Day 2
August 13
Barred owl calling last night just before going into the tent for the night.
A good sleep, up early, then a trip into Galena for breakfast. My impression from the original Twenty Days on Twenty journey in 1996 remains the same. A nicely kept up old town that was so much like a mall - historic - but a “come spend your money”: kind of place. Shop after shop, after restaurant after restaurant. Very few people in town this early in the morning - 8:30 or so. A decent, reasonably priced breakfast then back to break camp, continue the western trek on 20.
Crossed the Mississippi River and headed south a couple miles or so to the Julien Dubuque monument overlooking the Mississippi. He was an early settler, born in Quebec, came here, married a local chief's daughter and is buried at the monument site. A stone tower was erected in tribute to him. Nice long distance view of the river.
Then into the city to the 4th Street Cable Car, billed as the shortest and steepest cable car ride. I rode up it years ago and enjoyed the experience. This time ode up to the top of the bluff and I drove around to pick them up there. An interesting story about why the original cable car was built. I won't go into it here, but if you are interested go to:
Photo by Grayson Czarnecki
Now Grayson driving on divided highway US 20 across cornfield Iowa. Saw a sign yesterday amongst all the corn fields in NW Illinois that stated something like “Pathway to Freedom from Mideast Oil. Ethanol production - a controversial push for an alternative to importing oil, but with it's own pitfalls, problems. Certainly more cornfields now than I recall a decade back.
Near Webster City, Iowa, just south of 20 a huge windmill installation. Must have been over 100 towers, blades slowly revolving. Nearby, an old barn and a small, in comparison, grain elevator building. Ethanol corn, wind electrical generation. The times They Are A' Chaging.
Terribly hot and humid..Heat warnings for southern Iowa. Earlier today I thought we might see some thunderstorms building - nice cumulus clouds around noon - but they disappeared, and now, 3 PM, no clouds to be seen.
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