Day Four - Final Day (from Duluth, MN to Waterloo, IA)
The reality of vacation being over is sinking in, and its back to Waterloo via Western Wisconsin, and SE Minnesota. We decided not to take I-35 back to the Twin Cities, but rather explore some more back roads in Western Wisconsin. Since we hit the casino the night before, we opted for the "convenience store coffee and donuts" and headed south east. .JPG)
Our 1st surprise of the trip was finding the Hole in the Wall Casino in Danbury, WI. We stopped for gas and a coffee fillup at a local tourist convenience store, and as we came out we saw a huge hotel being constructed. Guess what? It was opening day! So we had to check it out. The original Hole in the Wall Casino, was just a small single story building (in the foreground of the photo). The new casino and hotel was nice! And it was good to us! We left after about an hour with both of us ahead for this visit!
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Back on the road, we passed beautiful farmsteads and wooded areas. Very peaceful, and what the Midwest is all about. Suddenly, Sue points out some strange things in a field, and as we turned the corner, we came upon the Franconia Sculpture Park. Now this was something you would NEVER expect to see, so we had to stop and wander. Some amazing works of art, all sculpted from everything imaginable. From old canoes, to bicycles, leftover steam shovel buckets, and animals formed from concrete. I've only included a few here, but if you want to see all the photos I took of this park go to the Trip album at Picasa. Here are a couple of my favorites -
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It was time to move on. Our final stop was a winery in Cannon Falls. Despite about 20 miles of detour that we had to take to get to the winery, we made it.
Called the Cannon River Winery, this old car dealership was converted very nicely, to accommodate wine tasting, and hosting events. We arrived as some "motor home vacationers" were sitting and chatting about their adventures, while tasting some of the available wines. As I told Sue, "I hope we don't appear that way when we are on our journeys (you had to see/hear them to understand!).
Knowing this was our last day, and we still had a couple hours of driving ahead of us, Sue grabbed some wine and we headed out.
The trip to Minnesota was a great escape for Sue and I. After a long school year (and summer filled with baseball and softball games), it was nice to relax, and forget about things for a few days. As I write this, football, swimming, cross country, golf, and volleyball are all in full swing at Waterloo West High School, and with a new Athletic Director, and plenty of sporting events to cover, I know the next installment of Rick's Travel Tales cannot be too far off!
Stay tuned!
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Back on the road, we passed beautiful farmsteads and wooded areas. Very peaceful, and what the Midwest is all about. Suddenly, Sue points out some strange things in a field, and as we turned the corner, we came upon the Franconia Sculpture Park. Now this was something you would NEVER expect to see, so we had to stop and wander. Some amazing works of art, all sculpted from everything imaginable. From old canoes, to bicycles, leftover steam shovel buckets, and animals formed from concrete. I've only included a few here, but if you want to see all the photos I took of this park go to the Trip album at Picasa. Here are a couple of my favorites -
.JPG)
It was time to move on. Our final stop was a winery in Cannon Falls. Despite about 20 miles of detour that we had to take to get to the winery, we made it.
Called the Cannon River Winery, this old car dealership was converted very nicely, to accommodate wine tasting, and hosting events. We arrived as some "motor home vacationers" were sitting and chatting about their adventures, while tasting some of the available wines. As I told Sue, "I hope we don't appear that way when we are on our journeys (you had to see/hear them to understand!).
Knowing this was our last day, and we still had a couple hours of driving ahead of us, Sue grabbed some wine and we headed out.
The trip to Minnesota was a great escape for Sue and I. After a long school year (and summer filled with baseball and softball games), it was nice to relax, and forget about things for a few days. As I write this, football, swimming, cross country, golf, and volleyball are all in full swing at Waterloo West High School, and with a new Athletic Director, and plenty of sporting events to cover, I know the next installment of Rick's Travel Tales cannot be too far off!Stay tuned!
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