Lunch that satisfies

Our tastes for food that we like do not always agree... in general, Carl will eat anything, and I'm a bit pickier (though a LOT better than when I was a kid!). Some of the foods that he *really* likes, I can tolerate, but don't enjoy -- so we try to figure out ways to accommodate us both...

One of the foods that he *really* likes is White Castle. I can eat White Castle, but... I generally regret it later... Last time we were in the Elgin area, we found a White Castle location that is near other restaurants, so I could get my meal from a different place...

... we went there again on this visit -- I got Steak 'n' Shake, and fries and shakes for both of us, and Carl got White Castle (note the grease marks on the bag -- gives you a clue about the contents if you've never had White Castle!). The Steak 'n' Shake has picnic tables with umbrellas outside, so we were able to enjoy both of our lunches!

I haven't quite figured out a solution when Carl "needs" to eat Indian Buffet... but I can eat a few things and fill up on Naan -- it just ends up being a pretty expensive meal for the amount that I (don't) eat!

An interesting bumper sticker

We met some of our family at a local Culver's (Culver's had Chocolate Caramel Pecan as the flavor of the day -- couldn't miss getting some of that!), and Carl saw an interesting bumper sticker:

<grin>

Cute, huh? Makes you think too?

Things we wonder about

As we were driving in Illinois,

We saw an "interesting" Schneider trailer -- a white trailer instead of the normal orange.

Carl's son, Steve, works for Schneider (in the offices acquiring new business -- Carl asks him often, "When will you get to drive one of the trucks?"). So... we notice Schneider trucks as we travel, and we'd never seen a white one before.

Since we had the opportunity to get together with Steve, we asked... it turns out that they are changing over to white trailers as the resale value (when Schneider is done with a trailer) is higher than with the orange trailers. So, now if you notice white Schneider trailers on the road, you'll know why!

Continuing on our journey from Wisconsin

After a quick one night stay across the river from Dubuque in Wisconsin, we continued on our journey toward the Chicago-land area...

Technically, we could have stayed on roads in Wisconsin and worked our way east and south (using county roads such as County Road H, County Road HH, and County Road HHH), but the Garmin in Gracie (which knows how long and heavy she is) recommended that we stay on more major roads which took us back through Dubuque.

So we re-crossed the Mississippi...

Looking upstream of the mighty Mississippi

We got welcomed back into Iowa...

...saw (what I think is) the gold leafed dome on the Dubuque Courthouse (at a distance)...

...were impressed by the massive structure holding the traffic signals aloft at this intersection...

... crossed another bridge over the Mississippi...

... enjoyed some additional views of the mighty Mississippi, upstream...

... and downstream...

"Smile, Carl!" (another upstream view - you may be able to barely see the bridge we had crossed earlier out the window)

... and got welcomed into Illinois (the northern bridge out of Dubuque goes into Wisconsin, the southern one goes into Illinois).

So we were on our way to the Chicago-land area!

A short visit to Wisconsin

We had a stop at Grant River Recreational Area in Potosi, Wisconsin, planned for Tuesday night. Originally, we had planned to be there for 3 nights, but some plans changed and we were only there one night...

A quick picture of our welcome to Wisconsin (just across the river from Dubuque, Iowa)

A picture of Gracie in the campground -- actually after we had spent the night there and were hooking up to leave! We forgot to take any other pictures.

We did get some chores done -- we dumped our tanks when we arrived at the campground, and then did a couple of loads of laundry in the evening. We had planned to enjoy watching the river traffic on the Mississippi, but it was hot and humid, so we decided that we'd hope to do that during another visit at another time.

As we drove to the campground, we drove through Dickeyville, Wisconsin. It turns out that the priest here went to seminary with Father Dobberstein (who built the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa, that I blogged about yesterday - https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-shrine-of-grotto-of-redemption.html) and was inspired by him to build a grotto also!

I got a quick picture as we drove out on Wednesday morning.

More information here: https://www.dickeyvillegrotto.com/ 

Note: had Liz and Jerry not taken us to the grotto in West Bend, I don't think we'd even have noticed this one! Isn't it funny how you notice things after your attention has been drawn to something similar?

The Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption

Our friends, Liz and Jerry, took us over to West Bend, Iowa, to see The Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption (https://www.westbendgrotto.com/). We had no idea what to expect, and it was pretty amazing!

From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grotto_of_the_Redemption):

The Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption is a religious shrine in West Bend, Iowa, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City. A conglomeration of nine grottos depicting scenes in the life of Jesus, it contains a large collection of minerals and petrifications and is believed to be the largest grotto in the world.

It is also "considered to be the world's most complete man-made collection of minerals, fossils, shells, and petrifications in one place. The estimated value of the rocks and minerals which make up the Grotto is over $4,308,000. Over 100,000 people visit each year.

... 

Father Paul Dobberstein was a German immigrant ordained in 1897. He became critically ill with pneumonia and promised to build a shrine to the Virgin Mary if she interceded for him. After his recovery, he began stockpiling rocks and precious stones. Construction of the Grotto began in 1912 and continued year round for 42 years. 

"Grotto of the Redemption" - this was the first one that Father Dobberstein created.

Inside Grotto of the Redemption

Statue of Mary with the Christ Child -- all around are rocks of various types.

The other name for this first Grotto was Grotto of the Trinity.

Stained glass window of the Annunciation within the Grotto (the angel Gabriel telling Mary that she would bear a son by the Holy Spirit).

The next grotto we visited was the Grotto of Paradise Lost.

Our young tour guide with the two trees in Paradise Lost

Adam with the forbidden fruit on the tree in front of him

Eve

We then moved over to The Grotto of the Sermon on the Mount.

Overview of the grotto

The Beatitudes

On top of this grotto is a stalagmite from Carlsbad Caverns.

Our guide told us that Father Dobberstein had built a ramp from the steps of the church to the top of this grotto and, if I recall correctly, that it took many days with men and horses/mules to get the piece transported to the top of the grotto and put into place.

 

We next walked around to the Ten Commandments Grotto.

 

There we saw a statue of Moses as well as many rock creations.

I should clarify that the statues were not built by Father Dobberstein but were made in Italy from Carrara marble. Likewise, the stained glass was created externally and installed by Father Dobberstein.

A view of the area where the stations of the cross are located.

The 14th Station

Around the corner, we came to....

 

Judas looking back at Christ praying in the garden

The other disciples sleeping as Jesus prayed

Liz took a picture of us at the Christ statue.

These are a type of stone from Oklahoma called Bauxite Rose.

This was the last grotto built by Father Dobberstein. (Christmas Chapel pictured later)

Mary meets Jesus outside the tomb -- Jesus is telling her that he must ascend to the Father.

The angel at the empty tomb saying "He is Risen. He is not here."

I haven't included a lot of pictures showing the stones in detail, but when we stopped to look at them closely, they were beautiful!

This grotto was built by Father Dobberstein's successors... it had quite a different look to the other grottos.

This one looked very much like a house -- the statue next to our guide was to represent Christ as a boy.

Joseph

Mary

Another grotto built by his successors after Father Dobberstein's death.

Note that the walls are built from petrified wood

Announcing angel above the grotto

A statue of Father Dobberstein on the grounds

We went over to visit the church -- fountain in front of the church.

Sanctuary

One of the stained glass windows inside the sanctuary

Information about the Christmas Chapel

Christmas Chapel

Some of the stonework in the floor of the Christmas Chapel

Back outside, Liz and I walked up near the top to have an overlook of the whole area.

The museum had samples of different stones used in the building -- including the Bauxite Rose from Oklahoma.

Information from Sioux City newspaper about the grotto as a tourist attraction.

We were fascinated to see this amazing monument built primarily by a single man over many years!

If you'd like to take a more professionally done virtual tour, check it out on their website: https://www.westbendgrotto.com/visit/virtual-tour/