Virtual Hike to Turkey River Mounds State Preserve

The latest destination on my Virtual Hike was the Turkey River Mounds State Preserve.

Turkey River Mounds, State Preserve, Iowa, Mississippi RiverThe segment started in Marengo, Iowa and proceeded up to the preserve which is at the confluence of the Turkey River and Mississippi River.

Turkey River Mounds, State Preserve, Iowa, Mississippi RiverHere you can see the Turkey River as it flows into the Mississippi River.

Do you see a bridge?

The next segment of the Virtual Hike will include a ferry ride across the river to Cassville, Wisconsin.

Turkey River Mounds, State Preserve, Iowa, Mississippi RiverThe Turkey River Mounds State Preserve contains 38 Native American Mounds. The mounds are not too tall, but some of the linear mounds are almost 200 feet long.

The mounds were constructed during the Woodland period which extended from about 500 BC to 900 AD.

Turkey River Mounds, State Preserve, Iowa, Mississippi RiverThe area around the mounds is very scenic with a lot of flat river bottom land and low hills that lead up of the Mississippi River valley.

Turkey River Mounds, State Preserve, Iowa, Mississippi RiverI can just imagine what this looks like during the winter, when I was virtually hiking through the area. I am a bit behind in my posting as my miles were achieved near the end of January.

I am actually almost to my next destination which is 145 miles to the east across Wisconsin. I have been a bit lazy with all the rain and have not been taking long walks in the evening. I need to get motivated again, and perhaps since the next destinations all have family connections I will get moving.

On to the next destination!

Steven

 

 

Posted in Archaeology, Blog, Nature, Virtual Hike | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pothole Problems

Today there was horrible traffic on my morning commute. It took me an hour and 45 minutes to get to work this morning, where usually if I left at the same time it may take 45-50 minutes.

Pothole 680, Altamont, Traffic, Communt NightmareThe reason for the horrible commute was a pothole at the Grant Line Road overpass on 580. New reports say that the pothole was 10 feet wide and 2 feet deep and it closed two lanes of the freeway. At this point there are five lanes, but it is also a convergence zone of several routs.

Update: I have the circle on the wrong end of the overpass. It is about where the black car on the right is. I can see the scar from the pothole repair as I drive by each day.

Traffic Trouble, Commute Routes, pothole, trafficOK, this drawing is a bit messy, but so is the traffic. You can see that all the possible ways to get by traffic all converge back on the spot where the pothole is.

The pothole developed at about 4:15 and work crews did not arrive until after 6:00. The repair was in progress when I finally drove by, but it was not until afternoon until it was completed.

Tracy Traffic Troubles, Tracy Hills, Road Closure, Landscaping, 11th street, 580, Corral HollowHere is a diagram that I used in an earlier post about expected traffic problems in the area. The problem occurred in the area for 1-580 Overlay and shoulder work. The roadway is a mix of asphalt and concrete. If the asphalt areas subside and the concrete does not then a very hard edge develops where the two surfaces meet. This has caused a very rough ride through this area for the last year.

580 Corridor, traffic, commute traffic, Corral HollowYou can see here that 580 is the big path between the Central Valley and the Bay Area. There are a couple of two lane back roads, but they were absolutely plugged up this morning.

Backed up traffic like this brings out the worst in drivers. I saw many instances of rude and unsafe driving as people were fighting for position on the roads.

If not for an important event at work today, I would have simply turned back home.

On the bright side it only took me 25 minutes to drive home from work. However, that was after a very nice dinner and leaving the office at 10:00.

Hopefully the traffic will be better tomorrow morning.

Steven

 

Posted in Bridges, California, Construction, Culture, transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment