Introduction

Have you ever wanted to take a beautiful, relaxing, family-oriented road trip of the Mississippi River--with your young children?  We're here to help!  We have been there, done that--and changed the diapers.

A little about us: we moved to the Illowa Gateway (the area loosely defined as between Dubuque and the Quad Cities, along both sides of the Mississippi River in Illinois and Iowa) in 2014 and fell in love with the natural beauty, the pace of life, and the overwhelming amount of family-friendly, affordable cultural and recreational opportunities.  When work and family needs called us away in late 2016, we were heartbroken, but we've been able to travel back frequently and intend to do so for many years to come.

During the time we were there, we loaded up our minivan with three, then four, car seats; a lot of bottles, sippy cups and goldfish crackers; and a well-stocked diaper bag that got a workout.  We moved to town with a 9 month old; an almost-2 year old; and a 4 year old. By the time we left, we had a 1 year old, a 3 year old, a 4 year old preschooler, and an almost-7 year old first grader. Many of those early days were spent driving around the countryside, knowing that the kids would take a nap in the car. We covered a lot of territory, and we're listing the can't-miss gems on this site.  We've also had all the mishaps: scraped knees, muddy backroads, and diaper blow-outs; where to find a bathroom in a hurry. We plan to cover that here too.

If you're looking for expensive destinations with lots of dangerous and/or fragile stuff involved, you will not find it here--except perhaps as a warning. When we haven't been so lucky--we'll let you know!

Finally, we'll offer you an itinerary if you're reading this on your smartphone and need a quick listing of options. We know reading time is a luxury for parents of young children.

Enjoy this site, let us know what you think, and if you find a new spot your little ones enjoy, please share it with us--we'd love to check it out!

peace,

Le Anne