Iowa — Mississippi River Museum & Devonian Fossil Gorge

By Michael

We spent the morning with Grandma before heading to Crystal Lake Cave. Thomas and Lisa panned for gems and fossils in the sluice out front, sorting through the gravel for whatever caught their eye, then we went in for the cave tour itself, past named formations like the Ostrich, Solid Onyx, and Cliff Dwellers under colored lights.

We stopped for lunch at Foodie Garage Eatery in Dubuque, then spent the rest of the afternoon at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. We toured the William M. Black, an old dredge boat moored on the river, walking through its machine shop and boiler room and sitting together on the Hurricane Deck. Back inside the museum we worked through the hands-on river exhibits, watched turtles, alligators, and sturgeon in the tanks, and Lisa climbed into a giant fake turtle shell for photos. We wrapped up the visit at a big whale sculpture near the exit.

We spent that evening and night with Grandma again.

By Michael

We spent the morning at Devonian Fossil Gorge, walking the exposed bedrock below the Coralville Dam looking for fossils. Thomas and Lisa crouched over the rock wherever they went, pointing out coral colonies and shells pressed into the limestone, and Lisa and I sat together on the rocks for a while taking it in. Wildflowers were blooming in the cracks. We walked out along the spillway itself, past the huge field of rip-rap boulders below the dam, and stopped for a family photo at the railing.

We had lunch, then spent the afternoon with Grandma. In the evening we all went to Mini Pines Mini Golf, playing a full round together as the sun got lower and finishing near the course's rock waterfall. We spent that night with Grandma too, our last one there before heading home.