When I was a kid, all of our family vacations were spent camping on family land outside Volga, Iowa. Getting there took between four and five hours of driving, including significant portions through northern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. Rolling hills of farmland - cows, corn, soybeans - with a few unique landmarks mixed in.

By the time we neared Platteville, Wisconsin, we had been peering out the windows for at least half an hour looking for this: the "Big M." When we saw this, we knew we were closer to our destination than we were to home.

There were two things that were notable about entering Prairie du Chien: Hardee's and the bridge across the mighty Miss. We didn't have a Hardee's in Rockford until the 80's, so stopping for a Hardee's cheeseburger was a huge treat. It was a fun, positive stop that got our minds off of crossing this old suspension bridge. By the time they were building the replacement, there were flagmen at each end limiting the number of cars crossing at any one time. To a kid of six or seven, that bridge was simply scary. It was high above the water, and rattled as you crossed.

There was another notable sight once we crossed the bridge: Pinky the Elephant. What's better to a kid than a huge pink behemoth overlooking the river?