Day 22 - to Dubuque Iowa

We were to leave Iowa City early in the morning tomorrow and drive for 7.5 hours north to St Paul, Minnesota, however during one of my regular Skype video calls to Tan and the boys, the suggestion of leaving tonight to carve off a few miles entered the fray.  Why didn't we think of that?

So we took off following the last afternoon session at the conference and pointed the mighty Chev towards Dubuque, an hour and a half down the track - a spot on the banks of the Mississippi, known for its Bald Eagle roosting sites.

Dubuque rhymes with spuke, by the way.  Just so you know.

So there we were, chatting to an armed Ranger, guarding Dubuque's Eagle Point Park (just after Nige spilt [...accidentally...] half a gallon of cold water into my lap), discussing where the best vantage points to see the spectacular American Bald Eagle were.  He said... "just go down there, walk behind the shed and follow the path by the bluff for a mile and a half.  You should see something down there..."

So off we went.

A mile and a half later all we saw were a bunch of schools kids making a hell of a racket (which was probably why we didn't see any eagles), a whole bunch of trees and around half a dozen picnic tables that had been hiffed over a fence, down a near-vertical bluff (possibly another reason we didn't see any eagles).  Oh - the views of the immense Mississippi weren't too bad at all.

 So we sat there for a bit, wondering why we'd seen no rattlesnakes in Texas, no scorpions in New Mexico, no Moose in Colorado, no Tornadoes in Kansas and now, no Bald Eagles in Iowa.  Indeed, here's Nige contemplating just that.

We caught up with our Ranger mate and told him the Eagles had 'gone west'.  He then offered...  "well, you might want to take your car down the road, turn right then head up a hill to another bluff - you might have more luck there".  So we followed his instructions and ended up just a short walking distance from where we were before...

A leafy park environment with some nice looking houses, overlooking the Mississippi River.

And just as a light shower descended upon us, and we were about to leave for the car, we saw what we thought was a juvenile Bald Eagle!  OK, this guy hadn't yet developed the distinctive white (bald) head but beggars can't be choosers in this wildlife spotting game.

 

Satisfied that we'd seen this American icon soaring over the Mighty Mississippi, we set off for our accommodation.  Nige by this time was pretty hungry -  something to do with his meagre muesli lunch diet, I fear.  I was feeling fine, thank you very much - but on reflection, I'd had a three-course meal at the conference.  Despite our differing culinary needs, we decided to have a quick tour of Dubuque.  It's quite an interesting place, with lots of old and rather ornate architecture.  This building, oddly enough, is called the Fischer Building.

Here's Dubuque Main Street.

With Nige about to gnaw my arm off, I persuaded him to have a look around the waterfront area of Dubuque before the sun disappeared completely - and consider dinner a little later.  So off we went, with Sheila, our GPS, barking orders.  (Benson had long since been given the boot).  

The Dubuque waterfront has recently had a face lift and is looking pretty smart, what with its casinos, water parks and paddle steamers.

Actually, it's a rather busy place, with lots of marine action going on - tugs pulling barges, boats carrying cargoes and people generally enjoying the marine environment.

 

 The maritime museum looks pretty cool here - unfortunately, we turned up too late to check it out the history of the Mississippi, in all its paddle-steaming glory.

 

I finally succumbed to Nige's desire for food and we found a Mexican cafe, where they serve 'small' Dos Equis beers (we have become rather fond of this delicacy) in glasses larger than a large NZ dose.  Of course I wasn't going to have a small anything so ordered the standard size (which ended up being a one litre bucket).  

That's about it for the night.  We've got a long run to St Paul, Minnesota tomorrow.  Catch up then .

PF