A real vacation! *sigh* a long time coming, but this trip brought no deadlines, except when to check in and check out of lodging. Yay! Our first stop was Effigy Mounds National Monument near Marquette, IA. It was another stop where we could pick up a Junior Ranger badge! We did this part of our trip in to sections the afternoon when we arrived in the area and then we took advantage of the little museum area and finished our Ranger requirements.
We were so late in the day that we were one of the only ones there and we got to spread out a bit. Shorty was wired for sound having waited patiently (if you count two dozen "are we there yet" queries) and finally I told him, "I think they saw a table just for you over here", silently thanking God for touch tables all the way.
The next morning, we braved the chance of rain and took a hike. Effigy Mounds gives a guided tour twice a day, but because of the threatening rain the morning session was cancelled. A wonderful ranger gave Bubby an outdated guide book (it contained markers that were no longer visible even though the features were there) and Bubby was our guide on the Fire Point trail, regaling us with stories of the mounds - it was even better than having a ranger with us ;)
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| conical mounds on the left |
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| bear mound - you're looking at his head and foot |
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| the Mighty Mississip, but Shorty was more interested in the train track ;) |
Before we took off from the area, we stopped in nearby McGregor, Iowa. Excellent pizza, excellent bookstore and "refrigerators" of old carved into the limestone cliffs. One thing we learned on our entire trip to the North Woods was that one week was not going to cut it ;)
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| A little fun in McGregor, IA |
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| McGregor, IA |
