AHH the West! Leaving Denver -->

 Before heading west out of Denver, we stopped at Red Rocks Park.  It was early morning and workers were starting to clean up the amphitheater's parking lots.  We never could actually see the amphitheater buried somewhere in these massive towering rocks, behind locked gates.

   Above:  find a 2-story rock wall - lower right - behind which we found a gift and information shop.

 Driving the scenic Hiway #285 west we could see the Rocky Mts in the distance.

Then heading west on Hiway #82 we climbed up and up into the mountains --

 -- 12,000 ft and we were at the Continental Divide!   Someone had painted a faux topographic map on the bathroom door.

   There was a beautiful lake nearby . . .

  
  But best were the vistas from 12,000 ft of the roads we drove and the ones yet to drive.

Iowa into Nebraska

   Driving through the far NW corner of Iowa into Nebraska (100+ degree temps), we stopped to take a midday break.  The library in S. Sioux City, NE looked shady and cool.

   Just inside the front doors we found a large aviary filled with dozens of the prettiest little birds.

  A man who said he worked for an aviary maintenance company was emptying out all the nests and replacing them with fresh straw.

  Next he used a small netted bird catcher to capture each little bird . . .

  He checked them over, leg banded the new chicks and used a toenail clipper to trim their tiny claw.

   We then drove scenic hiway 75 south (following the Missouri River) through the Winnebago, NE Indian Reservation --

  -- and further south we drove along a hillside ridge above some of the most beautiful farmland I've seen on this trip!

Minnesota into Iowa

   On July 3rd in the very southwest corner, we drove out of Minnesota through Luverne.

   It felt like we might have been following the pretty Canadian geese that filled Luverne's city park - however we didn't leave behind all the fresh fertilizer they did - whew!

  
Just inside Iowa, near Rock Rapids I stopped . . .

    -- where a huge empty silo (twice as tall as the damaged one beside it) was torn apart and left shredded by a recent wind storm.

   Two young men were working on the hot metal in 100+ degree heat - removing large screws one-by-one.

   One was more than willing to stop and explain how storms in this area are capable of this damage (especially empty silos).  Because the owners don't have insurance and want to salvage every piece (for reassembly), he was delighted he had work for 6 months, he guessed.

  His buddy too was then very willing to answer more questions - taking a long break in the intense Iowa heat.

  

The Biggest, Smallest and Metal Moo's in Minnesota

   Minnesota loves BIG!

   We found the Ox and Paul a block apart in Akeley, MN.

  . . . a catfish in Wahpeton --

    -- a lutefisk in Madison . . .

   . . . and just over the bridge in Fargo, ND at the Visitors Center - we discovered the original wood chipper used in the film 'Fargo' complete with body parts.  Dakota winter caps were  on loan for photos as well as the complete screen play, over an inch thick - on a table for reading.

The community park in Dawson, MN has small gnomes - dozens of them cast in concrete . . .

  . . . and even a kiosk with a map to locate more throughout the bushes and trees.

   But the best in Dawson, MN was a pair of holsteins on the grass of a woman's corner lot home.

   As I was taking photos, the garage door opened and Marlys Olsen backed out and shared the story with me - that she used to have a large pink elephant statue too, but a recent storm tore off his trunk.

   She added it was a teacher friend who created the cows.  He originally wanted to make black animals but she only would consider holsteins.  She wanted to hear all about our cross country trip and warmly invited me in for coffee if I visited the area again.

Happy 4th!

  I hope you had a fun one.  All four sides of the small town park in Auburn, Nebraska were lined with flags yesterday - hundreds of them.

Where the Mississippi River starts

   There's a state park in northern Minnesota with a very pretty Visitor's Center.  It has river exhibits, maps and histories to see and read.

  A statue by the trail to the headwaters honors women as the keeper of water and life.

 There's a small lake at the end of the short walk and an even smaller creek running out of the lake and into the surrounding woods.

  Everyone was taking off their shoes and walking across the mid calf deep water of the rocky little stream - walking across the Mississippi River!

  A mother duck and her 6 tiny chicks paid no attention to the noisy tourists.