This week Amy has chosen “A River Runs Through It” as the theme for the Weekly Photo Challenge. When I saw Amy’s challenge I immediately thought of the Mississippi River which runs through ten states in the U.S.
“The Mississippi River will always have it’s own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise” – Mark Twain
The Mighty Mississipi runs from the headwaters in Itasca State Park, Minnesota south to the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana.
” Here 1475 feet above the ocean the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico” ~from the marker at the headwaters
Marker at the Headwaters of the Mississippi River
The Headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park, Minnesota
Mississippi River at the headwaters in Itasca State Park, Minnesota
Ordered from north to south, the rest of my images are from several different viewpoints along the Mississippi River.
Potosi, Wisconsin side of the MIssissippi River looking toward Dubuque, IowaView from the middle of the Mississippi River on a paddle boat near Hannibal, MissouriGateway Arch Riverboat on the Mississippi River in St. Louis, MissouriSunrise over the Mississippi River at Trail of Tears State Park in Jackson, MOSunset over the Mississippi River from at Trail of Tears State Park in Jackson, MissouriMud Island River Park river walk in Memphis, Tennessee is a 5-block long replica of the lower Mississippi river, from Cairo, IL, to New Orleans, LA.We sat in our campsite and watched barges on the Mississippi River at Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis, ArkansasConfluence of St. Francis and Mississippi River in Mississippi River State Park in Marianna, ArkansasThe mighty Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Mississippi
Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!
I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is
Minnesota
Minnesota became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858. The capital is St. Paul.
Our first visit to Minnesota can be described in one word – SNOW. It started snowing shortly after we left Wisconsin one morning in early April. As we traveled west on I-90 we crossed the Mississippi River into Minnesota with the wind blowing snow horizontally across the interstate. It was so bad we pulled off the interstate and spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express in Winona. I will be forever grateful to the kind employees who put us up in a downstairs room with our Labrador Retriever. There was a restaurant in the hotel and they even had an indoor pool so we were roughing it in style.
Crossing the Mississipi River to Minnesota in a snow stormSnowing over the Mississippi RiverTerrifying icy road conditions in Minnesota – at times we couldn’t even see the roadIcy trees beside the interstateOvernight Camping at a Holiday Inn Express
The next morning the hotel let us have a late check out so we could wait until the roads were safe enough for travel. Later that day we checked into Blue Mounds State Park and we were the only campers in the park. With snow on the ground and temperatures below freezing the water was turned off and the dump station wasn’t operating. It was a great adventure!
Camping in the snow at Blue Mounds State Park
The weather was much better on our other visits to Minnesota. During our stay at Temperance River State Park on the Minnesota North Shore we enjoyed wandering around Split Rock Lighthouse and on the huge boulders beside Lake Superior.
Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota’s North ShoreMinnesota’s North ShoreIsland in Lake Superior on MInnesota’s North ShoreMinnesota North Shore
We loved visiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park so much we camped there twice.
Mississippi River Headwaters in Itasca State ParkWalking across the headwaters of the Mississippi RiverThe mighty Mississippi River near the headwatersWalking across the Mississippi River near the headwatersSunset over Lake Itasca
We made several visits to the St. Paul area to visit family. While there we visited the Mall of America and the Minnesota Arboretum.
Minnesota Aboretum
A trip to the Spam Museum and the Green Giant Statue were on our bucket list as we traveled through Minnesota.
We drove out of our way to visit the Spam Museum in Austin, MN
Green Giant Statue in Blue Earth, MN
Some of the wildflowers and wildlife we found in Minnesota.
The weather was much better on our other visits to Minnesota. During our stay at Temperance River State Park on the Minnesota North Shore we enjoyed wandering around Split Rock Lighthouse and on the huge boulders beside Lake Superior.
We loved visiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park so much we camped there twice.
Wandering Dawgs 
You must be logged in to post a comment.