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09-02-2016, 09:15 PM
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#581
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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Since we are the same place for two days after almost 2,000 miles in 8 days, we got some shopping in, ate two meals out and drove very little. Breakfast was delayed because we had to find a places to stay Sat. and Sun. night. Everyone in Minnesota has bought an RV and made reservations. After hours of searching, phone calls, online requests, Barb discovered an Airstream park north of Minneapolis in Clear Lake. They have a space for Sat. night. We're hoping for a cancellation at a county CG with 400 spaces near La Crosse, Wisc. on Sunday, but still have to keep looking.
Meanwhile we have somewhere around 235 miles tomorrow. Barb has relatives in La Crosse, so we may stay around there if we can find a spot.
Anyway we had breakfast just short of noon at the Minnesota Nice restaurant in Bemidji. Yes, Minnesotans are not only all above average, but they are very nice. Breakfast was good although it took some time to get it. Maybe it is the college here or people don't need jobs, but the restaurant was quite crowded before the lunch rush.
Afterwards, we started the 38 miles to the headwaters. Mostly trees line wide and smooth and mostly straight county roads. We see few farms and mostly they seem to be raising alfalfa, much of it already harvested. It is more flat than hilly. Not a lot of people living there. Sometimes we cross an ever diminished Mississippi. It was beginning to look like a major river in Colorado (i.e., small). Then it got smaller until in the several miles before we reached Itaska State Park, Lake Itaska and the headwaters, it was about 6' wide.
We paid our $5 to the state of Minnesota and drove to the headwaters parking lot. Lots of information is displayed near the headwaters and we read just about all of it, then walked to the beginning. There were white caps on the Lake and tourists in the foreground walking across the rocky Mississippi as water poured out of the lake. Kids played in the water. We had made it!
We too walked across, but on a dry log downstream about 20'. I seem to recall seeing a picture of the water flowing out of the lake over some rocks into the river back in grade school and many times since. There is a fascination about this rivers headwaters going back centuries. Actually a river's length is usually measured by the farthest headwaters and that would mean the river should be named the Missouri and the Mississippi should be the tributary. Sort of anticlimatic as one headwaters of a great river ends quietly with kids and dogs playing in the water and parents worrying about kids and dogs playing in the water.
After our accomplishment, we, in true explorer fashion, went to the snack bar and had ice cream cones. We checked out the tourist paraphernalia, found none to our liking. I wanted a baseball cap that said "Bemidji", "Great River Road" or "Mississippi Headwaters". None of that is available around here. The caps that say "Bemidji" have it in small letters under "Minnesota". I ordered a river road cap online and we found a "Minnesota" cap for only $8 at the KOA shop of all places. Maybe we'll find some other tourist trinkets along the way.
Photos:
1. A few miles from the headwaters the Mississippi meanders through fields and forests about 6' wide and maybe a foot deep in the middle.
2. Tourists walk across at the start. Lake Itaska is partly covered with grasses, but beyond that patch extends pretty far and was very wind blown today.
3. A wily tourist crosses the great river on a log. It comes out of the lake pretty clear, but tourists' feet stir up the dirt and the river is muddy already.
4. View across the lake several feet from the beginning.
Gene
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09-03-2016, 05:53 PM
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#582
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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We left the Bemidji KOA at a respectable 10 am. Perhaps all the people who precede us still work and are used to getting up really early. We are glad not to be in that cohort. Since we had followed the river for some miles getting north, and there is not a river road on each side of the river up north, we mostly took fast highways except for one Great River Road section that we had missed coming up. We actually followed the river for about 10 miles and it was at least twice as wide as it was near Bemidji.
Anxious at not having a CG for Sunday night, I wanted Barb to call every place on the planet, but she wisely suggested the CG's don't know about cancellations until later in the morning. Unfortunately that was when we were in cell-less country, so I could nurture and expand my anxiety. Barb called, the county park near La Crosse had two cancellations, less than I thought they would, but they had to check. Then no cell for 45 agonizing minutes. As soon as we were back in the civilized world, the phone rang and we don't have to stay at a Walmart tomorrow.
All that settled, we hurtled down highways, wider and wider, more and more traffic, at 260 miles down the river, now three or four times the size it was at Bemidji, we arrived at the Minnesota Airstream Park. I believe every one of the scores of Airstreams we saw was cleaner than ours. We were sent to the overflow which has water and electric. Very quiet here compared to the more packed regular part of the CG. There are about 10 spaces across from a gold course and only two of us here. It is cheap, the air is cool and the sky is blue. Green everywhere and we look out our dinette into forest of oak trees and brush. The Mississippi is somewhere west of us and we will see it at times tomorrow.
The roads get busier and we travel around the other, east side of the Twins. There's a Trader Joe's there for provisions. Then to Wisconsin and a county park near La Crosse. By then the river will be big and muddy (not too clear up here either).
Photos:
1. Between Bemidji and Grand Rapids, US 2 is a pretty straight line and has a few roadside attractions. This is the Big Fish. I'm not sure what's inside, though there is a restaurant there and cabins.
2. This gas station and general store is very Chinese. New name is proclaimed by banners placed over the old one.
Gene
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09-06-2016, 08:10 AM
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#583
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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We've been moving south faster than we anticipated. We've traveled along the east side of the river this time. Made it around St. Paul and stopped at a Trader Joe's there to stock up on items we can't get easily at home, or buy things that are cheaper at TJ's. Traffic was not as bad as a weekday, fortunately.
The River Road in Wisconsin always has the same state highway number. That makes things easier. Wisc. has marked the highway better than Iowa and a bit better than Minn. We drove through the driftless area again. Highway 35 hugs the bluffs most of the way and the small towns are crammed between the river, railroad and the bluffs. Many 19th century buildings remain and appear to be well kept. Because of the hills, verdant vegetation, older buildings and small industry in some areas, the driftless area reminds me of Pa., a state I spent almost 8 years living in about 50 years ago.
One of the prettiest towns, though away from the river, is Galena, Ill. Many large mansions and old buildings dating back to the time when mining was happening in the mid 1800's. Galena means lead. The problem with getting photos is the roads are narrow, there's not many places to pull over with a trailer and taking photos through the windshield or out a side window is difficult and things get in the way.
Barb got to see cousins and an aunt in La Crosse, Wisc. and we ate at an unusual local chain called HoHot or something like that. You pick your own ingredients and they cook it on a grill. I suppose after a while I could figure out how to make what I wanted, but since I was trying to create Chinese or Thai food, I failed. We are still trying to find a Chinese restaurant when we stop for more than one night, but haven't succeeded so far.
Today we are in Rock Island at an older KOA. We picked it for two reasons—close to Davenport and it was easy to make a reservation. It is the second most expensive RV CG we've ever gone to. They do have two or three lakes and I suppose that is important to people. We are stopping for two nights so we can go to the Figge Museum, a national known art museum. A surprise find in Davenport. There's also a music museum nearby we may check out.
They call this area the Quad Cities (Moline and Bettendorf are the other two), but it once was the Tri-Cities. Back then they had an NBA franchise in the late '40's when the league started. Along with Ft. Wayne, Ind., Syracuse and Rochester, NY.
Photos later.
Gene
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09-06-2016, 09:27 PM
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#584
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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Today we went to Davenport twice. First we stopped at the QC Coffee and Pancake House in downtown Rock Island. You get lots of food and if you order the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes (hard to find on the menu, but it is their speciality), you get three pancakes doused in everything sugar, 2 eggs and bacon. I don't know how they stay in business serving heart attacks. Barb ate little more than half of the pancakes. I tried some small pieces and the sweetness was much more intense than even a chocoholic like me could stand. I had a skillet which was very filling. Across the street was an old theater and across the intersection was an old hotel turned into assisted living. Traffic was light in downtown Rock Island and the city has seen better days.
Across the Mississippi (larger and larger every hundred miles) to the Figge Museum. The building was designed when glass and steel cubes were architectural fads some time ago. Now they look cold and uninviting. There are a few parking spaces in front and we got one. Downtown Davenport was quiet too and parking doesn't seem to be a problem. We spent a few hours looking at mostly paintings, some of them by very famous American artists plus a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition. We spent more time at the Wright display than anywhere else. The Figge is an above average art museum in cities of the population of the Quad Cities, but as we had read it was right up their with famous national museums, we were disappointed. It was free for several weeks, so with free parking and free admission, we did quite well. It was a worthwhile visit, but had been oversold.
Davenport has a lot of large buildings downtown, but not much seems to be going on. Smaller cities are not doing well in America and these seem to be struggling. The four cities are about 360,000 people, a pretty good size, but the energy seems to go to the suburbs.
We came back, I took a refreshing nap, and then we went out to Chinese restaurant that advertises itself as having "Chinese fine dining". I would not say it was that good, but they had the best scallion pancakes we can remember. The two entrees were good and fair. The waiter was not too good. We got our Chinese dinner, finally.
The weather has become very hot (for this time of year) and humid again. We're hoping for a cold front. Meanwhile trees are starting to change quickly. We saw a little of that in Bemidji, but it is more pronounced now. The L brackets on our hitch have moved back and I have to reposition them and tighten them more. A cabinet latch under the sink is starting to fail and I have to replace it soon. And the TV cable is not working when connected to cable. It is either a bad connection at one end or the other I suspect, but don't know whether I'll get to fix it soon.
Near us is another Airstream from Colorado with an Equalizer hitch.
Tomorrow we go to Quincy, Ill., 150 miles. We'll take a look at Nauvoo, Ill. on the way. In the early 19th century, Mormons were persecuted as they moved from upstate NY and they settled in this place on the frontier. They were quickly successful at creating a bustling frontier town, but their ways did not go well with other settlers moving to what was then the west. They were chased out. It is another story of our past with hatred of those who are different and persecution resulting. If I recall correctly the state militia was used to attack them. Then they moved out of the US to what was soon Utah and they again were in the US. No decent CG in Nauvoo it appears, so we will go on to Quincy were there are a lot of old buildings to see and we'll be close to Hannibal, home of Samuel Clemens. We have plenty of time, so we can go slowly for a while.
Getting late, photos later.
Gene
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09-06-2016, 10:06 PM
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#585
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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Photos:
1. Looking towards the many Airstreams at their owned sites, gold course on left, nose of SOB MH at this Airstream only park. Maybe they were there to look at a site. Sites with older Airstreams were pretty reasonable and not too far from the Twin Cities.
2. The first town in Wisconsin, not far from St. Paul, Minn., is Prescott and down the highway a little ways is a large River Road visitor center. The city built it and did a nice job. The woman at the front desk ignored us and for most of the time stared at her smart phone; only when we asked her questions, did she surface. Outside we met someone who had grown up not far (60 miles) from where we live and struck up a conversation. But time was ticking and we had to get to LaCrosse. But here is a photo of the river as it enters Wisconsin below the St. Croix River. It is beginning to look really big. The current here appeared to flow upstream. We couldn't figure that out.
3. Further south the river has gotten really big. Part of that is caused by the frequent Corps of Engineers dams creating large pools upstream.
4. One of many small towns along Wisconsin 35, each tucked between the bluffs and the railroad and river.
Gene
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09-07-2016, 07:08 PM
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#586
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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And more photos,
1. Another view of older buildings along the river. Note the one in the middle is painted two different colors. The third from left is a really nice stone building with curved pediments.
2. The Mississippi looks like an inland sea (ok, some hyperbole) as we travel south. The bluffs are up to 500' high in the drifts area.
3. Dickeyville's Catholic Church had a priest in the early 20th Century who was into using stones and crystals over concrete to create grottos, walls, caves and hard to describe structures, all with a strong Catholic message. This is the first thing you see from the highway.
4. There must be many, many thousands of individual stones, crystals and such. There are more structures, each equally hard to believe.
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09-07-2016, 07:44 PM
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#587
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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More photos:
1, 2. Galena, Ill., must have had a lot of wealthy individuals in the mid-1800's judging by all the large houses from that time.
3. This bar appears to be a favorite for bikers and why the place is named this, I can't imagine. We see a lot of strange signs along the way, but catching them with a camera is hard to do while moving and being 42' long with no easy place to stop.
4. This theater in downtown Rock Island testifies to a vitality there that seems to have been lost.
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09-07-2016, 07:56 PM
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#588
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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More,
1. The Figge Museum in Davenport, a glass and steel cube once thought to be modern, now looks dated.
2. Downtown Davenport—lots of large buildings, but where are the people?
3. The sign says "Apartments"in a well kept early 20th century building, but the store fronts are empty. The city is not rundown or dirty, but quiet.
4. The Centennial Bridge over the Mississippi consists of 5 spans, each alike, a maze of steel girders if you look above the roadway.
Gene
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09-07-2016, 08:21 PM
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#589
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Moderator
2015 25' FB Flying Cloud
2012 23' FB Flying Cloud
2005 25' Safari
Santa Rosa Beach
, Florida
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 13,153
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Great pictures, Gene. We especially like the theater in Rock Island.
Brian
__________________
SuEllyn & Brian McCabe
WBCCI #3628 -- AIR #14872 -- TAC #FL-7
2015 FC 25' FB (Lucy) with ProPride
2020 Silverado 2500 (Vivian)
2023 Rivian R1T (Opal)
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09-07-2016, 08:36 PM
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#590
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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A short day from Rock Island. It only took about 15 minutes to loosen, reposition and re-tighten the brackets for the hitch this morning. We rushed breaking down camp because thunderstorms were possibly coming with heavy rain. A few drops now and then, but we beat the rain and started south along the east bank towards Quincy, Ill.
The river road is not always well marked in Ill., but many county roads are not marked at all. The map gives you a county road number, but the county neglects putting up signs. We only got lost a few times. Some of the towns looked left behind for decades or longer. We only had to go about 150 miles and stopped in Nauvoo, Ill., to look at the scene of religious and cultural conflict in the 1830's. The Utah Mormon church has bought up areas of the town they founded and have made a somewhat idealistic recreation of the long ago Nauvoo. A splinter Mormon group seems to have possession of some other properties including the house of the religion's founder. The present day town, located above the floodplain, is more real looking and benefiting from the tourists who come here, many on a pilgrimage. There is a recreated enormous temple built here in the 1830's and burned down three years later. The 6,000 Mormons who settled here were chased out by other settlers and the state militia.
It all looks idealized, sort of like a religious Williamsburg, although even more sanitized. Barb was looking for a post office, but the building that said "post office" was not a real one. Two women inside, dressed in early 19th century garb, seemed desperate to talk to someone (it was really quiet there) and started telling her how people wrote letters in those days (not enough paper, they wrote in two directions on the same page). All she wanted were some stamps.
It was 93˚ outside and humid when we ate lunch in the trailer. It was probably hotter inside. We were glad to leave and not just because we could turn up the A/C in the truck. There are a lot of restored pioneer villages throughout America. Some are more elaborate, but none are cleaner and more organized than this one. Few of them seem real to me. House tours show sterile places and these homes represent the upper class, not most people. I taught history many years ago and know it wasn't like this. Real life was rougher in those days, sanitation was poor, disease was common, alcoholism was common and drinking water in cities was unsafe. Even idealistic communities (and the early 19th century had a number of them) had their problems.
Quincy, Ill., seemed like a good place to stop. Only 18 miles from Hannibal, Mo. The Mark Twain hometown is a tourist mecca and we'll see what it has. Quincy has a historic downtown to see on the way. We'll stay at the Driftwood CG for two nights. We've slowed down a lot, but after this stop we started south to St. Louis and then speed up, see in-laws and go home. It won't be as fast as our trip east.
There were some short stretches along the river today. It looks enormous. Mostly, however, we rode through corn and soybean fields and more forest than I imagined in flat Illinois. My mental picture of the midwest is plains, formerly of thick grass planted in crops. There are far more trees along our route than we see when we cross the country on I-70. After a day of waiting for rain, about 15 minutes after we got set in our campsite, it started pouring. That went on for a while, but stopped. Lightning to the north happened later, but no more rain. Flood warnings are up in some places, but hopefully not here. It is supposed to rain a lot for the next several days here. Traveling in the rain is always a challenge.
Too late for more photos.
Gene
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09-07-2016, 08:52 PM
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#591
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moosetags
Great pictures, Gene. We especially like the theater in Rock Island.
Brian
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Every time we pass a theater I think of you, but we are usually just trying to get through town. There are enough cool looking theaters to do a book of them. I once contemplated a book of courthouse photos. The variety says a lot about how our communities view local government and themselves. There are around 3,000 counties in the US, it would be a very big book.
Somewhere in northern Minnesota we passed a lake (you pass a lake in Minnesota every few minutes it seems) and I thought I saw something big and dark colored on one side. Then the trees obscured my view. It could have been a moose.
Gene
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09-08-2016, 08:39 AM
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#592
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Rivet Master
1966 22' Safari
Hilltop Lakes
, Texas
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,764
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I stayed at the Mark Twain Cave campground at Hannibal in July, and it was a good place. The cave tour is right there, and there's a tram that will take you to the tourist spots downtown.
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09-08-2016, 06:25 PM
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#593
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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We had thought of the cave CG (after all, it would have meant we stayed at two CG's with caves on this trip, something we have never done before, even though we didn't look at the caves), but wanted to stay in Quincy two nights, see the historic buildings here, and then check out Hannibal. So the cave was first our first choice, then second our second choice.
So this morning, after a night of thunderstorms and some heavy rain, we went into Quincy for breakfast. I have learned, no matter how much I crave Huevos Rancheros, not to order it this far from the southwest. We stopped next to the town square and had a good breakfast at Thyme Square. Quincy looks like a once prosperous town that is surviving better than some along the river. The home historic district has some very nice architecture with some unusual features. downtown. We drove around for quite a while looking at the scores and scores of mansions, big houses, smaller, but substantial houses, and examples of housing architecture ranging from the early 1800's up to the 1930's. Many are in excellent condition. We noted that there is not a lot of stained glass in the Victorian Homes.
It is only about 17 miles to Hannibal, scene of the Mark Twain/Samuel Clements cult (phrasing that would probably please Clemens). I never read the books everyone else apparently has, so I don't know much about whitewashing fences, children causing trouble or the various characters in the books. As a result, this did not mean much to me except as an another example of old buildings and another river town. Except for the cult area downtown, Hannibal, or what we saw of it, did not look prosperous. There's the Clemens house, a museum, numerous tourist things named after Mark Twain, restaurants with a Twain connection and then more Mark Twain stuff. This seems to be the only industry Hannibal has. There are no direct descendants, so no one can protect the name from being used commercially.
It has been a little less hot today, but still very humid with rain threatening all day. Clouds are low, colors are dull and I start to want to be back in the desert. We'll be home in less than a week to dry out. But tomorrow we drive toward St. Louis and take one or two ferries. Maybe the one at Grafton, Ill. across the Mississippi, and certainly one across the Illinois River because there is no bridge on Highway 100.
What does "Mark Twain" mean? On riverboats, someone with a rope with a stone weight on the end would test the river depth. They were marked for each fathom (6'). The someone would announced how many fathoms by saying "mark [number of fathoms]. Two fathoms was "mark twain". "Twain" must have been a river boat patois for "two". Clemens was a river pilot for a very short time.
Gene
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09-08-2016, 06:29 PM
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#594
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Rivet Master
2007 22' International CCD
Corona
, California
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,180
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My most embarrassing breakfast moment was ordering 'sourdough' toast at a diner in New Jersey. They had no idea what I was talking about.
Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums
__________________
Rich, KE4GNK/AE, Overkill Engineering Dept.
'The Silver HamShack' ('07 International 22FB CCD 75th Anniversary)
Multiple Yaesu Ham Radios inside and many antennae sprouting from roof, ProPride hitch, Prodigy P2 controller.
2012 shortbed CrewMax 4x4 Toyota Tacoma TV with more antennae on it.
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09-08-2016, 06:32 PM
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#595
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Rivet Master
2007 22' International CCD
Corona
, California
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,180
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Road Trips
The actual call was, " by the mark. Twain". The traditional leadline has a lead weight on the bottom with a pocket for grease to get a sample of the bottom. Believe it or not, the most modern Navy ships today still put a Leadsman on the bow to check water depth. And they still use the traditional calls.
Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums
__________________
Rich, KE4GNK/AE, Overkill Engineering Dept.
'The Silver HamShack' ('07 International 22FB CCD 75th Anniversary)
Multiple Yaesu Ham Radios inside and many antennae sprouting from roof, ProPride hitch, Prodigy P2 controller.
2012 shortbed CrewMax 4x4 Toyota Tacoma TV with more antennae on it.
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09-08-2016, 06:57 PM
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#596
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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Photos:
1, 2. Keithsburg, Ill., is a river town that doesn't look well downtown. The only businesses that seem to remain open in some towns is the bar, a minimalist restaurant (maybe the bar), a gas station sometimes and perhaps a small store (maybe the gas station too).
3, 4. Two brick buildings in the long ago Mormon settlement of Nauvoo. They look new. If they build a replica settlement it will have to have housing for 6,000 people. There's a long way to go.
Gene
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09-08-2016, 07:17 PM
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#597
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rmkrum
The actual call was, " by the mark. Twain". The traditional leadline has a lead weight on the bottom with a pocket for grease to get a sample of the bottom. Believe it or not, the most modern Navy ships today still put a Leadsman on the bow to check water depth. And they still use the traditional calls.
Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums
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I was close and learned something. Thanks for the correction.
My Verizon system is really slow here even though we are close to a city. Must be the bluff behind us is in the way. Photos take a lonnnnnng time to upload.
Photos:
1. In less than 10 years in Nauvoo, many accomplishments and enemies were made. The enormous temple was built and after the Mormons moved to Utah, the temple, only three years old, was burned down. The Utah church has built a replica.
2. On the way to Quincy, the river gets bigger and bigger.
3. On Hampshire St. in downtown Quincy the left side of this building is either old Art Deco style from the early part of the century, or the whole building is new in that style.
4. Just down the street, across from the town square (Washington Park is the name) is this otherwise older block with one modern building and the Washington Theater which appears to now be part of the performing arts depot at a local university.
Gene
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09-08-2016, 07:42 PM
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#598
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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More photos:
1. There are many, many houses in Quincy that look special. Just a few: The curve in the brick corners is also in the shingles on the third floor and in the two fireplace chimneys. The brick has some subtle designs and the curves above and below the third floor window also is a rare find.
2. The "eyebrow" over the front entry is very large and filled with a complex classical design which is also used above. A really big corner house with a big porch.
3. A very different style, maybe from the 1920-30's or after, a very modernist house with a curved wall near the front door and a curved entry roof over the door to relieve some of the stark rectangularity. the yellow screen door is a definite obscenity. Most houses are older in the historic district and one looked like a very old farmhouse from when this area was farmland.
4. There are too many houses with unique design to post. But this curb is also an interesting detail. The stone curb is two or three times higher than usual, but perfect for getting in a carriage. Down the block are some posts to tie the horse to. This is a residential boulevard with brick pavement.
Gene
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09-08-2016, 07:42 PM
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#599
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Rivet Master
2007 22' International CCD
Corona
, California
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,180
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Road Trips
Throwing a leadline is interesting, because the Leadsman swings the weight in a circle and lets go so it will hit the water a good distance ahead of the ship, then he pulls the line in until it stands dead vertical, then makes the call. The traditional leadline is small stuff (rope) marked with a series of leather strips, knots, colored rag tags, and other stuff to indicate depth in a traditional manner.
Probably on Wikipedia somewhere.
Edit: yup, Google for it. It's quite interesting if you are into traditional nautical stuff.
My knowledge comes from the Bluejacket's Manual circa 1967, and my dad's old Marlinspike Seamanship books dating back to 1944 or so, when he was in the Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point. Yes, the school is still there.
I'm the only one in my family today that knows how to splice eyes, ends, and other rope joining tricks.
Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums
__________________
Rich, KE4GNK/AE, Overkill Engineering Dept.
'The Silver HamShack' ('07 International 22FB CCD 75th Anniversary)
Multiple Yaesu Ham Radios inside and many antennae sprouting from roof, ProPride hitch, Prodigy P2 controller.
2012 shortbed CrewMax 4x4 Toyota Tacoma TV with more antennae on it.
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09-08-2016, 08:05 PM
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#600
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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And, more:
1. Clemens' childhood home with the fence that was the subject of a Tom Sawyer story. I think I saw a photo of Clemens in front of the house around 1900 and there was no fence there then. Fake fence—the borderline between fiction and reality here does get blurred. The wall in the background protected the house from the lumberyard on the other side—I guess fires at lumberyards (maybe there was a sawmill too) were common.
2. Across Hill St. was Clemens' father's law office. He was also justice of the peace, neither job bringing him very much money it appears. He died young, when Clemens was 11. The building on the left was a drug store assembled from a kit in the 1830's. It is a Greek Revival building, a style popular after the revolution in important buildings. Apparently this was an important early building in Hannibal. The fluted columns are not actual columns, but decoration on the building surface and called "pilasters".
3. The front of the same building. The sagging indicates serious deterioration and the building is closed until they can raise enough money to repair it. It may originally have been two stores. One set of doors (at least) has been replaced and not very accurately.
4. When Clemens went outside, walked up Hill St. several feet, turned around and looked east, he saw the river. The buildings down on Main St. were already there and the parking lot on the left was probably not there.
Gene
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