Wisconsin, Iowa, Minneapolis

So, on from the Windy City, we traveled northwest to Blue Mound, WI, pop. 432. Sweet. Blue Mound doesn't seem like it would be a tourist spot except for the Cave of the Mounds and Little Norway. Cave of the Mounds became a National Landmark in 1939 after people accidentally discovered it because they were blowing stuff up. Awesome. The result? Fraggle-freaking Rock. These caves were really cool and we got a full guided tour. Being that it was the middle of the day on a Wednesday, we were the only "grown ups" without kids. The only other people on our tour were Brownie Girl Scouts. These are actual pictures we took during the tour. This makes me really excited to see the Carlsbad Caverns in August!

Little Norway really made me reminisce simultaneously about IKEA Swedish meatballs and about the overpriced doll I so loved, Kirsten, the Swedish immigrant American Girl. Built by a Norweigan immigrant family in the mid 1800's, Little Norway was a homestead farm until Isak Dahle, some rich Norweigan American guy, bought it in the 1920's. He then used it as a summer home for a few years until it was opened to the public. His descendants still live on the property. Our tour guide was hardcore 2nd generation Norweigan American and it was obvious that he loved his job. The whole 'museum' really piqued my interest about the whole Scandinavian immigrant experience. The grand finale of the tour was a peek inside the "Norway House" which was built in Norway. The interior was reminiscent of the Rohirrim and Vikings. (I'm a geek, I know.) That's me standing on the steps as Eowyn, peering out over the rolling hills of Rohan, awaiting the return of Aragorn.
That evening, after having a hearty meal at the Grumpy Troll (complete with the gotta-have cheese curds), we spent the night at Blue Mound State Park---in a thunderstorm. Setting up the tent for the first time went well but starting a fire with wet wood did not. We settled for a quiet night of Pente in our sleeping bags. Thunder was steadily rolling in throughout the evening and there was a full-on downpour earlier while we were having dinner. Being in a warm, dry restaurant munching on amazing fried things during a thunderstorm is one thing but huddling in a sleeping bag while forks of lightning illuminate your teeny tent is another. But, for the most part, we stayed fairly dry. We lived to see the morning and we were off for Iowa. On the way, we got to see some Amish!!! YAY! The picture on the left is the back end of an Amish man's wagon. He was selling flowers.
Iowa was not originally on our itinerary. We figured we'd just go from Wisconsin straight into Minnesota but the Little Norway tour guide recommended the Effigy Mounds National Monument on the banks of the Mississippi River in Harper's Ferry, Iowa. So we went. Turns out that the Effigy Mounds are part of our America the Beautiful Parks Pass so we got in for FREE! Always a nice bonus. Even Robert was happy. (Remember Robert, our car? He got a nice break as we went on a hike.) The effigy mounds (which are in various animal shapes) are ancient burial grounds of hunter gatherer Native Americans from around 1000 B.C. They still pose various questions to today's archaeologists. Their mysteriousness may not translate from the picture but there was a certain sense of wonder I felt as I trekked over their sacred ground. It was a really nice spontaneous side trip.

Around 5 pm we arrived in Minneapolis or, as my mother acerbically put it, "Mini-no place". Of course, she visited for a business trip many years ago. Still, I wasn't really expecting much even though Minneapolis is second only to New York for theaters per capita. That should have been a sign. This city is great. We stayed in the International Hostel in the city. (I also must admit, I'd had a preconceived bias toward hostels. I always thought they were filled with hippies and bedbugs.) It is in an old mansion right across the street from the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts. Just like quaint bed and breakfasts, it has charming Victorian architecture and creaking wooden floors. It's very clean and we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves being that it's "off season". It's really close to downtown, which was a major plus.
After wandering around, we stumbled upon Dakota and had some delicious Pumpkin Gnocchi. After wandering around some more, we had some iced hard cider at Brit's Pub (also delicious). We made the nice walk back to the hostel neighborhood (which was in the heart of a Vietnamese and African enclave -- sad I can't stay and try out the cuisine!!!) and stopped by a retro 60's mod coffeeshop called Spy Coffeehouse. Minneapolis turned out to be a really nice city and I would love to return here to see some theater (Prairie Home Companion??).


Next stop? The middle of South Dakota somewhere.....