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Our trip to Groton, Massachusetts

Day 1

Sandy and I received an invitation to attend my niece’s wedding in Groton, MA. So this trip was planed around that event and will include some side trips along the way. The map below shows the entire trip we have planned, which will include travel on I-80 and I-90 east and will include a stop at Niagara Falls on the way out. We will also stop to see my cousin in Connecticut and a trip to Kutztown, PA for a little family history research.

Entire Route

The second map shows the route of our first day of travel. This being a travel day there wasn’t much planned for side trips, and the fact that our trip began this morning at 6:30 AM and rain as we left the house kept us in the car until well past of the middle of the morning. We ran out of the rain at Dubuque, IA but the heavy overcast continued past noon. Then the sun broke out and we had a wonderful day to drive.

Route from Mason City to Elkhart, IN

Galina, IL

Our first stop was in Galena, IL. This is a very small town east of Dubuque and is a restored river town that takes you back to the late 1800’s with lots of quaint shops to poke through. We walked down the street a couple blacks and then back to the car to continue the trip. We have visited here before and only used the need a a rest stop to walk the streets again.

Elkhart River Walk

We crossed the time zone from Central Time to Eastern Time just west of Elkhart, IN, our first overnight stop on our trip. We covered about 480 miles in a little over 9-hours of driving, including our stops. We did not have anything planned for this stop but did find a local travel brochure that listed the River Walk area of Elkhart and a nice place to spend some time.

The big parade

We had a bit of trouble locating the right area as there are no signs marking the location, but once in the area we found the bridges and sculptures that the brochure listed. The picture above shows the marching band parade, complete with real instruments.

Island Park

This area includes a small island that is accessed by a footbridge. We had a nice walk around the park before driving back to the motel for the evening. Tomorrow we continue east, stopping at Niagara Falls before spending the night in Henreitta, NY, a small town outside Rochester, NY.