The Mighty Mississippi

After a short ride, we again crossed the Mississippi and rode into Dubuque, Iowa. We planned to stay a couple of days as rain was expected. What a contrast! The Iowa Information Centre was easy to find (it was provided by the Dubuque Chamber of Commerce) and the lady there could not have been more friendly or helpful. There was so much good information provided that we ended up staying in Iowa longer than we planned - but more of that later. Dubuque is a river city and every single person we spoke to there was very friendly. We called in to the local Honda dealer to get the oil and filter changed on the bike and the guys were great. We walked along the Mississippi River but were too late to take in the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium on that first day. The second day brought the expected rain so we took in the museum. This was another of the many "finds" for us. It is very modern and fantastic. Apart from telling the story of the river (we had not appreciated how significant this river was and is to the USA), it housed a very good aquarium of fish that are found in the river plus a few snakes, turtles, otters and an alligator. In the afternoon, we took a river cruise in a paddle riverboat. There were only eight passengers in all on a boat designed to take a couple of hundred so initially they debated whether to go at all. They did, and despite the rain, we had a good trip, with the captain regaling us with interesting facts all the while. We were invited up to the pilot house and Ric engaged the captain in conversation, and indicated that he was surprised at how manoeuverable the craft was. A juju must have been laid down at that point because as we came in to dock, something went wrong and instead of neatly turning and berthing at the designated place, the riverboat plowed on, hitting the docking barge with the extended gangway. The gangway splintered, one of the crew high-tailed it up a ladder while the other was thrown into the water. You can imagine this disrupted the berthing sequence somewhat but shortly after, all eight passenger safely disembarked and all crew were safe and well. We guess there are quite a few people who can claim to have sailed the Mississippi in a riverboat but how many can also say they crashed in one?