A 2nd Pikes Peak?

It was time for us to leave the grandchildren.

 Silly waves - family tradition

( The silly waves are to keep us from crying when we leave; doesn't always work)

We decided to take a scenic route home.

 Going the same way on the freeway can get boring. 
And this way, we see country we have never seen before! 

 We enjoy the idyllic, charming little towns.

One would not think Wisconsin windy enough for these!  Seriously, we rarely would feel any wind at all!  Here in Kansas, where we are, we typically see 30 mph winds!  We've even had 90 mph!

I love willow trees! 

 Al spotted something and turned around so I could get a look.  (you can see it if you look close)

 Some happy farmer decided to make a happy face!

I'd rather keep my eye out for a "falling rock" than a "fallen rock"!

 We drove alongside the Wisconsin River

Al pulled off on a boat ramp access road so we could get up close. 

 The river was running mighty fast.

 At Prairie du Chien, we pulled off at a rest stop.

We asked where a good spot would be to see the river.

She directed us across the river to the Iowa side to Pike's Peak.

Pike's Peak?  In Iowa?

Marquette

Pink elephants - who knew.

4 miles south of Marquette, there is a turn off to drive up Pike's Peak for a good view of the Mississippi River.  This Pike's Peak is not near as tall as the one in Colorado, of course, but still the view is impressive!  Yes, discovered by the same Zebulon Pike!

 

 If you have bad knees, you might not want to take this little hike.

As we traveled on, we passed 3 ambulances blocking a farm road.  Looked on-line the next day (Oct. 10) to see if I could find something, but couldn't.

Cute town of Strawberry Point.

 Our friends used to live around here in Manchester.  He is a vet for dairy cattle.  Wonder if he ever looked after these?

 At Manchester, we decided to get on Interstate 20. 

 We decided we almost like it better than Interstate 80!  Much less traffic.  It does seem to take much longer as it is open prairie all along the way and not many towns.  But the heavy traffic on 80 can rattle a person!

 Odd - a windmill that is "dressed" in weeds.

Picked up 35 to head south.

It was clouding up as we drove into Kansas.

 By the time we got to KC, it was getting dark and it was raining.

Even with the sight seeing, we were able to make it home in 13 1/2 hours.  We felt that was really not bad at all!  And what a fun adventure!