Mississippi River – Valerie's Voice

Spring Lake Park Reserve

The other day we rode a new-to-us bike trail, beginning at the west end of the Spring Lake Park Reserve, near Hastings.

A monarch butterfly on butterfly weed. How appropriate.

This beautiful trail meanders along with a prairie on one side (complete with bison), and the Mississippi River on the other. It was hilly, but fun… and is now one of my new favorite trails.

The prairie wild flowers were in full bloom, bountiful, and showing off. That was a perk, as was having the Mississippi River, on the other side of the trail.

But the biggest bonus, and surprise, was at the trailhead where we planned to eat our picnic lunch. There is a bison paddock there where eight bison were brought here to live in a very large, penned-in area.

Mother and babe…maybe…all adults together care for the young.

On this day, we were fortunate to see all eight of them, plus four calves, up close sitting right in front of us as we ate our lunch. Locals told us it was unusual to see them so close.

The Bison are being reintroduced to this area where they once lived. They seem to draw a lot of interest. We were told when the project started last fall, they acquired eight females, and four of them were pregnant. Several signs offered different interesting facts about bison.

Standing, lying down, walking around…the bison were active.

The bison were all lying down when we first saw them. And then they would get up and move around. They were fun to watch. A couple hours later when we got back from our bike ride, all twelve were gone, and nowhere to be seen.

The space where they are corralled is a vast prairie land where they can roam, and are often hidden from view. The beginning mile, or so, of the bike trail is along this paddock.

Cone flowers, black-eyed susans, fleabane…

Seeing the bison, and the river, and the wildflowers, created a great impression for our first ride on this trail. The temperatures had cooled off too, with low dew points. It was awesome.

Prairie Clover, with a beautiful butterfly I could not identify.

I took time on our way back to stop and take pictures of the gorgeous flowers. Often there were butterflies or bees on the flowers.

There were so many different species, and colors, shapes and sizes. I decided to take only a few pictures since I had to keep getting on and off my bike. 😉

A metal Bison sculpture seen along the bike trail. The yard was full of metal art. The artist was identified as Dale Lewis.

This trail is one we will ride again and again, I’m sure. It will be interesting to see how often we see the bison herd, and to see how the landscape changes throughout the seasons.

Other bison seen along the trail… Metal sculptures: Dale Lewis

The bison were all gathered in this one corner of the paddock, near the trailhead.

Old Frontenac

Glorious fall days…blue skies, sunshine and colorful landscapes… continue to linger on and on. We like to take advantage of them…so not much gets done on the home-front…but those things will wait…we have winter ahead of us.

We headed east in the morning towards Frontenac State park, through beautiful farm country. Along the way, close to the fence, were the unique Dutch Belted cows laying in a field, soaking up the sun. What a pretty sight. I discovered these striking and unusual looking cows (and special breed), on a farm along County Road 9 a few years ago. I look for them whenever we pass their way. When I got out to take a photo, the girls became alarmed and most stood up…I was sorry to disturb them. They were all laying down again as we passed them on our way home several hours later.

Overlooking the Mississippi River from Frontenac State Park.

We continued to the state park and drove up to the Mississippi River overlook in the park. The river was lovely and calm. We hiked along the river for a while,

then we found the recently acquired section of the park and hiked hilly trails. The fall temperatures were climbing and we soon shed our jackets.

A newly acquired section to Frontenac State Park.

After hiking, we wanted to find a place near the water to eat our picnic lunch. We found a beach and boat landing in Old Frontenac, with a picnic table close to the water’s edge.

Perfect. We sat on one side overlooking the river and saw a couple of eagles, lots of gulls and swans, and a few boats. The water was calm and the sun was bright and I wanted to stay there all afternoon, but we had more to explore.

A beautiful mansion overlooking the Mississippi River in Old Frontenac.

An old stone fence surrounding the mansion.

A few years ago, when we camped at Frontenac State Park, we drove through Old Frontenac near-by. It’s a small village along the river….no stores, only unique houses on packed, dirt roads, an old cemetery, and a church.

One of several gated sections in the Frontenac Cemetery, established in 1867.

I have always wanted to walk through this town, or ride a bike, since you can see more than from a car. So we brought our bikes to ride through this quiet town, off the beaten trail. It was fun to ride around and look at unique houses…no cookie cutter houses here. And, riding through the old cemetery garnered thoughts of spooky stories, so close to Halloween.

Halloween decorations on a front porch in Old Frontenac.

Later that afternoon, as we drove back home into Northfield, we commented on how our town was still the most colorful place of all…with a lot of maples still full of red leaves hanging on.

Our neighbor’s tree outside our bedroom window.

Autumn

Warm, autumn days in southern Minnesota have lingered longer than normal it seems, and we continue to enjoy the sunny days outside. We are grateful for them!

Part of the Spring Lake Park to Hastings trail.

Over the weekend Gary and I biked on another “new-to-us” trail…we went over the Mississippi River and through the woods, along the river to Prescott, Wisconsin.

The bridge over the river, includes a pedestrian/bike lane.

It is a paved trail. We started in Spring Lake Park in Hastings, Minnesota, a lovely park on a bluff, with a great overlooks of the mighty Mississippi River.

We rode from Schaar’s Bluff, down, down, down into Hastings. We have riden our bikes on this part of the trail before. It’s a fun ride. Next we rode across the beautiful bridge over the Mississippi River in Hastings.

From the middle of the bridge, looking south to the railroad bridge.

We crossed the bridge using the pedestrian/bike lane on the east side of the busy traffic lanes. It was exciting to be on our bikes looking over the railing to the wide river. Once across the bridge we continued riding into Prescott, Wisconsin, on an established bike/walking trail that follows the river, and goes through the woods.

It was a awesome, autumn day…blue sky and cool crisp air. When we arrived near Prescott, we rested along the river and watched the river traffic.

A while later we turned around, rode back to Hastings and then went up, up, up to Schaar’s Bluff. We saw a great blue heron, an eagle, three white swans, many ducks and geese…and lots of people. Many folks were out enjoying the last few days of this unusually, warm weather in Minnesota.

There were some beautiful fall colors in different places. I was reminded of a saying I read on a sign I saw in Pennsylvania this month…

“Autumn shows us how beautiful change can be.”

More Photos from Dubuque

Dubuque is Iowa’s oldest city. It was founded in 1833, 13 years before Iowa became a state. The French-Canadian fur trader names Julien Dubuque was instrumental in settling the area, thus its name.

The city has designed a lovely river walk in Port Dubuque, along the Mississippi River. On my recent trip there, my friend and I walked along it several times.

The River Walk along the Mississippi River.

We also sat on benches and watched a lot of river traffic…barges, tugboats, speedboats, etc. I always enjoy watching the “boats go by.”

This recreational boat looks so small next to a long barge and tugboat, on the Mississippi River.

The Shot Tower is located one end of the river walk. It is a national landmark, being one of only a few remaining historic shot towers in the United States.

A visual of how the shot tower made lead shots.

I recently learned what a shot tower is, and found it interesting. According to the plaque, “The Shot Tower was constructed in 1854 to manufacture lead shot ammunition. Molten lead was poured from the top of the tower and passed through a series of sieves to form the shot into its proper size. The shot then landed in a tank of cold water at the bottom of the tower.” Thus, making the ammunition.

There are 30 murals around town, resulting from an event called “Taking it to the Streets”. We noticed several of the murals. I assume there would be a map at the chamber of commerce so one could locate all of them and learn about them. We did not look into this, but there was one mural directly across from our hotel. It was titled Solidarity. It was painted by 75 volunteers, painting side-by-side in one- hour shifts, on this paint-by-number style public art piece; 105’ long X 25” tall.

We walked by the Town Clock. This Town Clock was originally erected in 1873 on top of a building on Main Street, then the clock was moved to the Town Clock Plaza in 1971, where it is today. The clock supposedly maintains accurate time within half second. It stands 110’ tall.

The Grand Opera House, still offering live performances (pre and post Covid of course.)

We also walked by the Grand Opera House which was built in 1890. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Closer look at the Grand Opera House stone design.

A super moon was scheduled to rise on our last night in Dubuque, so we purposely went to find a bench on the river walk to sit and watch the full moon rise over the Mississippi River. It did not disappoint!

The full, super moon rising over the river.

We had a wonderful time in this historic river town…There is so much more this city has to offer. We’ll be back.

Dubuque Arboretum & Botanical Garden

It may not be very big – 52 acres – but it’s overflowing with beauty…the Dubuque Arboretum & Botanical Garden.

My friend and I met in Dubuque, Iowa for our annual get together. Dubuque is a lovely river town. It has a scenic river walk along the Mississippi River, a wonderful botanical garden and thrift stores.

Dubuque met our criteria for a meeting place: water, gardens and thrift & antique stores.

The day we went to the botanical garden was dreamy. An ideal temperature, bright blue skies with no clouds in sight.

One of the garden sculptures: Germination.

Dubuque is five hours farther south than Northfield, and there were many plants blooming in Iowa that were not blooming in Minnesota yet. There were peonies and lupines and iris’ in their full array.

In the botanical garden there was an herb garden, a shade garden, an English garden, a Japanese garden, a prairie garden, a rose garden (not in bloom yet), annuals, perennials, peonies, iris’ and lupines, a children’s area, sculptures, trees, lots of benches and green, green, grass.

So much packed into those 52 acres.

The arb is convenient and close to town. And has free admission.

They also boast the arboretum & garden is run entirely by volunteers. It’s a young arboretum…established in 1980.

We spent our morning meandering, and sitting on the benches, and smelling the flowers, enjoying ourselves in this beautiful setting, marveling at God’s creation.

The Tin Man in an annual garden, with more displays in other annual beds featuring characters from The Wizard of Oz.

And we were grateful.

Three Rivers and a Waterfalls

Over the past few days our activities, unintentionally, took us to three major rivers.

Our first hike was at Ft. Snelling State Park. Gary and I have a long, but brief, history with this park. When we first met in 1976, Gary was in the habit of hiking in this park. At that time, he had taken an awesome photo of the Mendota Bridge from a unique perspective and had it printed and framed in a 8X10 format. He gave me a copy when we first met. And, then he took me to this unique park in the heart of the city.

Current view of the Mendota Bridge from Ft. Snelling State Park.

I don’t remember the trail but I remember the hike because we walked to the confluence of the mighty Mississippi River and the Minnesota River. This was years ago. There were a few times we stopped at the park since then, after we had children, to visit the beach area. And we’ve been to the historic Ft. Snelling itself, which is interesting, but we didn’t hike on Pike Island again until this day, 45 years later. (It’s kind of hard to wrap my head around that).

The confluence of the Mississippi (on left) and Minnesota rivers.

On Pike Island, one side of the trail leads you along the Mississippi River. You approach a point, with a sandy beach, which is the confluence of two major rivers: Mississippi and Minnesota. Then you turn and walk back on the other side of the island, along the Minnesota River. It’s a 3.7-mile loop.

The wildflower: Trillium, found at Ft. Snelling State Park.

It was interesting to be at Ft. Snelling state park a few days after my jaunt in Nerstrand Big Woods where I saw multitude of wildflowers. There were very few wildflowers on Pike island, although I did see a trillium, which I hadn’t seen at Nerstrand.

There were, however, many huge trees on the island, and many of them had hollow spots. It was an interesting trail.

Just a couple days later we were at Interstate State Park, near Taylors Falls. Again, drastically different from both Fort Snelling and Nerstrand Big Woods state parks. This park offered many glacier formations and a scenic view of the St. Croix River. We hiked along the St. Croix River for a couple of miles. The sandstone cliffs tend to make this area of the river very scenic.

Another view of the beautiful St. Croix River from Interstate State Park.

As we entered Interstate state park there was an information sign that read, “Looking for Taylors Falls? There is none.” Although Taylor Falls is the name of the town, there are no falls there. However, the sign told of the nearest falls 10 miles away in Osceola Wisconsin, so we ventured there to explore. We had been to Interstate many times over the years and knew there were no falls in Taylors Falls, but we did not know about the Cascade Falls in Osceola.

They were very pretty…full, wide and cascading. We walked down flights of stairs provided by the city of Osceola, to the falls and then proceeded to hike a quarter mile away to the St. Croix river to see the river from another perspective other than Interstate park. The falls and surrounding area was a fun discovery.

Minnesota Marine Art Museum

Last month we went on a Sunday Drive down Highway 61 towards Winona, Minnesota. The sun was shining bright and we enjoyed the scenic views of the Mississippi River. Because it was late March, the trees had not budded out yet, and we saw a lot more of the water than driving the same route in summer or fall when the trees are full. It’s a beautiful drive anytime of the year, but I it was nice seeing more of the river this time.

Our first stop was Lark Toys, a very unique and fun stop. Lark Toys is a toy museum, a retail store with a large selection of wooden toys, vintage-style toys and a fine book shop. The museum has glass enclosed displays with all sorts of games and toys from bygone years that prompt many memories and a delight to see. There is an indoor carousal you can ride, a candy store to buy old-fashion candies, and an ice cream shoppe.

Inside one of the glass enclosed display cases of antique toys in Lark’s Toy Museum.

Our next stop was the Marine Art Museum in Winona. It seems an unusual place for such a quality museum, but I assume it’s because of the two colleges in Winona, and probably a generous donor. It is on an inlet of the river, close to downtown but in a more industrial part of town. The tagline on their website is “Great art inspired by water.” I like that because I like water, and I like art.

The museum has permanent displays and changing exhibitions. Some works of Fred Somers, a talented and inspiring Northfield artist, were on display the day we were at the museum, and also an exhibition about the Titanic, with art pieces to go along with that tragic story.

Exhibitions change which provides new artworks to see, but the permanent displays are wonderful too. I don’t know much about art…I never took an art history class (but wish I had). I really enjoy admiring the artwork. I marvel at those who can paint. I often think, “this piece started out as a blank canvas!” A lot of the pieces (but not all) in the museum focus on marine art, thus the name.

There were two ship’s figureheads in the lobby of the Marine Art Museum, reminding us to wear our masks.

There are two permanent collections: American artists and European artists. The American collection is “historical works by American artist spanning the length of the nation’s history”. I don’t know many American artists, but I’m learning. The European collection had pieces by artists I recognized, such as; Monet, van Gogh, Degas, Renoir, Picasso and more.

Understandably photographs were not permitted (except in the lobby). There is a nice gift shop where I bought some postcards.

This is a post card I bought in the museum gift shop. I liked the colors and style of this Renoir painting, from the European collection.

It’s worth the drive to Winona to check out this interesting and amazing museum.

March to March

The end of March is looming. Spring is here. People are getting vaccinated and venturing out. We’ve been cooped up, and staying close to home this past year, as Covid-19 hovered and infiltrated our life styles and wreaked havoc. But hope is definitely in the air as we move forward.

I’m grateful that my husband and I, and our son’s and their families, did not get sick with Covid, but the year was a tough one with masking up and social distancing.

Now that we are at the end of March and the pandemic has been around for a year, I was wondering what to write as a recap of my “designated year of March to March” for my annual blog-to-print book. Then, over the weekend we went on a hike in a new-to-us state park and I thought that would be fitting… to talk about hiking/walking this past year.

Walking was a consistent activity that I engaged in this past year, almost daily. I could probably count on my fingers the few days I missed. It was my goal, my outlet, my exercise, to get outside and walk every day (some days had to be an indoor walk). Gary often joined me, but he also rode his bike a lot more (2600 miles total last year). But I kept on walking… We also walked with another couple, two to three times a week, and that regular contact made a big difference for all of us. It kept our sanity; we like to say.

Many times we hiked in parks and through the woods. Gary and I discovered John Latsch State Park as we were driving along the Mississippi River on a bright, sunny day in late-March. I noticed the typical brown state park sign. As we passed by it on our way to Winona, I did a quick Google search on the park. The only thing the park offered was one hike, but that hike was a unique one, climbing up a beautiful bluff along the river. It told of the fantastic view from the top, and… that the hike was all stairs!

From the top: looking south at Lock & Dam #5 as a train rumbles by.

That sounded interesting. We know enough to know that would not be an easy hike (up or down) but we decided to go for it. We hadn’t walked our daily walk so we turned off into the parking lot to John Latsch State Park. We donned our hiking shoes, hat, and poles so we were ready. As I climbed 600 steps (unofficial count by a co-hiker) I thought this would be an appropriate marker for the end of the one year of pandemic…to be discovering a new state park and hiking in it.

At the top: looking north…Gary near the edge.

At the top of the limestone bluff called Charity along the Mississippi River.

We climbed up and up…the wooden stairs were wide, and sometimes slanted at an angle, and one or two were wobbly. There was a railing for parts of the trail but I’m glad we had our hiking poles with us. We took our time and made it to the top of “Charity” the name of this particular bluff…named by steamboat captains. There are three large, limestone bluffs aside each other, along the river, and steamboat captains nicknamed them Charity, Hope and Faith and used them for navigational purposes. Great names indeed.

After taking photos at the top there was a short loop trail that we hiked before descending down the steps. It was good “step exercise” and we were happy to have succeeded to make it to the top and back down again.

A railing was in place for parts of the “trail”.

My hope is that we’ve made it to the top of the Covid-19 pandemic peak, and we’re on our way down…to the end of it.

Hastings, MN

We trapped another squirrel…number 15! So off we went to transport it to the Squirrel Resort, 12 miles from our house.

Then we continued on, driving the back roads to Hastings, Minnesota for a walk.

A beautiful and clever sandstone city sign near the beginning of the River Walk.

Hastings has designed a lovely, paved trail along the Mississippi River. It provides benches, interesting informational signage, and a large picnic pavilion. The trail leads right up to Lock & Dam No. 2.

Saturday was sunny, and not too windy or cold, so we decided to take our daily walk in Hastings. We parked in a lot near the pavilion which provides ample, free parking.

One entrance to the river walk, with steps down to the paved trail.

The trail begins at the pavilion, close to an old working railroad lift bridge that “lifts” to let large boats float underneath, when needed.

River traffic near the railroad bridge, lifted up.

We walked about 1.5 miles to the Lock & Dam and were fortunate enough to be there as they were bringing a large barge through, in two separate maneuvers. We’ve watched this kind of operation before and it is always fascinating.

Looking across the Mississippi River to beautiful houses on the cliffs, with barges in the forground.

A different perspective of first 6 barges. There were 12 in this grouping.

There was river traffic…besides the barges there were boats with fishermen fishing, and a couple of tug boats. There was both pedestrian and bicycle traffic along the paved River Walk trail, and two trains rambled by across the river on the tracks. There was a lot of activity to watch…which is cheap entertainment in this time of pandemic.

A view of the beautiful Hastings bridge, opened November 2013

Boat traffic going under the high vehicle bridge.

Hastings is a county seat with a historic downtown and about 38 miles from Northfield if you drive the direct route (which is also picturesque). We drove through downtown and noticed several antique stores were open but we didn’t stop this time. We did stop however, to get a hot, caramel mocha for our ride back home! Yum.

We’ve always enjoyed going for drives in the country and exploring small towns…I’m sure we’ll be going for a lot more this fall and winter.

A marker for flood levels…looks like 1965 is the record. (photo taken June 2020)

Wabasha, Minnesota

Many scenes in the 1993 Hollywood movie Grumpy Old Men were filmed in the small river town of Wabasha, Minnesota. It put Wabasha “on the map” and was their claim to fame for a long time. However, there is another cultural highlight in Wabasha…it is home to the National Eagle Center. The organization began in 1989 and built a beautiful building along the scenic Mississippi River in 2006.

Our book club took a field trip to the center one day in July, and it was very interesting.

The bridge in Wabasha, between Minnesota and Wisconsin, over the Mississippi River.

After taking a coffee break at the Chickadee Cottage in Lake City, we happened to arrive at the Eagle Center right before an eleven o’clock presentation. The presenter was very interesting and informative, an educator, and part entertainer! She kept us engaged for an hour and we didn’t want the session to end. She said she could have continued speaking because there is so much to teach about the eagles.

Was’aka, one of the eagle ambassadors. (Our presenter is not in the photo.)

When we spoke to her after the program she told us she became interested in eagles (and sharks!) at a young age so when she retired (from being a lawyer) she felt it was a good time to step in and volunteer at the eagle center. We were fortunate to be a part of her class session.

A few tidbits…eagles weigh only 6-8 pounds, keep their nests very clean by “shooting their poop” out of the nest about eight feet! They get their white feathers about the age of 5, and they do a beautiful cartwheel dance as part of their mating ritual. But there is much more.

My photo of a photograph of two eagles doing a cartwheel dance.

The eagles at the center are there because they no longer can survive on their own in the wild. They get quality care at the center while the researchers study them. The center has a viewing platform and is a great place to spot eagles along the river, especially in the winter because there is open water at this site, and that’s where eagles gather.

During the program an eagle, Was’aka, was brought into the room to show off to the audience.

There are plaques describing each bird on display.

Was’aka is blind in one eye, therefore he cannot hunt for himself. He is beautiful! There were additional eagles available for viewing also, including a golden eagle.

We did succumb to a Grumpy Old Men’s icon and ate lunch at Slippery’s Bar and Grill, apparently made famous by the movie. However, we chose it simply because it was the only place we could eat outside, along the mighty Mississippi. The food was good.

A bench in town depicting the two grumpy old men from the movie: Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

Wabasha is little over an hour’s drive from Northfield so it’s an easy day trip and well worth it.