at the time was Simon Buckner – Buckner had been a classmate of Grant while at West Point. When Buckner asked his former friend what the terms of the surrender could be, Grant responded that he would only accept an unconditional surrender – from that point forward, it was said the US Grant stood for Unconditional Surrender Grant. Shortly after these tide turning defeats for the Confederacy and victories for the North, Lincoln put Grant in charge of all the Union armies.

We visited the Dover Hotel in Dover Tennessee. It was at this hotel that Grant met face to face with his former classmate General Buckner to accept the document of surrender. The 1840 era hotel is right on the bluff overlooking the same river that Buckner faced his greatest defeat on not that many hours earlier.

Our final venture was to the LBL Elk and Bison Prairie. The Forest Service manages the Land Between the Lakes, and other than providing recreation to the American public, you get the impression they struggle to identify their purpose there, other than maintain campgrounds, parking lots, picnic tables and boat ramps. So, one of the things they have decided to focus their activities on is flora and fauna population. One of their projects is a natural prairie of several hundred acres where they are housing populations of Elk and Bison. They have a drive through option that we took advantage of that we thoroughly enjoyed.

The Woman laughed at me – it cost me $5 to get into the drive through prairie. When we had been through about 70% of the area, I rattled off the number of Elk and Bison we had seen. I said that we were well below 50 cents and animal at that point, and I was hoping before we left that we would come in somewhere around 30 cents and animal. She laughed and said something like “Only and accountant would think in those terms!” Seemed just logical to me.

We had seen this phenomena before but can remember what the symbiotic relationship is. Some water type birds always seem to hang around Bison. There is something either in the way they rut around that stirs up what the birds want, or there is something that grows on the Bison that the birds eat. I can’t remember exactly, but regardless, the water birds were here – funny!

 

Talk to you soon!       

True highway kitsch!

On our way toward Kentucky, we managed to catch a bit of the Ohio River Scenic Byway. I will say it ran close to the northern side of the Ohio River, and because it was a pretty much unused 2 lane rural highway, it was a pleasant enough drive – hardly any traffic. What I can’t say is that it provided majestic views of the Ohio River valley – we only got one along the way. Still, it was nice.

We made two stops that I thought were fun and enjoyed thoroughly, but if you weren’t already driving by these places and needed to drive a long distance to get here, I couldn’t in all honesty recommend it. The first was Chester Illinois, the home of Popeye.

Yes, that Popeye. The creator of the Popeye character for King Features Syndicate was Elzie Crisler Segar, who was born on January 27, 1868 and lived in Chester. Popeye was meant to be the epitome of the American spirit. He was strong, had moral fiber, was kind to women, kids and animals, and never picked a fight. However, if his adversaries picked a fight, he would quickly defeat them using his enormous strength. At that time in the 1929, pretty much everyone understood what he symbolized.

The townsfolk in Chester believed they could tell who in town influenced the characters in the Popeye story. Popeye himself was allegedly Frank “Rocky” Fiegel, a gentleman known to be skilled with his fist, and a bachelor for life. Wimpy’s character was drawn from William Schubert, the manager of the Chester Opera House where Segar was first employed. Since the townsfolk believed that all the characters in the story were based on local residents, they have built statues throughout town of all the Popeye characters. We saw Popeye, Olive Oyl, Cole Oyl (Olive’s dad), Sweepee, the Jeep, Wimpy, Bluto and Poopdeck Pappy, Popeye’s dad. All the statues were well done, and it really brought back some memories for me. If you are in the area, it is worth a visit, but not worth a long drive as a destination.

The same is true of Metropolis Illinois. Again, on our way toward Kentucky, there was no way I was going to bypass the home of the Daily Planet newspaper, as well as Editor Perry White, Jimmy Olsen , Lois Lane, and Clark Kent.

In the central square in town there is an immense statue of the Man of Steel. It is right in front of the City Hall and Court House as it should be. Nearby is the Super Museum. It is really just a poorly displayed accumulation of all things Superman – many items alleged to be actual items used in the filming of both TV shows and theatrical films, but I have my doubts. Still, the museum was worth the small price of admission, if only to sit and watch the documentary film that chronicled the original George Reeves productions that I can remember as a kid.

About 2 ½ blocks away from the main square is a statue of Lois Lane, the one who starred in my favorite TV versions. The statue is well done – in fact, she looks a bit hotter than I even remember!

 

Talk to you soon!                   

More discoveries

I learned about the Blackhawk Wars for the first time. Hard to believe I grew up in the Midwest and had not heard of them before.

Blackhawk was a leader in the Sauk nation. Blackhawk was born in 1767 in Saukenuk Illinois, the territory, not the state at that time – Saukenuk was essentially the site of the present day Rock Island Illinois. Blackhawk demonstrated his prowess as a warrior early on in his life, and continuously fought against the white aggression in taking the native lands that the Sauk had lived on for centuries.

When the British fought the US in 1812, Blackhawk sided with the Brits, only because he opposed the aggression of the US government in wantonly taking native land. The only battle of the War of 1812 that was fought west of the Mississippi River was fought at Fort Madison, the site of the current town of Fort Madison Wisconsin. We visited the recreated Fort Madison near the site of the original fort. We were lucky that day in that the docent on site was the gentleman responsible for the historical research on the fort, a PHD who earned his doctorate studying the history of this area.

We learned that Blackhawk had attacked Fort Madison several times in 1812 at the encouragement of the British, all to no avail. The PHD showed us records he had discovered in his research where many tribal leaders had sided with the US forces in attempting to curtail Blackhawk’s activities. While Blackhawk was unsuccessful in raids in 1812 on the fort, on July 16 (the day we visited by the way) he led a raid on the fort, and found that in one of the blockhouses, the 3 stationed soldiers had left the door open for circulation, as the heat was sweltering. Bad call – Blackhawk’s men easily entered the blockhouse and dispatched all four soldiers.

Again, in 1832, Blackhawk was on the rampage. He believed (correctly so as I can tell) that the US Government had violated the treaty that they had entered into, and were expelling all Sauk from their native lands.  On June 24, 1832, Blackhawk and his braves attacked the Apple River Fort in Wisconsin

. The attack was fierce and it appeared at times that Blackhawk might get the better of the fort. At a dire point, Elizabeth Armstrong started grabbing muskets as the men fired them and began reloading them. The other women in the fort followed her lead, and soon all the women in the fort were reloading the muskets as soon as they had been fired. The heavy volley of lead into Blackhawk’s braves was more than they could handle. Blackhawk soon called off the siege, and the Apple River Fort was saved. The current town at the site of the original Apple River Fort of Elizabeth was named for her heroic effort.

Blackhawk made his last stand at Bad Axe in the SW corner of Wisconsin on August 1, 1832. The US forces simply overpowered Blackhawk with both technology and numbers. By the end of the massacre, most of Blackhawk’s forces either surrendered or had fled. In an effort to document his overall struggle, he asked to dictate an autobiography to a translator, and it was su

bsequently published. Since it is now part of the public domain, I grabbed a free copy off Amazon for my Kindle and am in the process of immersing myself into the times.

We also had the opportunity to learn more about the Mormon religion. I thought I had delved into the tenets quite a bit since moving to Las Vegas, but I learned there was much more to the story than I knew.

Joseph Smith, the Prophet who founded the Mormon religion, was born in Sharon Vermont on December 23, 1805. He had his visions and was lead to the golden plates after having relocated to New York in 1817. During this time, he and his followers were hostilely treated and often banished, and so they continued to move west whenever they needed to. By the late 1830’s, they had moved as far west as Nauvoo Illinois, and established a significant settlement there. Joseph Smith was both the spiritual and factual leader of the group at the time.

In the early 1840’s, the local government became concerned about the unrest that this Mormon group was causing among the general population. In 1844, the Governor of Illinois issued a warrant for Joseph Smith’s arrest on the grounds of treason. The territorial jail was in nearby Carthage Illinois, so Smith rode to Carthage and turned himself in. Having been jailed on similar types of charges before, he did not think much of this process.

The local non-Mormons were agitated. On the evening of June 27, 1844, an armed group of locals approached the Carthage jailhouse and opened fire. Smith’s brother Hyrum was immediately killed by the first volley. The actual bullet hole that resulted in Hyrum's death is still in the door to the cell. Smith trying to survey the situation out the jailhouse window as hit next – either the bullets or the fall from the window would be his undoing. It turns out that Joseph Smith was murdered for believing in something different than the typical American at the time – I guess that has never happened before!

We toured the actual jailhouse where Smith was martyred in 1844. Most of the furnishings are said to be original and I have no reason to doubt. The site is now owned by the Mormon Church, and it appeared that many Mormons were there to visit to strengthen their faith. It is a very moving experience overall, and one that will help to better define Mormonism for anyone who visits.

While in Nauvoo, we visited the home of Joseph Smith, as well as his grave site. Apparently the faithful feared for his body after he was martyred, so they buried an empty coffin in Carthage and his actual body in his home in Nauvoo. Good call – the grave site with the empty coffin was burglarized. After all the turmoil calmed down, his actual body was buried in what is now the Smith family cemetery near his original home site in Nauvoo. We visited it and took in the aura of the whole experience.

After Smith’s martyrdom, Brigham Young, one of his key missionaries, convened the leaders of Mormonism in his home in Nauvoo. We toured his home, including the actual room addition in which the Mormon leaders met after Smith’s martyrdom. It was here that Young envisioned the march to the West – not that he knew the word Utah at the time, but he understood the need to move the Mormon faithful west where they could practice their beliefs in an environment where they would not be daily persecuted. As a result of these important meetings, Brigham Young soon became the most prominent leader of the population of the western US – and he is recognized as such in Washington DC with his statue in the Capital building.

 

Talk to you soon!       

More Great River Road kitsch

Dickeyville is a small town along the Great River Road. From 1925 to 1930, Father Matthais Wernerus, a Catholic Priest of the local Parish, began constructing stone works dedicated to his two favorite American ideals – love of God and love of Country.

As his materials, Father Matthais used stone, mortar and glass to build the “grotto” of shrines to both ideals. He did not create plans or blueprints, but visualized and created as he went. He used whatever materials in addition that caught his fancy. Some of the materials used included exotic shells, gems, fossils, petrified sea urchins, quartz, agate, onyx, petrified wood and moss.

While in many ways, this was garish. But it was a fun stop along our way, and we are glad we took time to see it.

Savanna Illinois was a biker town. There were not a great many attractions there, beside the Mississippi Palisades State Park where we spent a couple nights. The Park allegedly had wonderful hiking trails with overlooks of the Mississippi River Valley from the palisades, and we did hike them one of the days. But the weather was hot and muggy – approaching 100% humidity – and the mosquitoes were thick. There were more mosquitoes here than we encountered in Alaska, which is said to have the worst mosquito swarming of anywhere on the North American continent. So, after checking off one of the hikes, we decided that one was just fine!

In downtown Savanna we found the subject of one of the History Channels popular programs, American Pickers. Frank Fritz Finds is an antique store that shares space with one of the biker bars in town. I strolled through the place and checked out all the interesting old stuff. As expected, I found a set of Franciscan China – my mom had a complete set of Franciscan China in the Apple Pattern – this set was in the Rose Pattern, but I can pretty much always guarantee an antique store will have some of one or the other – or maybe both patterns on their shelves.

We were stunned by all the bikes (Harleys mostly) that were in town the weekend we were there. They lined the streets in front of the biker bars, particularly the Iron Horse Social Club. In the old days, an Iron Horse was a steam locomotive. But in the current parlance, it’s a Harley – maybe an Indian would count as well, but not a Honda or Suzuki.

We figured out what all the bikes were doing in town when we say this banner. Apparently those not wealthy enough to ride all the way to South Dakota came to Savanna for this weekend!

In Moline Illinois, we visited the HQ for John Deere. Despite the fact that state fairs no longer have machinery hills with acres of John Deere agricultural equipment on display, apparently the economy for Ag equipment is still strong, and Deere is doing well. The visitor center was impressive, and we really got to see a great show – much like being on machinery hill when I was a young’un.

My favorite part of the Deere Pavilion was the drone tractor exhibit. Not only do we have drone aircraft chasing after the Taliban and ISIL fighters, but we have drone tractors doing the dangerous work. These tractors are pre-programmable with field dimensions and such. And for applications, such as pesticide spraying in orchards where otherwise a human pilot would be exposed to the toxic material, the drone can handle it easily with no human exposure to danger. The drone tractors carry live digital cameras so that if a remote pilot wants to see what the drone is up to, he or she can do so at the flip of a switch.

My absolute favorite though had to be the drone lawnmower. Looking a little bit like a Roomba self-guiding vacuum cleaner, the John Deere drone lawnmower can be set to actually trim your yard daily so that your grass is always at the ideal height for growth and health. Time for the mowing can be preset, and when the drone returns to its docking bay, it is automatically recharged so it is ready for its next romp. Pretty much fun!

The Triple A baseball team in Davenport, the River Bandits, have a stadium right on the banks of the Mississippi. Not only do they seem to have all the niceties that many Triple A teams have to excite and draw in the local crowds, but these guys also have a full-fledged Ferris wheel! What a fun way to catch part of the game!

 

Talk to you soon!       

All the great old river towns

As we wind our way down the grand old river, we wander through great old towns that we instinctively know by name, even though we have never been there. Marquette, Muscatine, Burlington, Keokuk – I don’t know why I know all these names, but I do.

In Dubuque, we rode the Fourth Street Elevator. This pair of cable driven rail cars was built in 1882 to bring folk from Main Street on the river flats to the Fenlon neighborhood built up on the bluffs. Originally operated by steam engine, it was built by JK Graves for his own personal convenience, and later sold to the residents of the neighborhood who established a community organization and Board. Today it is part of the city’s public transit system.

At the Great Mississippi River Museum we got to tour the historic William Black. The Black is a rear paddle wheeler steam ship built in 1934 to continuously dredge the main channel of the Mississippi to keep it open for commercial traffic. Interestingly, it was so well built and so well designed for its intended purpose that it continued to be operated right up until 1973 when it was put out of commission by OPEC.

Essentially, everything about the ship worked well except that its steam engines were extremely inefficient. When oil prices were dirt cheap, there was no reason not to use it as it performed so well. But when OPEC was formed and set the new price for crude oil, it became impossible to make any money running the William Black, so it was decommissioned, and is now part of the Museum, and is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

We visited the Dowling House in Galena, the oldest home in Illinois. Built by John Dowling in 1826, the structure was part home, part trading post – the home being upstairs and the trading post down.

Galena is an interesting town in that most of its 1800’s era buildings are still intact and most still in use. That isn’t because of unique insight on the part of the community. At one time, Galena was far bigger than Chicago, located at a vortex of commerce. The Galena River fed into the Mississippi and provided a perfect protected docking area for as many as 15 riverboats. Galena basically took control of commercial transportation for the entire area. Also, named Galena (also the natural name for Lead Sulfide) because of the rich deposits of lead in the area, the town became the site of the first of the many mining rushes, and flourished with many of its residents becoming quite rich.

However, it all came to a very abrupt end. Trains replaced the river for most commercial trade, and Galena was not a good location to run track, so it was bypassed. The lead mills in town filled the Galena River with tailings, and eventually what river traffic there still was could not get into town any longer. Also, the lead deposits played out. All this happened in a short time, One example is the grand old Desoto House Hotel opened for business in 1855. From this balcony, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech on July 23, 1856, Stephen Douglas on July 25, 1858, and Ulysses S. Grant used rooms 209 and 211 as his campaign headquarters during his presidential bid.
and people abandoned the town. Population declined by 90%. The town was so poor that it could not even afford to demolish old buildings and put up new ones as most other towns did. So, in the 1960’s when tourism started to build along the river, the buildings were all still there and just needed to be refurbished. Now, nearly 95% of the buildings in the entire downtown of Galena are on the National Register.
We also visited the Belvedere Mansion. Built in 1857 by J. Russell Jones, it is one of the best examples of how the wealthy lived during the heyday of Galena. Jones was a successful businessman and eventually ended up doing a stint as a US Marshall, as well as serving a term in Congress. While many of the furnishings are from the period, few are original to the home. But we ended up having a special connection to this place. The owners had traveled to Vegas often, and had purchased a number of items when the Liberace Museum sold off its collection. So, we actually got a hint of old Vegas throughout this fabulous Victorian home.

We saved the best for last in Galena. Ulysses S. Grant grew up in Galena. Galena was his home from the time after he had graduated from West Point until he served as General in the Civil War was in Galena. After West Point, his father’s ailing health meant that his brothers Simpson and Orville would have to manage the family’s general store on their own. Ulysses agreed to take his father’s place and help his brothers manage the family business.

Designed by William Dennison, the home was constructed in 1859 for a City Clerk, Thomas B. Hughlett.  After the war and Grant’s election to the presidency, a group of local Republicans purchased the home for $2,500 and presented it to Grant so that he could live in his home city. While Grant did

not live in the home for very long, he fondly remembered the times he spent there and vowed to the locals that he “would always cast his vote there!”

The majority of the furnishings and items in the home were actually owned by Grant and used in the home while he lived there. His favorite chair, his desk, and even his bath tub are part of the collection of original artifacts resting here in Galena. It was great fun walking through the home where the famous President and Civil War General actually walked, much less sat and smoked a cigar.

 

Talk to you soon!

I guess Murphy took the day off

It seemed like Murphy was visiting again. I had scheduled mail to be delivered to the Post Office in Savanna Illinois, expecting to pick it up on Monday. I continue to be stunned by how inconsistent the US Postal Service is. One time I will give 5 days to get our mail forwarded to a location, and it will arrive in 2. That means it sits for 3 days waiting for us to arrive, and I could have saved a few bucks by waiting a couple more days to have it sent, and scooped up more mail in the package. Next time, I will allow for 3 days and it will take 5. That is what happened in Savanna – I allowed for 4 days and the day we went to pick it up on the 4^th day, it wasn’t there!

That makes a mess of things. If you send mail to a Post Office branch to be picked up, it sits there for a few weeks waiting for you to get it. If you don’t pick it up in a few weeks, it gets returned to where it came from – in this case, our mail forwarding company in Pensacola FL. So, a few weeks in Savanna, then back to Pensacola, and then we have to mail it out again somewhere else – it might be a month and a half or more before we see the mail we should have had today. Murphy is on the job making sure what could happen does.

Well, next morning, mail or no mail, we headed out. Since we had the blowout near Salton City CA, we have been experiencing a pretty severe shaking in the front end of Colectiva, which is transmitted directly through the steering wheel – makes it a bit dicey keeping control of the coach at higher speeds. We found a Freightliner dealership with service bays about 40 miles from Savanna outside Davenport IA and made an appointment to have it checked out. We spent most of the day waiting for them to look at Colectiva and diagnose the issue, but around 4 PM they told us that the issue was a worn idler arm in the steering componentry – good news is it was fairly easy to diagnose and not and extensive repair list – bad news was that they had to order the part and didn’t know if it could get here tomorrow or not. He said they would try to have it overnighted, but this late in the day, there was no certainty that it would be here tomorrow.

The other issue diagnosed was that the bad idler arm had caused considerable damage to both front tires – not only the one with over 40,000 miles on it, but also the one that we had replaced 2 months ago with the blowout. I have read and researched enough about big rig tires to know that it is not recommended to just replace one tire at a time – it is always advised that when you replace one tire on an axel, you replace both. So, when we got the blowout tire replaced, I went with the cheapest tire available – a Chinese import that was about 40% the cost of a US made name brand. When I learned I needed to replace that tire, I was unconcerned – I knew I would be replacing it whenever I replaced the other one anyway.

The good news was that the Freightliner facility worked with a company that specialized in truck and RV tire replacement, and that they would come over to the Freightliner facility to replace the tires while Colectiva was not being worked on. The bad news was that they didn’t have any tires of our size in stock – 275/7OR22.5. There were some Goodyear tires of that size in their Chicago location, but there was no guarantee they could get them by tomorrow.

So – mail didn’t arrive – need a part that might be here, might not be here tomorrow – need tires to come from Chicago which might be here, might not be here tomorrow. Looked to me like Murphy was on the ball and in fine form.

Well, tomorrow came. Since we couldn’t get any information on if stuff arrived before 11 or noon, we called the Savanna Post Office – our mail had arrived. So we drove the hour to retrieve it. We then learned that the idler arm had in fact arrived, but they could not start working on it until after lunch. At about noon, we learned that the Goodyear tires had arrived from Chicago, so those guys went over and put them on Colectiva. The got done around 1 PM, and the Freightliner folk drove her into a bay and began working on the idler arm. It took several hours, but by about 4 PM they had her done. We had been thinking about stopping next in Keokuk Iowa, which was about 2 hours, so we just headed out – smooth riding along the way with both new idler arm and new rubber – and got set up in an RV park in Keokuk long before the sun began to set.

So, I guess either Murphy was asleep or he took the day off – either way, I don’t care!

 

Talk to you soon!

Basin of commerce

We assumed that we would be watching all the commerce on the Mississippi River as we wound our way down the Great River Road. We expected to see all kinds of huge tows being pushed down and up the river by massive tug boats. We have seen the occasional barge tows, but apparently the river barge trade is not what it used to be. The tows are much smaller, and are relatively infrequent. Many days go by without spotting one.

We have learned that commercial rail freight is still vibrant in the Mississippi River valley. Active rails line both the eastern and western flats along the river, and both are very active. As we have been staying near the Mississippi on this journey, it seems like a large freight train runs by about every half hour, sometimes even more often.

I was surprised by the buried emotions brought out by the mournful sounds of that train horn wailing oh so often. I know that I do like trains and have pretty vivid memories of always taking my Grandma to the St. Paul Depot. Grandma would always take the train to visit her daughter, Aunt Shirley, who lived in LA – even though there were no direct trains – Grandma had to take a train to Chicago, and then switch to another train taking the southern route to LA. But, Grandma wouldn’t fly – she never believed that you could actually get those huge metal structures off the ground!

Birding has been great. In addition to all the Bald Eagles, we have seen more Golden Eagles as we head more south. And we have been watching with great interest the American Pelicans. With the immense white wingspan and the black tips, it is awesome to watch them gracefully soar, glide and then a mere couple of flaps, and they are way aloft again. At first, I thought they were Whooping Cranes, which also are similar in size and have the enormous white wings with black tips. But, Whooping Cranes don’t venture as far east as the Mississippi River valley, so I scanned the bible – my Sibley birding book, and learned that what we were seeing were American Pelicans, which do migrate through the Mississippi valley. Since Texas, we can’t get enough of bird watching.

 

Talk to you soon! 

Prairie du Chien Wisconsin

One thing I have had on my bucket list for a long time and never was able to accomplish was Taliesen in Spring Green. Taliesen was the personal home of Frank Lloyd Wright for most of his adult life. He designed and built the home and most of the other buildings on the 600 acre site starting in 1911, and continuing with both new construction and reworking existing structures until his death in 1959. By that time, the primary residence on the property had reached a massive 37,000 square feet!

We have made it a habit to seek out Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes and buildings in any area we happen to be traveling. Taliesen is classic Wright. Four main stone pillars hold all the weight of the roof, so all the roof lines cantilever out with pretty much solid glass walls everywhere to dissolve the separation between what is inside and what is outside. Wright always tries to make the exterior a part of the spaces he designs.

We learned of the hard life that Wright had, some of which by his own doing. In 1903, Wright designed a home for his neighbor, Edwin Cheney. During the project, a mutual infatuation developed between Wright and Cheney’s wife, Mamah. In 1909, Wright and Mamah abandoned their families and went to Europe together to work on a project. The scandal at home was massive, and Wright’s career came to a screeching halt. Nobody in Chicago would hire this man with no apparent moral compass.

Since his then wife Kitty would not grant him a divorce, Wright moved into Taliesen in 1911 with Mamah, unwed. Two years later, one of the servants locked all the doors and windows, pour fuel all over the building and set fire to it. When a couple of the staff were able to escape by jumping from second story windows, that servant grabbed an axe and went inside, murdering 7 people including Mamah. We visited Mamah’s grave site at the Wright family chapel across the road from the home.

Wright had built an architectural school on the grounds in the early 1900’s. He would sponsor a large group of apprentices who would live on the grounds, learn from his architectural expertise, and also completely maintaining the grounds for him, including farming, tending to the livestock and construction and repair. Today the Foundation still runs the school and we saw many apprentices at work learning and exploring their skills in the workshops. However, the farming aspect is no longer an integral part of the experience.

It’s really not a bad gig. Just like Wright did most of his adult life, the apprentices do their studies and experimentation in Spring Green in the summer time. Then, when the weather turns a bit foul, they head to Taliesen West, Wright’s winter home that he built outside Scottsdale Arizona.

Also in Spring Green is maybe the antithesis of any Wright home – the House on the Rock, which was built from 1945 to 1959 by an architect who in his early career claimed to have worshiped Wright, Alex Jordan Jr. In a storied meeting at Taliesen where Jordan approached Wright for his input and approval on designs he had for a project in Madison, Wright is quoted to have said “I wouldn’t hire you to design a cheese crate or a chicken coop. You’re not capable.” Allegedly Jordan built this structure mainly to get back at Wright for this harsh criticism. Many have called it the biggest tourist trap in Wisconsin, and while I can’t actually disagree with that sentiment, I am glad we stopped.

Jordan built a series of rooms into the rock formations on top of a rock spire just miles from Spring Green and Taliesen. Since the rooms are built to follow the form of the rock spire, most have at least one solid rock wall, and some have more. They are quite dark and somewhat confined, but you maybe could find a way to live here. I would not say you can see great architectural work or style, but it is interesting.

The one architectural point of interest is the infinity room. Jutting out 218 feet from the top of the rock spire with no supports, it is basically a wall of windows on either side of a carpeted walkway. I was sure that the Woman had no idea that we were out hundreds of feet in the air with no support, but I was wrong – she knew full well where we were as she had seen the pictures of the room before we came. I was impressed at her courage!

It is possible that this is the greatest roadside kitsch ever. It may be that Jordan never lived in the home, and never intended to. As soon as he completed it, he opened it for tours and charged admission. Over the decades thousands paid money to satisfy their curiosity. Many of the claimed antiques in the home, such as all the Tiffany lamps, have been proven to be reproductions. And the timelines for the meetings with Wright would have Jordan at about 10 years old at the time. Greatest hoax ever? Maybe – but we enjoyed every minute of it!

Across the river from Prairie du Chien lies Effigy Mounds National Monument. Truman set aside this monument in 1949 to preserve some portion of the mounds built by ancient cultures. Apparently these mounds that generally date back to around 600 AD, but some of which have been dated back to as early as 1,000 BC, were found throughout the Midwest, with the most significant concentration in Wisconsin. As land was populated and farmed, the vast majority of these structures disappeared. According to the Rangers, you can constantly tell that the sacred site is visited by Native Americans as there are always medicine bags hanging in proximity of the mounds.

Scientists don’t know exactly who built the mounds or why. Some contain remains, others contain artifacts. Most are either circular mounds, while some are like a long row of mounded dirt. However, some were built in the shapes of animals that were apparently familiar to the builders. The most prominent effigies seem to be that of a bear or an eagle. Bears and eagles are the only effigies within the National Monument.

This park was one of the kinds my mom hated – you can’t get to any of the mounds without some considerable hiking. But we were looking forward to that particular aspect, and before we were done, we had knocked off over 10 miles of pleasant hiking, and witnessed all of the effigy mounds in the Monument. While it is hard to capture with clarity the distinct shapes of the mounds – they are much too large and there are really no elevated views – I can assure you that if you stand next to them, the heads, bodies, legs and wings are very clear, and very impressive!

Our last stop was the Villa Louis mansion. Originally known as the Dousman mansion, the home was built by the prominent businessman Hercules L. Dousman in 1843. Dousman made his fortunes in lumbering and fur trading. The extent of his fortunes could be seen in the size of this home, as well as the architecture.

The home was built on the former site of Fort Shelby (British built and controlled before the 1800’s) and the later Fort Colby (American controlled after the war of 1812). In fact, the bulk of the grounds of Villa Louis were the battlefield for the only War of 1812 battle fought in what is not the state of Wisconsin, the Siege of Prairie du Chien. The name comes from Hercules son, Louis, who occupied the home on his father’s death.

Word was that Louis did not have the business acumen of his father, so professional management ran the estate. However, it was Louis that took the initiative to use the artesian wells on the property, heavy in iron and other minerals, and convince the public that supplying that water to thoroughbred horses would make the bigger, stronger and faster. He managed to develop an immense equestrian business, including the building of a thoroughbred race track next to the mansion on the grounds of the estate. Seems to me he probably could have run the estate just fine.

Both Hercules and Louis maintained their offices on the estate grounds. Because they were occupied by family up until the time they were donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society, virtually all the furnishings were intact from when Louis lived there. Not only that, but the complete financial history of the estate remains in the books and records kept since inception in the Dousmans’ offices. Because of all that, the Society even knows the dates of key parties as well as who attended them. Photos from the 1800’s showing the lifestyle at Villa Louis and some of the family members are blown up and in each room. It is really a very compelling tour.

Tomorrow we move on a bit – not much – but south to Galena Illinois.

 

Talk to you soon!