The thirty-fifth day initiated in Dubuque, IA. We made our way across the Julien Dubuque Bridge which was completed during World War II in 1943. The Dubuque County Courthouse was fascinating. The architecture was very intricate and featured a Lady Justice statue at its tallest point. The downtown area of Dubuque had many red brick buildings from the 1900’s. The Town Clock, as it is called, in Dubuque, IA has stood in the town for over 130 years. The one that stands today is actually the second “Town Clock” for the first had collapsed in the 1870s. The “Automate” mural painted by the street artist, Gaia, was awesome to see. The three colors represent the American and French flags. We then went through a valley where the highway runs through. As we proceeded through the hills, the road got very curvy in order for travelers to get around the greenery. The tall stacks of a nuclear power plant peer over the foliage. In Madison, Wisconsin, we saw a billboard that advertised a German style Beer. Rainer being from Germany, the Volkswagen I.D. 4, and many of our sponsors as well, this was great to see. To many Americans, the German language is difficult and different, so it’s nice to see something representing the culture. We crossed into Illinois and proceeded down to the town of Oregon. The Rock River, near Oregon, had a leisure area where some people had a hammock and others fished in the water. A seven foot tall statue titled, “From The Waters Comes My Bounty” stands east of the Rock River. It depicts a Native American man with a fish on his head and is wrapped in a fishing net. The statue was made in 2005 by Ray Kobald. In town, we saw a vintage Lincoln with a clean mint green paint job. We then continued and spotted The Eternal Indian, also called the Black Hawk Statue, is a 48-foot sculpture by Lorado Taft that is located in Lowden State Park, near Oregon, Illinois. Dedicated in 1911, according to the artist, it represents the unconquerable spirit of Native Americans, using motifs from several tribal cultures. Along The Rock River, there was a serene resting area. We saw the Dixon theater which was originally the old Opera House in downtown Dixon, IL. President Ronald Reagan had actually grown up in Dixon, as well. His boyhood home where he lived as a youth beginning in 1920. The home is open to visitors from April to October. A small dog watched excitedly as the I.D. 4 passed by. We travelled along a lengthy country road with pastures on both sides with one side home to corn stalks and the opposite with soy beans. Telephone poles and cables line the long road. A plane layed on the corner of a farm road. This crash site is a memorial that represents the ruin of farming in the 1980s. A sign signifying the first permanent Norwegian settlement in the town of Norway, IL. The sign reads “Welcome To Norway” in Norwegian. The day concludes with the familiar green flow of an Electrify America station in Orland Park, IL pictured from the front and the back.
DAY 35: DUBUQUE, IA TO ORLAND PARK, IL
- 16. August 2021
- ORLAND PARK, IL
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