Mound Builders

I've had a very nice (albeit short) visit with my father and his wife,
Mary Lou. We mostly chatted but we also went to dinner theatre at the
Fireside restaurant last night in Ft. Atkinson and saw "The Odd
Couple". It was funny and was a great meal.
This morning I left about 10 AM Two of MaryLou's daughters came over
and we had a nice chat before I finished loading the bike to leave. I
did get a picture of Dad and MaryLou before I left so that will be
published earlier.

I took rte 18/151 to Dodgeville, WI and then 18 to Prairie Du Chien.
As there were two detours that slowed me way down.

They began building mounds in 1000 BC and then stopped in 1300 BC. At
one time, there were thousands of mounds in the midwest but only a few
have remained intact. Effigy Mounds National Park in IA is one place
to find them. From the ground, they look like little hills but from
the air, they take distinct shapes like bears, eagles, and deer. The
exact purpose of the mounds isn't known but they were likely some type
of gathering sites. There are bodies (remains) in at least some of
them. Actually, these mounds were used as a rationale to steal native
American lands as it was thought that native Americans were too
primitive to have built them and thus believed that the native
Americans must have slaughtered another race of mound builders.

I've had a very nice (albeit short) visit with my father and his wife,
Mary Lou. We mostly chatted but we also went to dinner theatre at the
Fireside restaurant last night in Ft. Atkinson and saw "The Odd
Couple". It was funny and was a great meal.
This morning I left about 10 AM Two of MaryLou's daughters came over
and we had a nice chat before I finished loading the bike to leave. I
did get a picture of Dad and MaryLou before I left so that will be
published earlier.

I took rte 18/151 to Dodgeville, WI and then 18 to Prairie Du Chien.
As there were two detours that slowed me way down.

The goal today was to get the NP stamp for Effigy Mounds in IA and for
Pipestone in western MN.
After that stop, I simply headed toward western MN. I'd hoped to get
to Pipestone today but didn't make it in time to get to the vc so I'll
go there tomorrow.

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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach