Katherine and I went down to the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. It was a pretty hot and humid day so we didn't stay for very long, but they have some wonderful gardens that are free to the public.

This is the paddlewheel from the American Queen cruise boat. Katherine and I didn't go on a cruise, but her grandparents went on one that went down the Mississippi - and stopped in Dubuque along the way. We met up with the just after lunch and took them on a tour of Deere. Afterwards, they took us on a tour of their cruise ship.

Katherine and I went on a short walk down the North-West Arterial bike trail to do some geocaching. It was such a nice day (highs in the upper 60's - which is incredible for this time of year), so we walked a mile to the geocache, found it, and walked back.

This is our cruise vessel for the Spirit of Dubuque river tours. Katherine and I went on a 2 hour, 10 mile trip down the Mississippi. The weather never got above 70 degrees, so it wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold (even with the breeze on the river).

Every year before the Dubuque Oktoberfest there is the Color Vibe 5K run. Katherine wanted to walk/run in it but I talked her into letting me take photos instead. It was a pretty cool idea, you run and people throw colored chalk at you.

Katherine and I wandered around Maquoketa Caves State Park. It was pretty cool because there were some pretty big caves that you could just walk through. You didn't have to have a tour guide. It was pretty nice not having to pay money for a tour of a cave and to be able to go at our own pace.

The Quad Cities Balloon Festival went on this weekend. Katherine and I didn't think it would be that big of a crowd but it turned out to be a really big and cool event.

Katherine and I rode down and up the Fenelon Place Elevator in Dubuque. We parked up at the top and took the train down to downtown and walked around.