Mississippi River Trip - 2

We continued on our Mississippi River trip the following day. It was sunnier today but windier. We stopped at a wetland observation station along the roadside. This was a great spot designed for birdwatching but Nate seemed more interested in focusing the telescope on the power station at the far side of the river.



Later that day we arrived at a ferry crossing and took it to the other side of the river to Iowa. It was a very small ferry, holding only nine cars, but it chugged upstream without any trouble. It was a lot cheaper than the riverboat cruises but just as much fun, and ten minutes was about as long as the kids wanted to be on a boat anyway.



We stopped at a park that held a lot of ancient Indian burial mounds. Most of them could only be observed by hiking to them. Sean wanted no part of that so Mom hung out with him on the big green lawn by the Visitor Center. Nate and Dad hiked a mile to the top of the bluff and were rewarded with this great view. Nate says he wants to go on more hikes in the future!

Mississippi River Trip - 1

We started our Mississippi River trip in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mom had a race to run so we arrived the previous evening. We toured around downtown for a little while and played at the fountains. Sean enjoyed walking around the edge. That made everyone a little nervous but he kept his balance and remained dry.


Mom finished her race and we began to drive along the river on the Wisconsin side of the border. We passed lots of great scenery although it was a little cloudy that day. We made sure to stop often to enjoy the view.


One of the neat things we got to see was this lock along the river that allowed boats to get past a dam. We arrived just in time to see the lock in operation, letting a tugboat pushing lots of barges into the locks and passing through to the other side.