The quad cities

Truth be told there are five cities, but they go by the quad. Davenport and Bettendorf, IA, Rock Island, Moline and East Moline, IL. All built on the Mississippi River, it’s a hub for river barges and railroads.

I started the day with a visit to the welcome center in Davenport. I got some brochures and then headed out on my bike. I saw migrating pelicans, and the Rock Island Arsenal from a distance and rode over the I74 bridge. But the most interesting part of the ride was getting “bridged,” as we called it Duluth when the lift bridge went up. Here it is an equally fascinating bridge.

It’s a double decker rail and auto bridge built in 1896 by Ralph Modjeski. It’s more than 1800 feet long steel truss connecting Davenport to Rock Island with a turntable that turns 360 degrees in either direction over a lock on the river. It was open when I arrived and a tug boat was pushing 12 barges into the lock that were lashed together.

After the locked filled, the Megan Parker continued pushing her load up river. By the time I got to the I74 bridge, she was approaching so I waited to watch her pass under the twin span freeway bridge.

After I got back to my car, I decided to drive up to Le Claire to see American Pickers store. Personally, I was underwhelmed so I quickly made my way to the winery, but it was closed on Monday. I walked down to see two paddle boats docked on the river here and discovered the Buffalo Bill museum. It too was closed. However, I did learn just what a big star he was and his exploits ranged from pony express rider to Indian scout before he started his Wild West Show. There are buffalo all over town, including buffalo pizza!

The woman at American Pickers told me about Hurts Donuts in Davenport so that was my next stop. I mean, I need some lunch about now! My last objective was to do a little walking tour around the Palmer Chiropractor college. As a strong believer in chirpractic treatment, I thought it would be cool to see. Tours require a 24 hour advance notice and since I arrived not knowing that on Sunday, I did not get a tour.

DD Palmer “discovers” chiropractic in the 1895 and founded his school two years later. About the same time Andrew Still was developing the similar science of osteopathy. The school is built around the Palmer mansion and I was able to tour the gardens.

On the way back to Rock Island in my car, I got bridged again! And actually my last stop was the John Deere Pavillion where they have new and vintage Deer equipment on display. It was not as extensive as the museum in Waterloo, IA that I visited several years ago. But I did get a nice oversized sweatshirt for $10.

Back to camp, I had a quick paddle around the little lake. I saw two blue herons, one belted king fisher, and many geese. They were trying to go up a steep shrubby hill and one of them fell down twice. It was kind of funny but I was worried that it got hurt. It was ok, and finally made it up the hill.

As usual, an early night with Houston, MN my next destination.