We're on the road. These little hills, or knolls, are north of town. It’s very flat right there so they really stick out.

Further north, a small farm nestled against a hillside.

A snowy tree stump with shadows. Shadows are still so long this time of year.

A closer look at the side of the hill. I like the texture created by the snow on the rocks.

Now we can see the city of Wabasha, Minnesota down in the Mississippi River Valley. You can see its bridge spanning the river.

Coming into town. The structure over the street is the river bridge. It
has to bank up for a long way to have the bridge high over the water.

Some of the nice old store fronts, mostly built in the 1880’s. This
was once a “booming” river town. Now it’s a sleepy little place.

Some more stores. You can see how they are “false fronts.”
 The front is the only ornate part of the exterior building.

Inside the Tourist Center.

There was a very popular movie called “Grumpy Old Men” and of course a sequel, “Grumpier Old Men.” It took place in Wabasha and some of the footage was filmed there. It put Wabasha on the map. The people there are very proud of this. They always have showings of the movies. This fireplace was one of the props for a set and was donated to the town by the movie studio. We all want to be famous don’t we? Even towns!

The front of the National Eagle Center. Actually, this is only a temporary spot. They are building their own place.

One of the volunteers with “Harriet the Bald Eagle”. They have three resident eagles there. They were all injured by being hit by cars and cannot fly any more. I guess one reason that a car would hit an eagle, and I never thought of this before, is that there are a lot of “road kills” wild animals hit by cars. Quite often there are deer that are hit. The eagles feed on the deer, then they get hit. Quite sad—the war between modern man and the poor creatures of the wild.

Some cute kids that were also visiting the center pose with Harriet and her keeper. Personally, I could do without the flag background!

A couple of “knuckleheads” pose also. They’re not quite as cute as the little kids and they are much more expensive to feed! Notice that Harriet is flapping her wings. This causes quite a stir. If I were any of these guys I’d be ducking out of the way! Eagle’s talons can squeeze with 800 pounds of pressure—something you don’t want to feel!

The Wabasha Bridge over the great Mississippi. I like bridges. This far north the Mississippi River is not all that impressive.

An old hotel. The structure on the corner is rather unusual. My favorite place would be in the top of it.

A church that is new but has a quaint old style. Even a real bell in the belfry! Are there bats up there?

Some old shops along the path of the bridge. The two figures in the distance are my progeny.

A Catholic church.

A very nicely restored corner building that is now a law office.

The riverside sign where the new Eagle Center will be built, not very far from the temporary quarters they inhabit now.

An eagle roughly carved from a tree trunk

Across the river we spied two eagles in the tree. See them? Maybe if you get your binoculars!

A little downstream we see three more.

On the way home we saw this very cool structure. I assume it is a water tower. Very unusual and very modern.

A quasi-artistic close-up view of the stairs.