A day to satisfy every sense.

A day trip down the scenic Mississippi river valley to Stockholm, Wisconsin.

5 random senses for Random 5 Friday 

1) What will you hear?  The whistle of trains as they charge down the tracks.  Sea gulls calling. The wind across the water.  And to prove that there is no perfect paradise, the deafening obnoxious blight of overpowered motorcycles out for a joy ride.  

2) What will you see?  Sparkles, Fall colors, lofty and scenic panoramas, eagles soaring on thermals, pumpkins and small town life.

3) What will you smell?  Bread baking at the Smiling Pelican Bakeshop, pies and drying leaves and flowers.

4) What will you taste?  Stone Barn Pizza.

5) What will you touch?  Grab a fork!

A day filled with planes, trains and a few automobiles.

We spotted a huge flock of white pelicans flying over.  Score!  They are a rare sight.  But I barely got the shot. 

For more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday

Sparkles

Soaking it all in on a hike to the edge of Maiden Rock bluff

We arrived at the Nelson Stone Barn at 4:40 and cars were lining up outside the farm for a 5:00 opening.  Yes farm!  And it is the best darn wood fired pizza around.  They seat you in the remains of an old barn. Cool.

 As the hungry cars waited a BMW bypassed the line.  The driveway was roped off.  The BMW drove around the driveway on the grass.  Cars started honking.   And everyone was grumbling about that darn car when we were inside and ordering our Za.  BMW....grrrr...rude....who are these clowns?  Ha! 

 But who could stay mad while eating fantastic pizza on a scenic farm with horses, evening sun and the wood fires glowing.

Good bye Stone Barn.  See you next May. Sniff.

P.S.  For more on the Mississippi river valley, the legend of Maiden Rock and Stone Barn Pizza hit my labels.  Or check out these links The legend of Maiden Rock or  Stone Barn Pizza 

A weekend on the river...

What a bonus!  It was 80 degrees this weekend.  The Sun was shining, the Honeycrisps and pumpkins were ripe and the leaves were brilliantly colored.  We weren't even planning one more trip to our favorite pizza place. The Nelson Stone Barn.  But we were lucky enough to get a bonus weekend on the river.  Our first stop was for apples.  A whopping $50 for a big bag of Honeycrisps.  Holy Cow.  I guess you have to be a Millionaire to eat apples these days.  Then we hiked on over to Maiden Rock bluff.

Enjoy the view.  Then read this interesting tale about Maiden Rock...

Princess Winona (Princess We-Noh-Nah) is the central Native American character in a "Lover's Leap" romantic legend set at Maiden Rock on the Wisconsin side of Lake Pepin in the United States. Princess Winona leaps to her death from Maiden Rock rather than marry a suitor she does not love.^[1]There are several variations of the story. Winona's father is sometimes said to be Chief Red Wing of what is now Red Wing, Minnesota or Chief Wabasha (Wapasha) of a village identified as Keoxa, now known as Winona, Minnesota. Rather than marry a suitor she does not love, Winona chooses to leap from the cliff of Maiden Rock to her death. Who the suitor is depends on the version of the tale. Some versions featured him as a French trapper; others say he is an Indian of another tribe.

In the traditional Dakota language, "Winona" is not a personal name, but a general term for a first-born child of any class distinction who happens to be female.

The concept of the central figure as a "princess" is in keeping with a European-American stereotype about Native American "princesses." In fact, the Sioux do not have an equivalent title for "princess" in any of the major dialects.^[2]

Today "Winona" has become regularly used as a personal and place name throughout the United States.

A train chugs down the tracks.

A yellow explosion.

No Fall trip is complete without a visit to a pumpkin patch.

Who is this goofball?

A feather in Pepin.

Look at the sunset creeping down through the window of the old barn pilings.  A bottle of vino, a romantic setting and a fantastic pizza just pulled from a burning hearth.  Life is good.