Prairie du Sac/Sauk City Day Trip–January 18, 2014

This weekend was Eagle Days in Prairie du Sac and Sauk City, WI and I needed an excuse to use my new zoom lens so we headed out there.  It was snowing so wasn’t the ideal conditions for active eagle watching but we still got to see some eagles quite close up.

Below are pictures from the hydraulic dam just north of Prairie du Sac.  There was a big sign asking people to stay in their cars so they don’t scare the eagles and most listened.  That didn’t stop one gal though from standing on the seat and poking her head through the sun roof.

None of the photos on today’s post were cropped (unlike many of the photos in my blog posts about our trip to the Mississippi).  I know the last one is blurry.  I definitely need some practice manually focusing on a moving object.

We stopped on a bridge over the Wisconsin for this picture:

We also stopped at Wollersheim Winery and took their tour (and of course sampled some wine).  Here are a few pictures:

The second photo shows their chardonnay in a barrel. 

The third is a barrel of their brandy.  In the last few years, laws have changed such that wineries can now also distill and so Wollersheim took advantage of this by making it’s own brandy.  Last year the first batch was released and sold out in ten days.  This year the second batch will be released in May.  They have doubled the quantity they are making this time.  They have recently built a distillery on the property and hope to increase production of their brandy even more.  A gentleman on the tour had nothing but incredible things to say about it.

The last picture is of the cave.  This cave was just recently renovated.  It was built in the 1840’s by the first guy to have a winery on the property.  The cave was used again in the later 1800s by a family while they built their house. 

For lunch we stopped at the Blue Spoon Café in Prairie du Sac.  The food was pretty good.  But what was most interesting was the ceiling fans in their upstairs dining room.  Here are a few pictures (I apologize for the quality of the last one, I should have switched lenses).

And finally, we saw an interesting goose.  From my brief research online, it appears to be a domestic greylag goose (which were a domesticated breed in Europe and Asia).

Mississippi River Trip–January 3, 2014 (Day 1)

Some times you just need to escape the rat race of life and find a place where you can remind yourself of who you are.

This morning we set out for a long weekend in my new Beetle TDI Convertible.  With the roads clear from the week’s storms and temps too low to snow forecasted, we wanted to see how well the Beetle can do on the open roads.  Per the car’s calculations, we are averaging about 38 mpgs.

The morning was quite cool.  At one point we saw –13* F on the car thermometer.  Our first stop was near Trempealeau, WI.   We walked over the first four bridges on McGilvray Seven Bridges Road which is part of the Van Loon Wildlife Refuge Truss Bridge Group.  The snow had been packed with enough footprints that we didn’t need our snow shoes and with the cold temperatures we had the trails to ourselves.

After that we headed to Pizza Corral in Trempealeau.  We ordered a pan cheese pizza that had a really good crust, a tangy sauce, and more cheese than you can imagine. 

From there we went to Winona and visited the Minnesota Marine Art Museum which was a surprisingly interesting art gallery.  It has a lot of artwork for being a fairly small art gallery with art from some big names (Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Cezzane, etc.) along with showcasing three current artists from different area states.  One of my favorites was a piece called Trempealau River Valley by Julie Crozier.  The movement of the rushing river, swaying grasses in the wind, slow moving clouds, etc. really drew my eyes to the piece.

Tonight we are staying at the TownePlace Suites Marriott in Rochester, MN and so before dinner with friends we checked into our deluxe room.  It has a full kitchen, living room with fireplace, bedroom with separate flat screen TV, and bathroom.  As I type this blog I sit in front of the fire sipping herbal tea.  Here are a few pictures:

We ended the evening with an enjoyable dinner with Diane and Dale, friends from our Twin Cities days.

Mississippi River Trip–January 4, 2014 (Day 2)

We began our morning at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN.  They have several resident bald eagles on display as well as a male golden eagle along with a number of exhibits.  Three times a day they do a presentation plus they are in an ideal location to view eagles in the colder months.  They are located right on the Mississippi in a location that never freezes over in the winter giving the eagles ample fishing opportunities.

The educational presentation was very interesting and we got to meet Columbia who enjoyed a meal of rabbit.

Here is a picture of Donald, their golden eagle:

We were able to see eagles just outside the National Eagle Center, about five miles north at Reeds Landing, MN, at Lock and Dam No. 4 in Alma, WI, and at Lock and Dam No. 6 in Trempealeau, WI.  The viewing at the National Eagle Center was the best as they are clearly set up for people to view the eagles.  In addition to have binoculars and scopes, there is a river walk and various observation spots.  Reads Landing has the largest population but had limited parking and really had no observation area.  Most were just standing on the railroad tracks to view the birds which probably wasn’t the safest option.  Reeds Landing had a bunch of swans and ducks as well.  Here are some pictures:

The locks and dams are always interesting to me so here are a few pictures of them and the ice around them.

This night we stayed at the Inn on the River where our balcony over looked the Mississippi and Lock and Dam No. 6.  Unfortunately there was no open ice up river from the lock and dam so we didn’t see any eagles from our room.  Plus it was a bit cold to truly enjoy the balcony. 

We had dinner at Ed Sullivan’s Supper Club where the food wasn’t bad but the people watching was quite entertaining.

Mississippi River Trip–January 5, 2014 (Day 3)

We enjoyed a leisurely morning before visiting Lock and Dam No. 6 one more time and driving the Great River Road to Lock and Dam No. 7 north of La Crosse.  The wind was very bitter and so we didn’t spend much time at this lock and dam. 

From there we began our trek home stopping for lunch at a Cousin’s and then a stop at Lost Island Wine in Onalaska, WI.  My favorite wine there (at least of the ones I tried) is Lifeguard Chair Pear (which combines pear, kiwi, and sauvignon blanc grapes).

This weekend we drove 645 miles and averaged 40.9 miles per gallon in my Beetle Convertible TDI (with temps between –13*F and 15*F)!  We also had a chance to learn the navigation system better and use it in a way that I’m comfortable with.  In the past I often avoided gps systems because I hate blindly following directions (especially after watching other people get seriously mislead by their gps).  I need to see on a map where I am going.  I need to have control over the roads I choose.  And I found there are features on this system that allow me to still do that and use a good old fashioned paper map along with it.

Overall, it was a wonderful long weekend.