More snow today

Here is a view of Kim on the tractor clearing the snow:

That was this morning.  This afternoon it was snowing again.  Here is the front yard:

And the view out the back,  looking over the deck and out to the Mississippi River, which is really not visible:

I think I will check to see what it looked like a year ago.

American Pickers

Two local men have a brand new tv series on the History Channel.  It is called American Pickers.   They roam the countryside looking for hidden gems of antiques.

Mike Wolfe has his store Antique Archeology in Leclaire.   Here is a link to their new series:

http://www.history.com/content/american-pickers

Ice Blocks on the River

A picture from a bygone era, standing on ice blocks on Mississippi River near Buffalo, Iowa:

Symphony of Lights: Clinton, Iowa

This evening we drove up to the north end of Pool 14 to view the Symphony of Lights display at Eagle Point Park in Clinton, Iowa.  The Jaycees put on a display through a mile drive through a lovely park overlooking the River. 

Check out this link to see more photos and information:

http://www.symphonyoflights.org/park_pix.html

Take a virtual tour:

http://www.symphonyoflights.org/tour.html

We also stopped at Rastrelli’s restaurant in the Lyons section of Clinton:

http://www.rastrellis.com/index.html

Very good food.

Details on I-80 Bridge Repair 2010

The Le Claire Iowa chamber of commerce website has a link to a powerpoint developed by Illinois DOT with more details on the work.  It is informative:

http://www.leclairechamber.com/design/i80_bridge_update.html

Get a new John Deere!

The toddlers on your list might like this:

Battery powered, available at John Deere dealers this holiday season.

Full moon over Mississippi River

Full moon, clear, cool night.  I took this from our back deck this evening:

Incentives to finish the I-80 bridge early

Civil Constructors won the contract to repair the bridge.  This is just repair, they recently built a whole bridge over the Rock River and finished it a year early.  But is it a good idea to rush?

http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/barb-ickes/article_5cf0e81e-dc94-11de-b11d-001cc4c002e0.html

Last summer’s work as seen through no leaves

The leaves are down, we can see the river again.  We can also see last August’s woodpiles, standing there starkly.  I hope we can get them upside before the snow sets in.

Gitmo prisoners to Thomson IL

There has been a lot of news lately about the possibility of closing Gitmo and moving prisoners to an unused state prison about 40 miles north of here.  It is located just north of Thomson IL and is a testament to IL politics.  High security prison, never fully opened.  The jail is already high security;  it would be sold to the feds and beefed up even more.  It could bring over 2000 jobs to the area.  The closest bridges over the river are the two in Clinton IA.   I have read a lot in the national press that makes us sound like a sad bunch of local yocals… sad little town.  That is just not true.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/us/16gitmo.html?_r=1