May 20, 2014 LeClaire Iowa, Illinois

Tuesday,  May 20, 2014

67 degrees this morning as we set off for LeClaire, Iowa, and the Antique Archaeology store from the TV show American Pickers.  It was still early, so we just stopped by and window-shopped the two small buildings. 

Went to a McDonalds for breakfast and to plan the day a bit.

Next stop, across the river in Moline, Illinois, home to John Deere.  We first stopped at the Harvester Works in E. Moline – what huge machines for only $507K!   

Then went to Moline to the John Deere Pavilion.  Nicely done, there were samples of many machines and a couple of prototypes including this star-wars type machine that "walks" and an automatic lawn mower called Tango E5, as well as history of the family and company.

automatic mower - now there's a Christmas gift idea!

Stopped along the Mississippi in Moline to take a few geese pictures.

Next we headed north on Rt 84 along the river.  The water was very high in spots but we learned that it has crested and is actually going down a bit.  Not very many levees on this part of the river – hills, locks and dams instead.

Stopped in Fulton at this Windmill and museum.  Obviously Dutch influence. We joined a tour that was being given to some school kids.  The museum had models of different types of Windmills from around the world. This one was built and shipped from Netherlands.  They grind wheat, buckwheat, rye and corn using wind power.

Gearworks inside the windmill

model of a mediterranean windmill

Ronald Reagan’s parents and other relatives  lived and are buried here.  Reagan was a frequent visitor.

The temperature is up to 82, so we switched to shorts and had a picnic at a small park along the river, just north of Fulton.

Continued north and stopped at Thompson Causeway Wildlife Refuge.  Lots of birds that we have seen along the way  including geese, egrets, herons, pelicans, ducks.  Kind of buggy, so we just did a drive through. One of the roads was canopied by huge Pines and their aroma had to be the Scratch ‘n’ Sniff of the day.

Passed through many little towns, like Savana (home to the largest maker of  mascot costumes) and Hanover, the mallard capital of the world.  Decided to head to Apple River Fort State Historic Site.  This fort was used during the Black Hawk Wars, which pitted the Fox and Sac Indians against the early settlers.  Young Abraham Lincoln  was captain of a state militia, but didn’t see any action.  The war ended as most did, with the Indians being killed or moved westward to the territory of their enemy, the Dakotas.

Lots of spring flowering trees and bushes here!

Went to Apple River Canyon State Park.  The GPS took us on some interesting short-cut roads as we moved into rain and storms.  We found the park which is quite primitive and parked in a grassy site, then had second thoughts as the rain continued.  Had to use our leveling blocks to get out of the campsite and found a nice concrete parking area in what is supposed to be a day-use area near the Canyon.   Shortly after we got settled in, the rain turned to dime to nickel sized hail!  We were pounded for 10 minutes or so, then the storm moved on, there was a peek of sunshine and a rainbow.  No apparent damage, so we had a good night’s sleep.