Clarks Ferry: Montpelier, Iowa

 We traveled from Ray Behrens (Mark Twain Lake) to Clarks Ferry in Montpelier, Iowa.  Our intention was to follow the Great River Road to the Corp of Engineer Park.  Apparently signs cost too much in Missouri. The route was very poorly marked, so we so had to change plans and follow the GPS. Unfortunately, there is not a setting in the GPS that says scenic.  We did reach the park finally.  As we pulled in, there was a barge coming up river which was fun to see.

This was our fabulous view from the campsite.

Remainder of day was taking care of various items on the rig. Just like living in a house, there is always housekeeping and work to be done.

We went north to Davenport, Iowa to look at the sky bridge and Vander Veer Botanical Park. The sky bridge was not anything to talk about, but it did give us a nice view of Lock 15.  The dam is 1,203 feet (366.7 m) long and consists of nine 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible, non-overflow roller gates and two 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible overflow roller gates. It is unusual among the upper Mississippi River dams. It has different sizes and types of roller gates.

Vander Veer Park was a nice stop even though the temperature was approaching 100 degrees.

We got curious about the location of Antique Archaeology and discovered it was in the immediate area.  It is the store that the American Pickers TV show centers around.  The store is located in Le Claire, IA.  It was a huge disappointment.  There are 2 stores on the property and almost everything they are selling is advertising junk (t shirts, hats, etc) for the store itself.  We did discover the Buffalo Bill Museum in town.  This made the trip worth our visit to Le Claire.  The Buffalo Bill Museum is a Mish Mash of everything from the area, not only Buffalo Bill information.  He was from the area.  

 

This is a Stern Wheel from one of the last Stern wheel ships that worked the river. Very interesting when you can look at it closely. Those are 2x10’s bolted to the steel supports.  Very simple concept but I would be interested in knowing how long they lasted.

This is the Great River route in Iowa.  From what have we seen to this point today, the Route appears to be very well marked with signage advertising the route.

One of the fun things we found in the museum was how Pearl buttons were made.  These are actually made from Mollusk shells from the Mollusks that live in the area in the Mississippi River.  At one point, the area produced 1.5 billion pearl buttons each year.

Below was an interesting bit of information regarding the Interstate high way system

On our way back from Le Claire to Clarks Ferry, we stopped at Lock 14 as a barge was being transferred up stream.  It was a very interesting process and not heavily time consuming.

Today is another travel day. We will be moving upstream along the Mississippi to De Soto, Wi.