August 31  On a beautiful day, we elected to play golf here in Madison. We played at Yahara Golf Course, which was quite lovely. Didn’t play well at all, but had a great time regardless. Afterward, stopped at the Convention Center downtown which had been based upon a design originally created by, guess who, Frank Lloyd Wright back in the 30s. The plan for the evening was to seek out some musical entertainment. We found that there is an outdoor jazz concert...

August 29 We left Cedar Rapids and headed northeast to the town of Dubuque, Iowa which turns out to have a history of being a major boat building center until the early 70’s. We enjoyed the National River Museum and Aquarium. Located right on the banks of the Mississippi River, it focuses upon the importance of rivers throughout the country to enhance travel, commerce, and the nation’s economy. Crossing the river, we entered the state of Wisconsin and...

August 27 We began the day by walking over to the Saturday morning farmer’s market, quite similar to San Diego’s. After a brunch, we took a walk on the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River. Half way across is the border between Nebraska and Iowa. From there we headed over to the fabulous Joslyn Art Museum. It was opened in the 30s by George and Sarah Joslyn and was considered at the time to be among the country’s 100 greatest b...

After a very pleasant visit to Denver, we headed off into the state of Nebraska, eventually stopping for the night in the town of North Platte. After checking into the hotel, we drove around town and came upon a huge railroad yard. We enjoyed climbing upon and inspecting a number of the cars and engines.    Next, we found our way to a strip mall where there happened to be a Japanese restaurant. Tried the sushi, which did leave something to be desired. Finished ...

August 23Traveled yesterday from Grand Junction, Colorado to the mile high city of Denver. Upon arrival, we checked into the Hilton Garden Inn. For dinner, we met with Rita's nephew, Jon, and his 3 children: Justin, age 15, and twins Aiden and Jonah, age 12. We had a delightful time at the Hacienda Colorado, a popular Mexican restaurant.Today, we managed to just be tourists. Started at the state capitol building, then Brown Palace Hotel, then The Union statio...