Ferry across the Mississippi

Ferry across the Mississippi, originally uploaded by nate.bliss.

a bit of a report on Day 8 before the memory fades...

So, the day began with the creature comforts of ye olde Holiday Inn and breakfast at iHop. But the road beckoned and we took to it, through mostly boring Iowa cornfields. Our little US20 turned into a divided four lane expressway for most of the state. That's not fun riding (nothing particularly magical about holding on for dear life at 80mph while getting blasted by semitrailers and the occassional bug clowd).

We ditched US20 for a while, taking a parallel side road that was a bit more manageable, although similarly flat 'n boring. It took us through some cute towns, like Independence, IA. The road then took us to that famous Iowa town of Dyersville, where they shot Fields of Dreams. We stopped at a local watering hole called the English Pub. (we've lived on a balanced diet of bar pizza and beer recently)

In Dyersville, we took a left and headed north to Millville, where we turned onto a dirt road, crossed some railroad tracks, and were suddenly at a dirt ferry landing on the Mississippi.

The Cassville-Millville ferry is one of the last historic ferry operations still active on the river. It's just a few minute jaunt from the Iowa side to the Wisconsin side. Once we made to Cassville, it was just a few miles up the road to the Nelson Dewey State Park, a beautiful campground on a bluff over the river. As the sun set over the valley, and a freight train rolled by, we realized we were witnessing a distinctly American scene.

A fabulous day.