Eagles
Many times I talk about how much I love Eagles. Today I drove 270 miles in total to explore the rural northern Illinois and visit the Mississippi River. I crossed the river on land for the first time since I can remember and stepped into a new state for me: Iowa. My destination was the Lock and Dam no. 13 outside of Fulton, IL and across the river from Clinton, IA. The dam's spillway creates a patch of river that is not frozen over so the Bald Eagles come and congregate for food. There were nearly 200 of them, give or take (my estimate is probably low). It was a sight to see. I got pictures, but I don't know how good they will be. I think I need to go back out and explore when its a little warmer. I'll be more willing to hike then.
Illinois has a "Main Street Community" program to keep, well, main street alive in its towns. Its doing a pretty good job and some of the little villages I drove through had several restaurants and stores that looked interesting. Other towns weren't so easy to find food, but in the end, all of the Illinois towns beat out Iowa's. Clinton, a fairly good sized town, had nothing downtown and looked like it was left behind from the 50's.
Tomorrow we're supposed to get snow. I'd like to go into the city to explore and bird on the lake, but I may just wrap up in a blanket and watch tv and movies.
Gas Watch:
I filled up at a BP for $2.07, the cheapest I've seen in a while. But the western side of the state has gas for as low as $1.98! That's the first I've seen it drop below the $2.00 mark since Katrina hit, with exception to a place off of I-59 in Georga.
Illinois has a "Main Street Community" program to keep, well, main street alive in its towns. Its doing a pretty good job and some of the little villages I drove through had several restaurants and stores that looked interesting. Other towns weren't so easy to find food, but in the end, all of the Illinois towns beat out Iowa's. Clinton, a fairly good sized town, had nothing downtown and looked like it was left behind from the 50's.
Tomorrow we're supposed to get snow. I'd like to go into the city to explore and bird on the lake, but I may just wrap up in a blanket and watch tv and movies.
Gas Watch:
I filled up at a BP for $2.07, the cheapest I've seen in a while. But the western side of the state has gas for as low as $1.98! That's the first I've seen it drop below the $2.00 mark since Katrina hit, with exception to a place off of I-59 in Georga.