I suppose I should report on how I did on my vacation goals from last week:
1. I want to visit 5 state parks I have never visited. Including Mines of Spain and Preparation Canyon.
I DIDN’T EXACTLY HIT 5 STATE PARKS. BUT I DID HIT 3 STATE PARKS AND 2 STATE FORESTS. SO I’M COUNTING THIS IS AS A WIN.
2. I want to add at least 20 new signs to THE TOWN SIGNS PROJECT. A project I’ve mostly ignored this year, despite the fact that this would have been a good year to work on it.
I BELIEVE I GOT 21 OR 22 NEW TOWN SIGNS. SO ANOTHER WIN.
3. I want to finally meet Jen and Derrick’s dog.
I NEVER EVEN CONTACTED THEM. MY FAULT, BUT I’M LEERY TO ENTER THE COVID DRENCHED TOWN THAT IS AMES. PLUS I’M PRETTY SURE THAT DERRICK’S PHONE DOESN’T WORK.
4. I want to finally tackle those POSTCARD PROJECT pictures that I have put off for like 3-4 years now.
I TACKLED ABOUT 5 OF THESE. SO WIN.
5. To play with a new lens I hope to purchase between now and then, but the verdict is still out on what new lens I’m going to purchase.
OH YEAH. DEFINITELY PLAYED WITH THAT LENS. PROBABLY A REPORT ON THAT LATER THIS WEEK.
6. Take some near full moon photography. The next full moon is September 2. Which is a Wednesday. But I figure there will still be plenty of moonlight left on September 4.
ANOTHER FAIL. IT WAS TOO CLOUDY ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY TO TACKLE THIS. AFTER THAT, THERE WASN’T ENOUGH MOON. NEXT FULL MOON IS OCTOBER 1. THAT IS A THURSDAY, WHICH ALL OF A SUDDEN IS SEEMING LIKE A REAL GOOD REASON TO HAVE A 3 DAY WEEKEND.
4 out of 6, I’ll consider that a success. There were a couple other failures out there, that weren’t stated goals. I wanted to go to Pike’s Peak State Park, but I cut my Monday road trip short because Naima hurt her leg the night before, so I felt it was best to get back early to check on her condition. She might have been milking it as she seemed fine by 8 PM Monday night. But probably not.
I also wanted to take Rodan139 out to the High Trestle Trail Bridge again, but it rained about every day of my vacation. So that didn’t happen. It’s all good though.
I did make accomplish my number one goal from the week though. That was visiting Mines of Spain. I was originally going to do this on Tuesday, but I ended up going on Labor Day so that Teresa and my Mom could go. I didn’t want to get stuck in a State Park with a ton of people, plus I wanted to get there with some good soft morning light. This meant leaving at 5 AM. My sister and Mom didn’t seem to understand that I was serious about this, until I showed up at their door at 4:55 AM.
I’ll go into more details about that trip later, but here are some pictures from Mines of Spain taken by Rodan139. Mostly at Horse Shoe Bluff, but also around the Julien Dubuque Monument:
I will definitely need to visit this park again. I considered this a good scouting trip, but now I have more ideas of how to best drone photograph the park.
It is crazy that the lake is so elevated like that. Great photos!
That is the Mississippi River.
I didn’t know! I’ve never been there.
Mines of Spain is just south of Dubuque.
It is one of the Top 3 State Parks I would recommend visiting. That I have been to, anyways. It is a 3 hour trek though. But Dubuque is also one of my favorite cities in Iowa. Although, right now, I don’t visit cities. But some day I hope to be around people again. Some day.
I didn’t know that! I’ve really only been through Dubuque on my way up to Madison, and that was just on the highway as it goes through town. We’ll have to make it a trip sometime as a family after the world is back to some semblance of order.
That IS a pretty brutal drive. But maybe we can make the stops to see such landmarks as “500 prolife billboards” and the Mr. Guns shop in Waterloo. We can make a day of it.
Highway 20 from I35 to Dubuque is an awful drive. One of the worst in Iowa. I actually took 30 over and then up. Which is more scenic. Maybe not as fast and the stretch from Tama to Cedar Rapids that is 2 lanes sucks if you are trying to make good time. But rural Iowa is the pro-life billboard capital of the world.
I went west on my vacation too. The amount of Trump signs by cornfields was alarming. How badly do you have to be attracted to somebody’s racism to vote against your own economic interests?
Dubuque is just a very pretty city. Which is rare for river cities in Iowa. See Davenport, Clinton, Counciltucky, and Sioux City. There are a few things there I find really interesting. Your kids might not, but I enjoy them. Like the Fenelon Place Elevator. The shot tower. I’m also not much of a museum person (despite my love of history) or a zoo person (probably because of my love for animals) but the Mississippi River Museum is one of my favorite museums I’ve ever been to.
I’ve had to go to Madison probably ten times or so for work over the past 8.5 years, and for some reason I’ve always taken that awful way on 20 from I35. Next time I go, I’ll take the 30 route. I’ve got some coworkers who swear by it, but I was always trying to make good time – it’s just not worth it. It’s like a whole different, much more racist world on 20.
I honestly cannot fathom why people would support a person who specifically disdains them and their entire way of life. And, on a larger scale, a party that specifically does not benefit them in any fiscal way. But hey, we have to make sure we’re protecting the lives of every single (white, hetero, Christian, ideally male) child (who we won’t support financially or in any way after birth, or with prenatal care) – that’s the most important thing.
Yeah, every single one of those other places you listed is an armpit of a town. I do like many of the smaller river’s towns – I photographed a wedding up in Decorah a couple of summers ago, and it was just lovely up there. I’d never been, and I’d love to go back and explore more. Jon and the kids love historical museums (not my bag), and they love zoos (I really, really don’t love them due to the animal treatment) – so we can do that, in addition to some of the other, better things you listed!
I love Decorah. It is a pretty town with a few waterfalls in the area. I pretty much love all of northeast Iowa. That part of Iowa and the Loess Hills area are the prettiest parts of Iowa. One of the waterfalls you can definitely take the kids to.
This waterfall is in Decorah:
This one is about a mile hike, but worth it. Probably not for the kids,
But you get the idea. I have no clue what is going to happen with that code when I click on the reply button by the way.
Also, if you have never stopped. Take a pit stop off of 20 about 20 miles into Illinois and visit Galena. It is pretty incredible as well. Not loaded with natural beauty, but the downtown area is incredible. Hard to explain. In a way it feels almost like a European town, even though I’ve never been to a European town as a frame of reference. There is also some cool Ulysses S. Grant historical stuff in town. I drove through the area on the road trip, but I didn’t stop and take any pictures because it was Labor Day and there were lots of people and Labor Day activities going on.
I like history museums that are actual history. This is where event X happened or this is where person X lived. But museums that are just a collection of artifacts don’t do much for me usually. Something like Living History Farms is okay, even though nothing really happened there.
Cool. It actually posted the image. That must be a fairly new WordPress update!
I remember those photos! I didn’t know those are from up there – I’ll go look that up and see if I can’t talk Jon into it! I’ve heard Galena has a cool downtown area, but all anyone would tell me is “great shopping” – so this is incredibly helpful! It’s so much better than anything I’ve ever heard!
That’s awesome that they are actually interactive! I enjoy art museums much more than the majority of history ones, just because of the collections of artifacts that you mention.
I also much prefer art museums. The only type of shopping I enjoy (unless buying tenderloins counts as shopping) is going to art festivals. I never buy anything, but I love going.
The Des Moines Art Museum is amazing and free! That is a really hard combination to beat.
Although I think my favorite type of art museum is a sculpture garden.