We (mom and I) had a fabulous weekend atop a bluff overlooking the Mighty Mississippi. Our road trip down was puncuated by three stops at three very nice Iowa Quilt Shops (of course!), and I took a stop in the middle of a road to shoot this awesome birdhouse condo/tree/collection/whatever-it-was-it-was-cool!


And, how much I am I loving this new camera?! You have no idea! I haven’t even used any of the fancy modes like “fireworks” (!!!), “night skyline”, “portrait/smile mode”, or any of the other gazillion features of my new favorite toy!

We made it to our destination in a about four hours. This was the view across the river to Nauvoo, IL, that impressed us right off the bat…


We watched many a barge and tugboat travel up and down the river…


This was the house we stayed in…complete with lovely perennial garden and big shade trees…


A perfect opportunity to try out the new toy… I caught this bumble bee on the purple coneflower with my zoom:

And, as if that wasn’t enough, got the lilly (and the ant on the leaf) without even turning on the macro mode! Wow! I can’t wait to see what I can do when I’m really trying!

The house was very comfy, spotlessly clean, and well-stocked! Here’s the kitchen:


My comfy bedroom complete with pillow-top mattress and lovely river view:


And there was a drop-down living room and dining room, which we turned into “sewing central”:

After a few hours of sewing on Friday night, we watched the sunset over the river…

and headed off to dreamland on our more-comfortable-than-any-hotel beds…

There is just something so peacful and relaxing about watching the water…