Day 9: Clinton IA -> Winona MN

A more leisurely day in store today.  And it was only 25^o at 9 this morning.  Where's me jumper?  Last night's caravanserai had a lovely view of a truck stop and contained this:

which is approximately 115.846% more tacky than anything on show at Graceland.  In contrast, downtown Clinton has a cool linear park thing along the riverside levee:

I couldn't get far enough away to fit the whole
boat in the shot without falling in the river

Play "Free Bird"!

I stuck to the Iowa side of the river for the first few miles before heading through Sabula and back into Illinois.  Sabula had pelicans on its lake but there were too far from the shore to be decently visible chiz.

IL-84 veers away from the river through rolling countryside

and the town of Galena wich hav a v. interesting history ect etc.  Ulysses S. Grant lived here and it's got loadsa historic buildings:

Galena Post Office; I suspect the aircon unit is not a period feature...

and generally has "tourist trap" written all over it in large, friendly letters.  Nice bridge though:

I then got spat back across the river and into an impromptu tour of the armpit of Dubuque IA, due to the confusing signposting on the Illinois side.  Back on the east side and the Great River Road veers off onto smaller county roads, passing through small towns without so much as a traffic light.  And so into Wisconsin, where I ent been since 2009. Cassville has a cool ferry:

but at twenty of your Earth dollars I think not.  Eventually the route joins forces with WI-35, mostly sticking close to the river again.

Old Settler's Overlook, near Genoa WI

At La Crosse is was kthxbai Wisconsin and o hai Minnesota for the last 25 miles to Winona.  Today I are mostly learning that Winona Ryder was named after the town, having been born near here.  And I wish I'd kept a copy of Samfast's "Ode To Winona" dating from her 2002 conviction for shoplifting, but one verse went:

Winona, Winona

The judge had a bona

But couldn't condona

Your thieving persona

No wonder he emigrated to Captain Cook's Mistake.