Iowa Isn't Flat - Exploring With Intuition

27 June 2023 — Tuesday

Well, it isn’t all flat. Sharyn Jackson, in the Dubuque Register, wrote that Iowa “ranks as the 18th flattest state.” Here’s a link to the full article: Iowa Isn’t as Flat as You Think. Can you guess what the flattest US state is? The answer is at the end of this post.

That’s all just a lead-up to today’s post about exploring a little bit of Iowa. While visiting our son’s house in Wisconsin, we looked at maps and decided on an outing to Dubuque. The draws were the Mississippi River, an unusual railroad for me and a botanical garden for Beth. So here we go…

0943 56,129 Verona, WI – Leave under hazy skies. Smoke from Canadian wildfires has been a serious issue this year.

1000 56,168 Mt Horeb, WI 67°F – Stopped at Culvers to stock the freezer with ice cream. It has been hot and we do love having a little ice cream snack most afternoons. Mt Horeb is known for carved trolls and even chains like Culvers participate. The town offers free maps for a “troll stroll” if you want to find all the carvings.

1144 56,246 73°F – Dubuque, IA – Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens (free)

First up was a delightful Japanese garden

They have a HUGE collection of Hostas

and a collection of HUGE hostas.

Lattice roofs cover sections of a pretty shade garden.

Metal sculptures, like this seed pod, are scattered throughout the gardens.

We finished the visit by eating our lunch at the education building. An upper deck offered seating with views of the formal gardens.

We highly recommend Dubuque’s Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.

1450 56,254 82°F Eagle Point Park ($1.00)

Next up was really up. Our ProMaster climbed almost two hundred feet from the gardens to Eagle Point. Park admission is $1 per vehicle.

Buildings in the park were built in the Prairie style of Frank Lloyd Wright by WPA crews during the depression of the 1930’s.

On the edge of a bluff, the park boasts a view of three states. Only two were viewable today as trees and smoke interfered.

The bluff does give a great view of the locks and flood control structures on the Mississippi.

1550 56,259 85°F Riverview Park Campground site 47a ($20.00)

Emptied our holding tanks before going to our site.

We’re only a van’s length from the Mississippi River.

Big tugs pushed barges down river. River captains need a lot of skill to keep nine or more barges in the channel.

You wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the front of these barges in a small craft.

It wasn’t a quiet campground. There were boats on the river, trains on the opposite bank, and trucks crossing the nearby bridge. All the activity is interesting to me, but it might not be for everyone.

There were pretty spots at both ends of the campground to sit and watch river traffic.

We could see large white birds in the distance. After getting binoculars from the van, we decided they must be white pelicans.

Here’s a zoomed in photo from across the river.

Sunset over the nearby marina.

We recommend the campground for proximity to the river. The showers weren’t in great condition, so use your own if you have one in your rig.

28 June 2023 Wednesday

1000 56,259 73°F – Depart campground after filling our fresh water tank.

Today we planned to explore the city. We found lots of historic buildings like the 1893 Dubuque County Courthouse in this photo.

1032 56,262 73°F Downtown Dubuque – 5th & Bluff parking lot. We like to find paking spots like this where we can back in and the bike rack can hang over a patch of grass.

Last night we searched for “Donuts near me,” so our first stop was Habits Coffee & Mini Donut Company.

A variety of fresh, hot, tiny donuts was fun to sample.

Folks come from all over North America to try the mini donuts. We added a pin for Durham, NC.

The reason I wanted to come downtown was to see the funicular railroad. Fenelon Place Elevator Company is advertised as “The World’s Shortest and Steepest Railroad.”