The Scenic Route

Yesterday I returned to Springfield from a two-week-long trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota. I've often lamented the fact that in order to get to all of my favorite places (and some of my favorite people!) I have to drive at least six and a half hours. Backpacking on the North Shore of Lake Superior? Try ten hours. So, in an attempt to explore some of the areas I normally drive past as fast as possible, I decided to take the scenic route to return home, following the Mississippi River south from La Crosse, WI. While it added a few hours to the trip, it made it interesting and broke up the drive.

My first stop was Beaver Creek Valley State Park outside of Caledonia, MN:

After a nice hike along the creek in the lush, green woods, I continued south until I found this:

I've always wanted to visit the Field of Dreams from the 1989 Kevin Costner movie, so I was thrilled to stumble upon the film site outside of Dyersville, IA. After wandering around and taking some timer shots of myself pretending to hit home runs, I stopped for evening Vespers with the Trappist Monks at New Melleray Abbey outside of Peosta, IA:

It was a lovely day, a nice way to meander through the countryside on my return trip, and a wonderful way to wrap up two weeks away from home.