THE DOPP FARM IN WISCONSIN

After stops at Herbert Hoover's birthplace, library and museum near Iowa City, Iowa, we continued on to Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin. Across the Mississippi River from here are the Effigy Mounds, a National Monument in Iowa where ancient Native Americans buried their dead and created images of birds and animals out of earth mounds. From Prairie du Chien it is only an hours drive north to the original Dopp family farm where my parents lived when I was born. The farm has been in the family since 1894 and has been designated a Century Farm. Our motor home is parked in front of the barn that I used to play in.

The next day, Steve, Diana, and the boys arrived. They had driven in from Ontario, Canada. The first thing we did was search the road ditches near the farm for wild asparagus. Each spring it reappears in the same places. We found enough for a side dish at dinner.

The next adventure for the grandson's was to explore the hay loft in the barn. Casey, the youngest, immediately had to climb the ladder to the top just like the older boys.

Ryder and Phelan built a giant fort out of bales of straw. It was raining lightly outside so this was an ideal way to spend part of a day.

Casey wanted to help, but couldn't lift the bales.

The "Blue Daisy" is now parked in front of us by the barn. You can check the travels of the "Blue Daisy" on their blog, http://bluedaisyiii.blogspot.com .

When the rain let up, we loaded into the back of the pickup truck for a ride into the woods to look for mushrooms.

Everyone got involved in the search. Morrel mushrooms are found under the drip line of old dead Elm Trees. The search is to look up into the forest canopy and spot a dead elm. Then go under the tree and part the ferns and leaves till you spot the mushrooms.

Usually when you find one, there will be several more growing nearby.

The one Steve is holding is about 2 inches in diameter and 6 inches long. We found about 2 pounds that afternoon and after washing them in salt water to remove any little bugs hidden in the folds, we sliced them into 1/2 inch strips and sautéed them in butter and garlic and had them as appetizers with "Happy Hour".

My brother, John, and his wife, Ann, joined us in our motor home for "Happy Hour" the first evening.