Bald Eagle Up Close

Location: Frontenac State Park, Frontenac, MN

Ned, here, filling in for Debi. We got a very leisurely start this morning, as we wound our way along some beautiful Wisconsin backroads. We were impressed with the beauty of the constantly rolling farm country, and the fact that, for the first hour, we saw only about 3 cars, 1 bicycle, and 4 farm tractors on the road. I was amused when we went through a little town named Bagley, since this is the name of my father's home town in Iowa. Both Bagleys are very humble little places. Once we got near La Cross, the road got busier with traffic, and we went from peaceful farmland to jumbled-looking strip malls. At this point we left Wisconsin and crossed the Mississippi into Minnesota. The river continues still to flow placidly along, which became particularly apparent to us when we passed a marina filled with sailboats. In fact the stretch of the river just south of where we are camped tonight is actually called Lake Pepin. Our big highlight of the day was stopping at the National Eagle Center, a small, handsome museum set right at the edge of the Mississippi at a spot where bald eagles routinely winter-over in large numbers. We got to see one of their 6 eagles (all of which have been rescued after some injury which makes them unable to fly) being fed a fish. This eagle was 32 years old (they can live to 50 in captivity!) The young woman who gave the presentation was excellent in her use of humor and being able to engage the young kids in the crowd. We even got our photo taken next to the eagle as the trainer held it on her heavily gloved arm.
Not far up the road we found a camping spot at Frontenac State Park. Much to our delight, the temperature continues to be mild, while the buggy situation which we had last night is almost nonexistent. So rather than huddling in our van, as we did last night to eat our dinner, we sat luxuriously outside beneath our new awning as we ate barbecued chicken and salad in the pleasant evening air.