Sometimes on this trip we have two road tripping days in a row. On these occasions we have a little touring added to the itinerary so we aren’t arriving at our destination bleary-eyed and white-knuckled. This is the tale of October 7 and 8, the start of our second week with the Mississippi River Run tour, and our third week overall.

On 10/7 we traveled from St Paul to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. This journey was very pleasantly interrupted in Wabasha, MN by a visit to the National Eagle Center. This privately-run organization advocates for healthy eagle habitat along the Mississippi River, and also does rescues of eagles who are not able to survive in their natural habitat.

Our visit to their facility included a presentation by an eagle handler, an expert in eagles and their behavior who gave a presentation about the birds and their behavior in the wild. He also brought one of the eagles they are caring for, a young male named Latsch (after John A. Latsch – look him up)! This eagle is blind in one eye and can’t fly or hunt. He can, however, shoot poop up to 12 feet when inspired. Fortunately, he was not so inspired when he emerged from his cage, and confined his toileting activities to the area in front of his cage. The front row was pretty nervous when he emerged, though!

The remainder of this day was the rest of our drive to Sports Unlimited Campground in Prairie du Chien. It was a 225 mile trip plus the stop at the eagle center so we were all pretty weary when we arrived.

Next day we were on the road early as we traveled to our next campground in Rock Island, IL. This was an eventful day, with a stop at the National Mississippi River Museum en route, and a dinner cruise on the river after we arrived at the campground. We also had a little misadventure with our rig to add to the fun. But all turned out fine in the end.

Our misadventure occurred during the execution of a tight turn, after which our rear view camera stopped working. When we stopped for fuel shortly afterwards, a motorcyclist who had been following us came over and said our brake lights on the trailer weren’t working properly. I thought the electrical cord between the Jeep and the trailer might have come loose. When I went to look at it I found that it had been partially severed by getting caught in the hitch during that tight turn. Not a good thing at all. I asked in the service station if there was an RV repair facility in the area and found that there was one about a mile down the road. How lucky was that!

We drove to the repair place and thankfully they were able to repair the cord, and also replace three fuses in the Jeep that blew when the cord was cut. They also fed us chili dogs while we waited. We were so happy to have a such a speedy and friendly solution to what could have been a major problem!

With our rig restored to good health, we caught up with the rest of our group at the museum in Dubuque, IA. We had a limited window for our visit, but managed a quick trip through a dredging ship that belongs to the museum. This is a steam-powered ship that kept harbors and navigation channels clear on the river during its active life. Most of it was available for touring and it was fascinating!

This museum had so many interesting things to see, and our time there was so short! Definitely worth another visit if we return one day.

But we had to move on. We got settled into the Rock Island KOA and then headed out for a dinner cruise on the Mississippi.