Book number one is now in print and available. If you want to visit the Quad Cities—and why wouldn’t you?—check out my Quad Cities travel guide. If you are traveling a bit further north, say to Dubuque, Galena, Clinton, or Prairie du Chien, your book is coming, very soon, hopefully in time for fall foliage season. I just finished another week on the road checking out places to stay and a few new restaurants. (Did you know there’s a Japanese restaurant in Prairie du Chien? Neither did I; it just opened. I like the food at Wasabi Japanese Restaurant but get there while it lasts; I’m not sure it will.)

This should be my last road trip for the second book. I have been doing my first hard edit of the manuscript, which I should finish tomorrow. After that, I have a few calls to make (mostly to get the hours a few places are open), then I am going to try to cut about 20% of the text. This will be tough, but I think the book will read a lot better if I can make it so. Once this manuscript is done, I’ll be making the rounds to promote the Quad Cities book (and maybe working on a few more improvements to the web site). There’s always something.

On this last trip, I had my first chance to hike at Rush Creek State Natural Area, just north of Ferryville (Wisconsin). I nominate this place for “Best Overlook on the Upper Miss.” When I emerged from the forest onto the goat prairie some 500 feet above the river, I was amazed by the views. Most overlooks are obstructed by trees in at least one direction; not here. You can see the full length of the river from north of Lansing to the south where the river makes a sweeping bend to the west. I hiked the morning after it rained and the air had not cleared completely, yet the views were still remarkable. I hope to get back in the fall, when the leaves are at peak color.

Here’s something I don’t get: why do diners serve butter substitute with my toast and pancakes? I’ve eaten at my share of diners in the past couple of years and had my share of fried eggs, sausage, bacon, and fried potatoes. Yet, at these meccas of all things fried, I keep getting served fake butter. I’m sorry, but this just makes no sense at all. It’s like putting on a condom after you’ve…well, you get the picture. I want my butter back.

On Monday, it was 91 degrees in Dubuque, the first time the temp reached 90 in Dubuque in two years. Two years! That’s hard for me to get my head around, since Dubuque is only 300 miles from St. Louis, where we can hit 90 degrees any day between April and October, and usually do.

As I was passing through Port Bryon on Saturday heading home, I heard a loud buzzing sound. I looked around for a small plane above my head but saw nothing. I glanced around again, noticed the dark clouds, and realized that the buzzing sound was actually a tornado siren. I did the only thing I could do: I grabbed my camera and kept driving.

Today’s Bad Decision: Not double-checking a phone number that looked, or should have looked familiar. I called a number in the Twin Cities for what I thought was a new lodging option but, as I got part-way through my spiel, the guy who answered said “Dean?” Only then did I realize that I had already visited this place, although, in my modest defense, he listed it under two different names. I just didn’t bother to double-check the phone number.

Details:

  • Wasabi Japanese Restaurant: 37505 US Highway 18; 608.326.4343; M-Th, 11a-2:30p, 4:30-9:30, F 11a-2:30p, 4:30-10 Sa noon-10, Su noon-9.
  • Rush Creek State Natural Area: From the parking lot on Rush Creek Road (north of Ferryville, Wisconsin), cross the road and walk east to the old service road; the hike to the top will take 30-45 minutes.

© Dean Klinkenberg, 2009