Shel: Today was mostly a travel day, we did one stop in Spillville, IA at the Bily Clock Museum. Great carvers - I'm sure Geni will have more to say about that, but they didn't allow any pictures. (Marcia - no rocks today!)

Geni: We keep remarking how expansive the land and the sky is around here. You can see for so many miles. Only problem would be if you broke down in a no cell, no traffic, no human zone. At least with a camper you could live for a while! The sunsets here are beautiful because you can actually see the sun set (or rise) on the horizon. We woke in Minnesota, drove through Iowa and now are in Wisconsin -- miles and miles of farm crops or cattle.

We stopped at the Bily Clock Museum in Spillville,Iowa, a very small unassuming town that you would drive right through if you didn't know to look for this place. These two brothers left school at around 5th grade and worked their dad's farm (no electricity) their whole life. They loved to carve wood in their spare time, and one designed and the other carved. They had to buy the wood and the music boxes from catalogues and carved clocks with themes -- religious or historical. One clock was ten feet tall and another weighed 500 pounds. Many had moving figures as well. There is no way to describe how intricate they were and the museum doesn't allow pictures to be taken. They said Henry Ford offered one million for a clock and he was turned down. They never sold any of their work and they willed the clocks to the town, which unless the town council agrees to it, will never give them up.