Wildlife...

Eagles, squirrels (grey and black) pelicans, gullfeet...

Frog, and Bear

This is where I've been staying...
http://thefrogandbear.com/
and I'm in Mr Frog's House, a small room with a very big bath.. Exceedingly comfortable

And the four-course breakfasts are an Art Form in themselves..

Lake City, and Lake Pepin

Lake Pepin is a sort of wider place in an exceeding wide river, the Mississippi.. After sundry sewing-machine mends, shuttle-finds, and little walks for lunch
Past this nice bit of carved stone

We had a trip out on the lake on the rear-paddle steamer Pearl Of The Lake

A couple of hours of delightful warm sunsetting-and-chatting,


with pelicans

Bald eagles

Slightly sinister silhouetted men

and lots of sailboats in the marina

To say almost nothing of gulls, mainly above us...

Gallivanting - Part the Second, or Third, or Something..

By gum, I have done a lot of miles this year, most of them yesterday...
Off to America, to attend the River Rat TOGA (Treadleon Gathering and Academy) in Lake City, Minnesota... My bag is laden with samples and shuttles.

Norwich to Schipol, by little plane. Norwich airport is a very unphotogenic place, so I didn't.. Photo, that is.. And at Schipol, I was faced with the interesting task of explaining to a Dutch customs official that I was going to the USA to talk about, and play with, old sewing machines.. While he patently thought I was cracked, I did get the requisite blue sticker on my passport, and they let me on the big plane to Detroit.

Which was fantastically boring, for the most part (the plane, that is).  Almost everyone sat with the window shades down, reading their magazines and watching little films.. Like vampires..
At 20 minute intervals, we were fed, watered, and coffeed, until I was utterly stuffed.. the lunch was surprisingly good, though, and I did get to do a deal of work on various webpages..

And Detroit was a great airport.. Coffee, free power-sockets, wifi, and chess

You could drop Beccles into the airport anywhere and not discommode the planes.. They sure do things big over here.. I walked miles around the barriers, got fingerprinted, photographed, inspected, selected, and definitely not rejected.. The airport is so big you have to take a tram to your section for the gates, and the alphabetical list of flights ran over 5 big screens.  And I pulled visitor rank a little, got a window seat, and we flew, in glorious sunshine to Milwaukee

Take-off

Over the edge of Lake Michigan

And more Edge of Michigan
Milwaukee airport is full of art

I think the truck was art..
A good night, supper on the road to Madison, WI;

(I didn't eat the pie...)
and my hosts, Bill and Marcia Holman, were (and are) charming.. We sat over breakfast this morning in the sun-deck-room of their lovely house, watching birds.. I saw a hummingbird, blue jay, woodpeckers, much more.. I think this is a tree creeper

and on the road today I saw eagles, sand hill cranes, amazing barns, scenery in plenty, and much more
More tomorrow, with pictures

Off again...

Flying to Milwaukee tomorrow. 14 hours travelling, not so good; going further than I have ever done before: priceless!
Meanwhile, here's some roadkill from my ongoing series..


I'll have my camera with me...