Crossing the Mississippi from Wisconsin into Iowa this morning, the sunlight about a half hour after sunrise hit the bluffs on the western side of the river and those autumn-colored trees just glowed. Truly magical. The National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, IA, is pretty darn good. It's a large campus, two separate buildings and a paddlewheel dredge in the water and a sizeable outdoor area too. The displays and activities in the eastern building are outstanding - the western one can't seem to figure out what it wants to be, and therefore does it all poorly.