We'd be Crazy not to Stop at Crazy Frank's!

Approaching the Mississippi River in
 Dubuque, Iowa

The Spirit of Dubuque is a paddle boat to enjoy an old fashion ride on the Mississippi River.

Over the river and we're back in Wisconsin...ahhhhhh home again.

The grass has gotten sooo green in the ten days we were gone.  The farmers are in the fields getting the ground ready for planting.  Spring has come early to the Midwest this year.  Hope Mother Nature doesn't have a surprise for us.

There's nothing like winding up your vacation shopping at Crazy Franks!  Unfortunately...there wasn't anything crazy enough I needed!

 Then all of a sudden...there's a reminder that we're back in Tomah, Wisconsin

...and of course that includes my daffodils! 
There's many signs of spring....

Oh yes...many signs of things

to come in Wisconsin!

Still...very happy to be home.

Just Taking in the Sites Along the Way

In the tiny town of St. Mary, Missouri there is a gigantic antique Mall that we have visited before on one of our trips.  They converted an old grade school into a mall with over 600 dealers.  Last time we was there I bought a beautiful handmade quilt for a very reasonable price.  Didn't buy much this time...guess I have everything I need.

It seemed like...all the way through Missouri we would see these beautiful blooming crab apple trees.  The were everywhere,

even along the interstate.

All these old buildings and farms will be totally gone in a matter of years and wiped from history (unless someone has put them in the town's archives).  It's sad to think that future generations will not see these small farms dotting the horizons of the United States.  More of the past disappering. When I take a picture of these old farms...it gives me a feeling of preserving them a little while longer...somehow.

Passed through Mark Twain's town of  Hannibal, Missouri, neat old river town. 

You can almost see Tom and Huck walking the streets of Hannibal, finding unexpected trouble they always seemed to get themselves into.

The downtown has some great architecture

of the 1800's to enjoy.

Talk about "Small Town American."  Mt. Pleasant, Iowa fits right into that category!  We asked an older man in an antique store near the downtown area if there was a place to eat at, going out of town.  He said he rarely gets out of town.  We drove there and found that there were  lots of places to eat and motels to spend the night at.  Wonder if that old guy in the old part of town knows that there is a whole new part of town in the 21st century,

less than 2 miles down the road?

This town does have a great museum of old farm machinery.  They also hold a "Thresheree" in the summer for those interested in agriculture.  If you find yourself in Mt. Pleasant and want to visit these sites....just stop in at the antique store and ask the old man for directions.  He'll know where it is because it is on the old side of town :-)

The old side of town does have it's beauty, even though it doesn't have the new restaurants and motels.  You won't find these gorgeous blooming trees on the new side of town.  I guess the old guy has his reasons for not leaving his side of town... maybe this is one.

 

Throw Me a Roll Please

Our friends told us about this restaurant in Missouri.  We saw the sign as we approached the town of Skiteston and thought we would stop and see the unusual place of dining for ourselves.  There are only 3 of these restaurants in the United States.The other 2 are in the Ozarks of Missouri and Foley, Alabama, in case you ever want to visit one.  If you don't care for noise and a little chaos...

it may not be your place to visit. 

That's right...he is throwing rolls to people dining that want a roll.  The history of this tradition of "roll throwing" started in 1976 when the owner usually walked around handing out rolls to customers. It is told that one day it was so busy and crowded that he couldn't get to a customer to hand the roll to him. 

The customer yelled to the owner...

 "just toss it to me!" and that's how it all started. 

The rolls are gigantic and are fresh out of the oven so they are pretty warm when you catch them.  Besides the rolls, servers walk around asking you if you would like: black-eyed peas, fried potatoes, chicken fried steak, and macaroni and tomatoes. (these are put on your plate, not thrown :-)  Unlimited refills on all these extras!

   

Besides your mouth being busy taking in all the food that is being offered to you...

your eyes will be taking in all the collections

displayed on the walls and ceiling.

Our Day Ends in Hope...Hope, Arkansas that is

Heading north of Corpus Christi...the oil refineries share the landscape with the granaries. The fields stretch as far as the eye can see.  Silhouettes of cows along the way.... break up the monotony. I don't know what a person would do for entertainment out here in the middle of no where. Probably the same thoughts of some people that wonder what we do in the back bluffs of Tomah,Wisconsin :-)

Houston....we have a problem.  Not specifically with Houston; but the whole state of Texas!  The logistics of their interstate system is very different than Wisconsin's.  They have loops around the bigger towns, which is a good idea; but are a challenge to follow.  In Wisconsin where you have an off- ramp you usually have an on-ramp shortly afterwards.  Not here...it could be miles down the road.  Confusion is one reason we're heading to

Arkansas instead of Louisiana!

They say..."Don't Mess With Texas,"  I say... "Texas has a Mess" when it comes to deciphering their road system.  I guess it's something a Northerner just has to get use to like...

biscuits and gravy. 

A picture that does not do it justice. 

 The Astro Stadium.

Visited Bill Clinton's birthplace home...

...just kidding!  We did visit and spend the night in his home town of

 "Hope," Arkansas.

Onto Missouri tomorrow.    

I'll Remember the Alamo; but also the window washer

It's true...you can make what you want of any job!  This window washer showed his sense of humor and seemed very proud of his job.  Nice of him to "strike a pose."  Every time I remember the time we visited the Alamo...

I'll remember the window washer too.

A very interesting and historical place to visit...the Alamo.  A little eerie to think that we were walking on the same ground that nearly 200 hundred people

gave their lives for freedom and being a major role in the shaping of this country... The United States of America. 

The Crockett Hotel is on the other side of the Alamo walls.  Unfortunately, Davy Crockett slept within the walls of the Alamo.  He arrived there February 9th, 1836 as a volunteer Auxiliary Corps of Texas to defend the wooden palisade at the Alamo from the Mexicans.

For 12 days the brave 150 people held off the military leader Santa Anna of Mexico and his 1500 soldiers.  32 reinforcements were able to sneak in the Alamo by night to help; but by then Santa Anna's troops were 2500 strong.  Before daybreak on March 6th, the 13th day of the siege, the doors of the Long Barrack and the old church were blasted open. Within 90-minutes the battle was over and everyone inside the Alamo were dead or taken prisoneer and executed.  There is an account written where some women and children and a slave were found hiding in the old church after the battle by Santa Anna.  It is said that they were given their freedom and some money and to spread the word that anyone who opposed him would meet the same fate as the defenders of the Alamo. As one last act of conquest, Santa Anna ordered his soldiers to gather all the dead bodies of the Alamo defenders and burn them. 

Beautiful in the Corpus Christi area.  Check out the oil refineries in the distance under the bridge.  This must be the major employment up and down the coastline.  We stopped to get a motel room further north of here and many of the motels were full.  We thought it due to spring break; but it was because of the workers in the area that are employed at the oil plants.

Went aboard the USS Lexington that served in World War II.  We couldn't believe the size of this ship, it has 11 decks!

The USS Lexington was an aircraft carrier.  I can't imagine landing one of those planes on this short runway.  Lots of brave people have served our country and... still are.

No....these are not shelves...it's where the men on the ship slept!  Oh...I'm so happy to be able to crawl into my king-size bed tonight at the motel. 

 Good Night to Texas...tomorrow Louisiana.

A Shaving Cream Ceiling?

Ever stay at a Travelodge Motel?  Our first time and will be out last.  We should have walked out when we saw the ceiling.  You think those popcorn ceilings in motels are bad?  This one looked like someone had taken shaving cream and smeared it on the ceiling about 3 inches thick!  I think that was to cover up something because you can see a crack that runs the length of the room.  All I could think of was an earthquake hitting and this ceiling burying us under feet of plaster or whatever they smeared up there! Okay...just don't look up I kept telling myself.  Turn the lights off, go to bed, and close your eyes and all will be fine....until.........Bill came out of the bathroom and said the toilet wouldn't flush!  Now that issue can not be ignored by closing your eyes.  Bill calls the manager (twice) to report the problem.  A knock at the door brings a (south of the border) manager and a 6 foot snake standing in our doorway.  He makes his way to the bathroom and rotorudes our commode and guarantees us it will work for our duration of the night.  If not, give him a call and we can have another room.  Why?... oh... why didn't we just leave then? Instead...we went out to dinner and had steak and lobster and returned to the shaving cream ceiling motel room with the questionable toilet.  Soon our questions would be answered with the call of nature.  Off to another motel room we went... with another shaving cream ceiling; but a toilet that flushed!

That was last night; but I had to share this with you :-)

Our room tonight is a very comfortable room, with a nice ceiling,

...and a toilet that flushes!

 

Made it to Texas!  It really doesn't look any different in the Austin area than Wisconsin.  Of course...the 6-8 inches of in rain some parts of Texas has accounted for all the greenery.  I'm sure it doesn't look like this in the

long, hot, dry summer. 

Some evidence of the overabundant amount of rainfall in the area.  This is a river overflowing its banks and covering the frontage road next to the interstate.  Luckily,  we didn't come across flooding on the roads we were on.

Oh...those Shermans are everywhere...

even in the Lone Star State.

Austin, the capital of Texas.  Some neat buildings; but couldn't see the capitol building

from the interstate.

Then....practically around the corner

 you'll see a home like this. 

Wish I knew the stories this house could tell.

I saw the sky with it's beautiful shades of pink and blue, along with the cute baby that reminded me of our new grandson and had to snap this picture.  I didn't even read the the words on the billboard

until I posted it on my blog. 

No personal views intended here.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

Yesterday was just beautiful and even warm enough to put the air conditioning on in the car and motel.  Today we woke up to cloudy skies.  As we traveled south on I35 towards Oklahoma, those skies became darker and darker.  The rain began to fall and continued all day, with flash flood warnings in many areas.  Sooo... much of our day was driving, stopping for a nice dinner, and finding a motel south of Oklahoma City to relax in for the night.   Tomorrow....Texas! 

Not a very eventful day.  Good day to daydream

...as long as you're not driving.

There's a little "American Pickers" in all of us

We decided to stop in LeClaire, Iowa to see the shop of the TV show "The American Pickers."  We didn't see Mike or Frank and not even tattoo Danielle.  There were only two young girls in the shop behind the counter waiting for people to buy Picker t-shirts and other commercial commodities.  I expected the shop to be bigger and to at least see Danielle there on the phone, setting up places for the guys to go to find their mother-load pickins.  It was interesting though.  Speaking of Danielle...she has another job besides being  on American Pickers, that may be of interest to you.  Those tattoos aren't the only interesting thing about her :-)  Tell  you about that later in this blog.

Bill is standing there just checking out the cycles  (I think :-)

Everyone likes old things right?  
(no comments!)

More oldies; but goodies they found in those

 forgotten barns and sheds of America.

I saw people smile as they looked at these head of Laurel and Hardy.  They must have seen the episode when Mike and Frank bought these.  They said they had to buy them because they looked like them.  I agree, they do and
sometimes act like them too :-)

Now for tattoo Danielle update...across the street from the Picker's Shop was as neat old building and I noticed it had a picture of Danielle on the side of the building.  We went over there and it was a shop called "4 Miles 2 Memphis."  It was an very unusual place and we couldn't quite figure out who the shop was catering to.  It had lots of vintage clothes; but not the apparel the prim and proper ladies of the 1800's wore. 

 This picture was for sale of Danielle in her shop.  What the heck is she holding?  We also saw an advertisment in the shop of her dressed up in similar clothes that she sells in her store. The flyer advertised a burlesque show that Danielle is involved in.  She does shows in Davenport and even in Chicago.That explains the clothes in the shop!  Can't see a big calling for burlesque clothes from the tourist that are passing through this little town.
"NO, I didn't buy any vintage clothes :-)"

LeClaire, Iowa is one of those neat, little river towns on the Mississippi.  Lots of things to see and visit...like the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Paddlewheel boat, antique and gift shops and the architecture of a town of the early 1800's.  After leaving Iowa we traveled until we reached Olathe, Kansas and there we relaxed for the night.  Tomorrow Oklahoma!