Rollin, Rollin, Rollin On The River

On Wednesday of last week, Jim and I headed for Le Claire, IA. We left here around noon and arrived there around 7. We took our time getting there, stopping when we felt like it and we stayed at a motel there on Wed night. Thursday morning at 9 we boarded the riverboat named The Twilight. It is a 3 deck river boat that offers 2 day cruises. We set sail about 9:30. The day was cloudy and a little on the cool side. I believe their little gift shop made a fortune that morning selling Sweatshirts and light jackets. Jim and I figured cruising on the river might be a bit cool so we came prepared with sweatshirt and jacket. As we boarded we were given a continental breakfast of fruit cups and pastries. Then at 10:30 they served us a snack of fresh fruit and chunks of cut up cold cuts and cheese. After that "Mark Twain" came up to the 2nd deck which happened to be the largest deck and where our assigned table was. He was very interesting, and when I get a chance to post some pictures, I will show you a pictures. He looked very much like Samuel Clemons. After that it was lunch. It was some wonderful ham and turkey on a homemade wholewheat roll. It was delicious. They had Bingo every afternoon and yes, EVEN I played it. All who know me, know that I do not have a lot of fun playing Bingo, but we did. I won $1. Then it was afternoon snack of veggies and dip and cookies. And then about 5:30 or so they served a dinner of a cranberry glazed chicken, buttered noodles, and broccoli and key lime pie. Of any day of the year we could have taken this cruise, we happened to pick the day the mayflies or "fish flies as they called them" decided to hatch. When we got to the first lock there were literally millions of those things. Now anyone who knows me knows that I FREAK at things flying around my head. There were 4 Amish couples on the tour. (Yes this surprised me but in talking to them we found out that they can ride in cars just not operate them, so they hired a van to bring them there. The van driver was waiting for them there and would drive them back to Indiana where they were from (5 - 6 hour drive and this was 7 when we got back) and then someone with horse and buggy would take them back to their home another hour by horse and buggy. They were interesting to observe and they sure seemed to to totally enjoy it all) Anyway, those Amish women laughed at me when I went out on deck and totally freaked when those mayflies came around me and I ran back inside. Well,,,, sorry but I live with A/C and don't have to put up with bugs. I feel mightily blessed for that. It is good that when we were moving on the river they did not come near the boat much so most of the cruise was bug free. We arrived in Dubuque about 7 and we went right to our room. We would have taken a walk on their resort/hotels beautiful river walk, BUT,,, the fish flies were hatching there too and no way was I going to put up with that. I probably would have fallen in the Mississippi swatting them. Our rooms were very nice and in the morning the we were served a very nice breakfast buffet. We had until 11 to site see Dubuque. Jim and I went and rode the vertical railroad. It is a railroad that goes up almost straight 300 feet. You get into this wooden small train car is what it looks like, you pull the string and it starts up the cliff. You can go to this site and read about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Street_Elevator Then we walked around this quaint part of town with its unique shops before we caught the shuttle back to the resort to get back on the Twilight and head back down stream. We were out only about 10 min when they served a snack, I cannot remember what that one was and then at 12:30 we were served a fish fillet lunch. It was very good. Again there was Bingo and then we had a man entertain us with folk music. Then it was snack time and this time it was crackers, cheese ball and cappuccino muffin cups. Now those were mighty gooooooood. Friday was such a nice day. Jim and I spent most of the day out on the deck taking in all the nature along the Mississippi. We saw eagles nests and eaglets in them, we saw one come soaring out of the trees right on top of us, we saw about 12 turtles sunning themselves on a long caught in the low part of the river, we saw may kinds of birds and so very much pretty scenery with the cliffs and the trees. We enjoyed the Calliope and I even got to steer the boat. Jim and I went up to the captains perch and visited with him. A very fine gentleman. Friday evening we were served a prime rib dinner with all the fixins and Mississippi mud pie for dessert. Shortly after that we were back in Le Claire where we picked up our car and headed to the Super 8 for a nights sleep before we headed home on Saturday morning.

All in all it was very enjoyable. It was for sure forced relaxation. There was not much to do but eat, watch the scenery, talk and just enjoy. Our luggage was taken to the resort for us and in our rooms when we got there, and it was picked up and waiting for us when we got back to Le Claire. There were a couple of women from Utah that sat next to us, and God bless them, but they flew into O'Hara on Wed and with all the rain they were having there they could not get out, so they tried to rent a car but they were all rented out. They found a man that was in the same boat as them, wanting to get to Moline IL where they had a car reserved for them. He called a friend or relative that drove 3 hours to pick them up and take them to Moline. There truly are good people left in this world. But when they got to Moline, of course no luggage, so their luggage was Walmart bags, all tied shut. They were making the best of it, and like they said,,, memories.

We got back to Champlin about 2:00 on Saturday and at 2:30 I came down with a migraine headache. So I took my feverfew and then I laid down and told Jim if I fell asleep to wake me at 4, which I did and he did. Then it was off to do some shopping as today we celebrated Jim's daughter and grandson's birthdays. So after shopping I made the birthday cake and we did a bit of cleaning and then hit the sack. Soooooooo that is a synopsis of our Mississippi River cruise aboard the Twilight. It was fun

Hugs
Sandi