The Great River Road Tour

By Tom O’Donnell

Summary of the Tour

Madeleine and I had a great time on the Tour.  We enjoyed the company of many new friends as well as renewing some old friendships.  The weather cooperated very well; we had some cloudy days and some rain, but they came at times when they would not interfere with  the joy of sight seeing.  The temperatures were perfect for driving an old car, high 60’s to low 70’s.

The Celebration Belle Dinner Cruise on the Mississippi was great.  The weather was very nice, the food was terrific and the entertainment was songs of the 40’s and 50’s.  We were invited to visit all of the decks on the boat and the control room.  They had a very nice dance floor and the boat was stable enough to do all of the dancing that you wanted to.

At the John Deere Pavilion they were having a history presentation for school children.  A second grade class was visiting at the same time we were.  The kids were having a lot of fun climbing up on the tractors and watching the blacksmith make stuff.  We had a nice ride up to the Mississippi Palisades State Park where we had a picnic lunch and drove through the park.  There were several places where the views were outstanding.  A brother and sister joined us at the Comfort Inn for the drive to the park.  They were driving a very nice 1941 Lincoln Continental.  We were also joined by a couple from California in their 41 Pickup.  They were visiting family in the Savanna area, so they toured from the park to La Crosse with us.

Bill and Marty Valters joined us in Galena and toured to La Crosse with us.  In La Crosse we visited the Dahl Auto Museum and had dinner at a drive in where we were served our dinner by car hops on skates. That brought back some memories.  Several people left the tour at La Crosse.  The Minnesota Group had made the tour from Lanesboro to Moline on their way down on Tuesday.

Friday we drove to Lanesboro, MN, through some of the prettiest country I have seen.  The road runs though the bluffs of southern Minnesota; it is very hilly with many curves.  Lanesboro is a very small town that is situated in a semi circle valley with the bluffs surrounding it in 3 sides.  When the people saw our cars in town, they went home and brought out their collector cars.  From Lanesboro, MN, we drove to Spillville, IA, and visited the Bily Clock Museum, a junk yard full of Fords and St. Wenceslaus Church.  The clock museum contains the work of the Bily brothers.  They hand carved huge clocks with scenes from history and the bible.  The junk yard was discovered by Bruce Nelson when he pre-drove the route.

Saturday we drove to Dyersville and visited the Farm Toy Museum, an antique mall, the Dyer–Botsford house, St. Francis Xavier Church, and the Field of Dreams movie site.  Some of the people went on to Anamosa, IA, to visit the National Motorcycle  Museum.  We finished the Tour at Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream with a farewell dinner.

Thanks to Ken Bounds and Bruce Nelson for driving the tour and checking the directions.  The tour would not have happened without the help of Ken.  Thanks to everyone that came on the tour.  People make the tour.  Everyone had a great attitude and the complaints were minor like “pick wider spots for your U turns”.  Some people had car trouble, but they did not let it spoil their fun.  My car ran great throughout the tour, but I had a flat tire on the way home.  The valve core decided to leak just before we got to the DeKalb Oasis.  John Slobodnik and his son, John, helped me change the tire and reload my trunk.  It is great to have such good friends.