Holmen, WI is a small town near La Crosse.  It’s where my favorite aunt and three of my cousins–including two more of the six Girl Cousins–and their families live.  Sadly, my (also favorite) uncle died a year ago just two months before his 98th birthday.  One of the Girl Cousins—Lara—was traveling out-of-state on business, so we didn’t have a chance to see each other this time.

Ted and I stayed in an interesting hotel, themed on Wisconsin wilderness, fishing, and hunting.  The supports for a ceiling overhang in the pool room, as well as the wall above the overhang, were painted to look like tall evergreen trees.

We didn’t try sitting in this chair, but it looks like an early attempt at ergonometric design.

On our first day in town, we had dinner at Aunt Ruth’s house and one of my boy cousins—David—and his friend, Deb, joined us.  Later, Jim, Lara’s husband (she’s the Girl Cousin who was out of town), came over for a little while.  The following day, Aunt Ruth treated all of us to a dinner cruise on the Mississippi River.  “All of us” included Aunt Ruth, David and Deb, Jim, Ted and me, and Linda—the second Girl Cousin at this stop—and her friend, Paul.  At first, I was puzzled that we had to be at the dock by 9:30 a.m. for a dinner cruise, but I soon remembered that, in the upper Midwest, people eat breakfast, dinner, and supper, so dinner would be served at noon.  As we entered the park at the boat dock, we passed this “Sister City” garden.  La Crosse has six sister cities and each of them has a portion of this garden designed to represent itself.

The weather was perfect for a river cruise, and we saw one beautiful sight after another during the three-hour cruise. The boat had a paddle wheel, and the captain assured us that it was a true paddle wheeler—the paddle provided the power to move the boat.

A short distance upriver, we passed through—not under—a “swing bridge.”  As a watercraft approaches, the bridge rotates (swings) ninety degrees to allow the boat to pass, as the boat in the left part of the photo below is doing.

After the boat passes, the bridge swings back.  In this picture, it is nearly completely closed.

There are 27 locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River between Minneapolis, MN and Cape Girardeau, MO.  On our river cruise, we passed through Lock & Dam 7 twice—once going upstream, then again going downstream.

Here’s a picture of a barge making a delivery upstream.  According to the captain’s narration, most barge traffic serves either the Upper Mississippi River from Minneapolis, MN to St. Louis, MO or the Lower Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans, LA.

These homes have a beautiful river view.

Here’s a picture of boathouses and houseboats.  Do you know the difference?  A houseboat has an engine; a boathouse does not.  😊  Boathouses are technically not for habitation, but some have amenities to make them more than simply a shed.

Ted and I have traveled along the Mississippi River from Menominee, WI to New Orleans, LA, but this is the first time I’ve seen a Mississippi River sand beach.  It reminded me of all the glacier-formed sand-bottom lakes that I enjoyed while growing up in Wisconsin.

It was a great day to be outside on the deck.  Not too hot (upper 70s) and not windy.  Here’s part of our group.  From left to right, Paul, Linda, me, Deb, and David.  Ted took the picture.

The dinner was delicious.  Turkey and chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots, coleslaw, dinner rolls, and carrot cake.  David managed to extend his arm far enough to get all of us into his picture.  Again, left to right you can see Ted, me, Jim, Aunt Ruth, Linda, Paul, Deb, and David—or at least the idea of David. 

After all the passengers had left the ship, one of the crew members took a picture of our group.  Once more, left to right, you can see Deb, Ruth, David, me, Jim, Linda, Paul, and Ted.  We all had a wonderful time and repeatedly thanked Aunt Ruth for the treat.

Jim, Ted, and I visited with Aunt Ruth for a little while after we returned to her house.  As with our other visits, our time together ended too soon.  Jim had to run some errands, and Ted and I needed to head for our next hotel.