June 10, 2009 Prior Lake to Winona, MN

We know that we must be getting closer to Michigan - it rains when we travel now! We took the advice of our Minnesota friends, Helen and Bill, and traveled on 61 down the Minnesota side of the Mississippi River through what they call the Minnesota Bluffs. We were surprised to see the bluffs and they reminded us of what we saw in the Panhandle of Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota. The Mississippi starts not far north of here and, whenever we see it, we are reminded of how wide it actually is. It seems like a pretty large lake in areas. We stopped at the National Eagle Exhibit in Wabasa, MN. Here they have live American Bald Eagles. Carol really likes the Eagles. We looked for them in South Dakota, finding a few for a distance. We shot two of them here and they are very large birds. No wonder they rule wherever they go. This place is right on the river and we saw an eagle in a tall, bare tree across the Mississippi waiting for food to swim by. We are now camped in a city park with a campground in Winona, MN, right on the Mississippi River. In the morning, we hope to get some nice river shots with the sun rising across the river from the trees. We will be traveling to the Wisconsin Dells tomorrow to a Coast to Coast RV Park. We should be there for a few days or so. The park we are in now is nice but we will use it for just a stopover park.