Iowa

Iowa. Well what can we say about Iowa?? It is the land of corn fields, Soya beans and hogs. Having no idea on what we wanted to see or do here we called into the Info centre at Sioux City. The guy there couldn’t think of anything in this area for us to see or do. How scary is that?? He did suggest we have a look around the museum ship we were on. That had a history of shipping on the Missouri River which turned out to be quite interesting. Also had quite a bit on a Sgt Floyd a member of the Lewis and Clarke expedition. His claim to fame was that he was the only member of the expedition party to die. The expedition was ordered by President Thomas Jefferson after he purchased the land from Napoleon Bonaparte. The group traveled across unchartered land from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and back over a period of two years. They were greatly assisted by a young Indian maiden but she doesn’t seem to get the credit she deserves although we occasionally read that much of the expeditions’ success was due to her knowledge of the country.

We continued on our way armed with a tourist info book and a more detailed map. I was navigating us along a scenic byway which really only gave us a view of the cornfields from the opposite side and I soon lost enthusiasm for following the course so we ended up back on the I29 and carried on south.

Parked up for the night at a little town called Missouri Valley. Here Marty discovered we had a water leak in the plumbing to the shower so he spent the greater part of the evening fixing it. No mean feat as it was in a very awkward position. Nothing a pair of tyre levers and brute force couldn’t fix. We now know not to use mains pressure when we are at a camp but use our own water pump and manually fill our tank.

At least it helped take his mind off the news that had upset us for the last 24hrs. Matt our eldest son had had a car accident. Thankfully he is ok but it makes you feel very helpless when you are half a world away. Looks like I may get that Mazda MX5 when we get back after all.

We headed off towards Madison County. The area made famous by the movie “The Bridges of Madison County”. Mid afternoon the van started playing up again. It became very sluggish. We were traveling on the interstate which was constantly displaying speed limit signs: Min speed 40mph, max speed 70mph. These were strategically placed just before an incline and in our case before a state troopers car parked on the verge. We were lucky to do 20mph up the slightest slope so after speeding past Mr. Plod at snails pace we decided it would be a good idea to take the nearest exit and take a back road to Winterset where we planned to stay. We literally crawled into the camp and parked up. A great relief. To add insult to injury the electrics packed up so Marty spent about an hour tracing the fault and fixing it. Well at least he is getting “Shed time”. Winterset is a neat little town that has a real nice country feel to it. It is also the birth place of Marion Robert Morrison or John Wayne to most of us. Despite the fame bought to it by John and the movie it hasn’t changed and become all touristy. I was talking to a lady in the launderette and she said that just after the movie came out it was filled with tourists but things have pretty much returned to normal now. People still come to do the bridge tour but not in great numbers. First job on Monday morning was to go to a garage. A couple of hours there and a few bucks later we were on our way. Turned out to be a blocked fuel filter and a soggy fuel line. While the mechanic was fixing that he noticed that the gasket in the thermostat housing had spat the dummy so he fixed that as well. Took it for a test run – all good, so we headed back to the camp and jumped on the bike to do the bridge tour. We visited all the bridges and meet two carloads of ladies doing the same thing. We hold them totally responsible for the fact that we got absolutely saturated ½ a mile before the last bridge when we got caught in a really heavy rain and hail storm. What is it with riding the bike here!! Despite taking shelter under some trees we were completely drenched in about 2 minutes flat. If they hadn’t kept us yakking earlier we would have made it to the bridge dry. But where’s the fun in that. We were surprised to read that the bridges were covered to protect the wood on the deck. Apparently it was cheaper to build the sides and roof over the bridge than replace the decking. I enjoyed the trip, imaging I could have stood on the same spot as Clint Eastwood or Meryl Streep but I don’t think Marty got that excited about it all. The construction method of the bridges was more up his alley. They were originally constructed using wooden pegs, by local farmers who used their labour instead of paying taxes (which they didn’t have the money for).
We met up with one of the groups later that night when we were going on a bush walk to a tower built in memory of some early settlers of the town. One of the lady’s was horrified when we said we were walking the two mile loop. She obviously thought we didn’t look the athletic type and wouldn’t make it. But we did and it was lovely. Saw several deer on the way up and an absolutely magical display of fireflies in the bush on the way down. It looked really magical and made you think fairies really do exist.

While zipping along the motorway at 70mph a Volvo decided he wanted to pass us. he tried but we left him for dead.

Marty headed to the barber shop before we left the next day and I went to the optometrist to see if I could get my sunglasses fixed. (Yep, the expensive ones I bought in Bangkok- lost a screw). I was still waiting when Marty came looking for me. The original Iowa hog farmer was there before me and he was ordering a replacement pair of glasses. What a mission. When I thought he had it all sussed he decided he needed new temples as one had worn where it was catching on his glass case. He had bought some new ones, could they fit those. Yes they could. But would his wife like it when she saw they were gold and the frames were silver. Would she notice asked the lady behind the counter? Then he changed his mind about the quality of the glass. He needed something stronger. Yes they could do that but they couldn’t do it in self tinting and so on it went. I thought I would be spending my next birthday there when the Dr came out and asked if he could help. Thankfully putting a new screw in was within his capabilities and we were soon out the door and on our way. The Iowa hog farmer still deciding what glass type to have. Thank goodness he didn’t need a frame as well.

With the van chugging along at her normal speed of 55mph we headed towards a little town called Pella that was settled by the Dutch in the mid 1800’s. We stayed at a Corps of Engineers camp at Red Rock Dam. This is on the biggest lake in Iowa. Had hoped to be able to go swimming here but they are recovering from a flood so that was a no go. We jumped on the bike and made a quick trip into Pella. Meet the other group of ladies we’d seen at the Bridges. All three noticed that Marty had had his hair cut. In fact it was the first thing each of them said to him. He has never had that much attention paid to his hair before. Maybe it was because a real barber had cut it and not me.


We spent the better part of the next day looking around Pella. We went on a tour of the town’s windmill. This was quite interesting. The latter part of the tour was taken by the windmill master or whatever he is called so we got to see and hear a bit more of the intricacies involved in the workings of the windmill. We went outside which was a bit spooky for me as you could see through the slated boards to the ground below. I didn’t venture out too far. Was also a bit off putting with the windmill blades whirring past your ears.

Everyone we had met, including our lady friends told us we just had to go to the bakery. So we did. Bought a couple of pastries for lunch and ate them in the park. We also had to visit the butcher. Having already been spoilt by German meats this was nothing special for us but we bought some tasty treats anyway.

It was my lucky day in the height department as our next stop was to a water tower. 100 odd feet up a twirling staircase that gave clear visibility to the ground below. Again the floor at the top had gaps so despite the railings I didn’t feel at all comfortable, but did enjoy the view. Marty couldn’t see what my problem was so I got no sympathy from him. Just told not to be such a wuss. They say you can see Bald Eagles and numerous other birds from here but it wasn’t our lucky day in that respect.

After the excitement of the tower climb we decided we better kick back a little so we went and sat by the lake for a while and watched the locals fishing. No one seemed to be having much luck while we were there. The evening’s entertainment was provided by the fireflies. They are awesome little things.

Headed off early the next morning. I was grumpy and tired so didn’t make too good a traveling companion. It was a quiet trip to Amana Colony. There are 5 villages within a 15 mile radius. These are a tourist attraction today but back in the mid 1800’s till about 1932 they were operating as German religious communes – and very successful ones. To be honest we were quite disappointed so instead of the 2 days we had planned to spend in the area we spent two hours and were on our way. The level of disappointment is noted by the fact that I didn’t take any photos- and I am a prolific taker of photos now I have a
digital camera.
Our campground book had a camp that sounded pretty good, offering swimming, fishing, walks and ablutions. The name sounded promising, Sugar Valley Campground. We pulled in and it looked like something out of the movie Deliverance. It was quite a crappy place, full of permanent residents in derelict RV’s. The owner didn’t know where NZ was and the most exciting thing she had seen in her life was a bronze statue that was in the nearby town of Keokuk. There would be no swimming as the pool had been in a state of disrepair for three years, no fishing because they had just restocked the pond with catfish and they were spawning but we could walk around the 20 acres of the camp if we wished. Despite paying for electricity it would be $2 more a day if we wanted to run the air conditioning. We said we could do without that but we had to put it on for a while as it was so damn muggy. The upside was that the bird life was amazing. We sat outside with our bird book and binoculars for ages trying to identify the numerous birds that were coming to the bird feeder. We saw Woodpeckers, Bluejays, Finches, Oriels, Grosbeaks, Blackbirds (with red wing feathers ?) Tanagers, Thrushes and of course the good old sparrow to name a few.

The night ended with the most spectacular storm. The lightning lit up the sky like it was daylight. The thunder was deafening and the rain that followed was very heavy. Was nice to see it all from the inside of the camper instead of the seat of the bike.

We left the camp early and stopped off in the town of Keokuk. For us the last town in Iowa and where we had our first real look at the Mississippi River. Chatted to a couple of fishermen for a while then took the scenic route out of town and into Missouri.

So you see there are things to do and see in Iowa, you just have to get past the cornfields.

Sturgis to the Corn Palace

We arrived in Sturgis at about 6pm on a Sunday night after a long days traveling with the navigator very tired and grumpy. The driver was keeping his distance and trying to ensure that tea was underway and an early night was had by all. It worked because the navigator was very chirpy and full of energy the next day.

Like the two states we had previously visited Sth Dakota has a no helmet law for motorcyclists. They are a very bike friendly state and even publish a brochure telling of great motorcycling routes and advising all the laws pertaining to motorcycling. This is in their best interests as the annual week long rally held in Sturgis each August brings in millions of dollars each year. The town’s population rockest from 7000 to over 500,000. The ATM machines in Sturgis chuck out over $1.5million to bikers during the week. Goodness how much goes over the bars and casino tables in that time. Not to mention merchandise so necessary for the Harley riders. We were not there in bike week but there were still quite a few bikes in town. Main Street shops consist of bars (some not yet open) and souvenir shops selling rally T shirts, sweatshirts etc. All other businesses seem to have moved to other parts of town. We spent a morning wandering the street and checking out the shops and a Motorcycle Museum. This had some quite interesting bikes in it. Not all were Harley’s or Indians. There were some British Bikes there as well.

We rode up to Bear Butte State Park and as has become normal when we go out on the bike the rain clouds started to appear. We had a good look around the info centre which had a very good display of the areas Indian history. Bear Butte is a holy mountain and founding place of religion for several tribes of the Plains Indians. I got up close to a buffalo here but thankfully its head wasn’t attached to its body. We didn’t walk to the top of the Butte as Marty’s hip wasn’t up to it. Instead we went to Fort Meade Museum which has a history of the Army’s Calvary Division during the 1880’s. As normal we seemed to be first in last out of these places. Amazingly we got home without getting wet. That could have been because Marty was doing the ton on the motorway. Great idea with no helmets and dressed in shorts and T shirts so he got a little whack on the leg when his pillion realized what was going on!! I don’t mind speed but I like to be dressed for it.

Next outing was to a town called Deadwood. There is a television programme based on it that some of you may have seen. Went there with high expectations and were disappointed. The town is now the gambling centre of Sth Dakota. Casinos line the main street and there is nothing of the original town left. The casinos take in over $2billion dollars a year and casino bill boards advertise that they pay out over 1.5 million dollars a month and offer high returns – 80% of monies being paid out. My luck I’d be the 20% that got nothing so I didn’t bother. There was a hotel that had an exhibit of Hollywood memorabilia that was interesting especially the guitars on display from the likes of Mike Jagger, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart and Paul McCartney. If you were a car fan there was a James Bond Aston Martin, the Transam used in Smokey and the Bandit complete with Burt Reynolds signature on the dash but my favourite was the little V Dub used in the Herbie movies.

Deadwood’s other claim to fame is that it is the town where Wild Bill Hickok lived and died along with Calamity Jane. Both are buried in the local cemetery. I had planned to visit the graves but having to pay an entry fee to a cemetery didn’t feel right to me so we didn’t bother.

We decided to take a look at the statue gardens just north of Lead then ride back to camp through Spearfish canyon, a highly recommend bike ride. The gardens contain huge statues of all the US presidents including today’s nutter G Bush. We never got to see these or ride the Canyon route as about a mile before the heavens opened so we turned tail for camp. I got to test out the new rain gear I had bought. It was great. I got home dry as a bone but Marty was soaked. We spent the afternoon doing the laundry and generally taking it easy.

We had a good study of the map during our wet afternoon and planned our route to go to Mt Rushmore. Went down through Spearfish Canyon, a lovely road that claims Harleys by the dozen in Sturgis week, to have a look at the Crazy Horse memorial carving that is taking place a little to the SW of Rushmore. It is the local Indians version of Rushmore and was started in 1949. Had a look from the road and decided not to go in. Headed back to the Needles Highway. This was a magic road leading into Custer State Park from the west. Only bad thing about it is that they let cars use it!! Nice and windy with tunnels and stunning scenery. It was plotted by a Governor in the 1930’s. He marked out the route by horseback, making the journey several times, as he wanted people to see the views from the best vantage points. From this road you take the Iron Mountain Road which is just as magnificent. There are tunnels and pigtail bridges, hairpin corners and of course wildlife and breathtaking scenery. As you come out of three of the tunnels you look straight at Mt. Rushmore and those famous faces. We were a little disappointed with Mt. Rushmore. We both expected it to be bigger and more imposing. Never mind these things happen and the roads to it more than made up for the disappointment.

Custer State Park has the largest wild buffalo herd in the country with some 1600 animals wandering the area. We only saw one!! They are rounded up each year and 500 are sold to the public so for between $500 and $1000 you can own your own buffalo or fill your freezer with steak and have a nice hide on your floor.

To top off the day we headed on towards the Badlands. We stopped for gas at an out of the way gas station and had a study of the map and a talk to the lady in the store and decided we were trying to be too ambitious in fitting the Badlands into our day. We still had 180 miles of riding to do to see them and get back, so we turned around and headed home. We still managed to clock up over 260 miles for the day.

We toured the Badlands in the camper. This is a stunningly beautiful place. There were signs everywhere telling you to watch out for rattlesnakes. I only saw a rattlesnake’s dinner. We walked to the “Big Pig Dig”. This is a site where for the past 12 years they have been excavating and digging up fossils and bones. We spent some time there talking to the ranger guide and one of the archeologists. She was in the process of unearthing a bone of some sort. It was interesting but I don’t think I could sit there day in day out with a paint brush and a dentists pick looking for old bones and fossils. They hadn’t found any Harley bits so were struggling for funding.

Before the day was up we visited an old west town. One of the attractions was props and stuff from the movie Dances with Wolves which was filmed in the area. Here we got to get up close and quite personnel with three movie stars. They were Cisco the horse ridden by Kevin Costner and Jim and Jack the two lead mules in the film. They are living out their days here. They were quite friendly and not at all stand offish like some stars. Cisco is now 33 and like all stars is aging very well.

We left there about 8.30pm and we’d only gone up the road about 10 miles when were in another time zone and it was suddenly 9.30pm. Thought we better find somewhere to park for the night. I spotted a sign that said Ghost Town, so figured there wouldn’t be too many people living there so we could probably park up without any hassles.
We survived the night. There were no strange happenings or anything, which was a little disappointing. We had a wander through the town and a sort of museum before we left. All a bit sad really as it is just a town people have left to live in a larger, busier town nearby and the few people left behind are trying unsuccessfully to keep it alive.

Mitchell, a town further along the I29 is thriving. Its main claim to fame is the Corn Palace. This is a building that each year is decorated with over 275,000 pieces of corn. The current building is the 3rd built for the purpose. The earlier two buildings becoming too small and not meeting standards of the day. The festival associated with the decorating of the building has been going on since about 1900. The war years and depression only meant that pictures were used instead of corn as there was quite a shortage of corn. Decorating for 2007’s festival was underway when we arrived. It is quite spectacular.

And so we leave Sth Dakota. We have to put our thinking caps on now as we have no idea of where we want to go or what we want to see. There is a lot of nothing now. Just miles and miles of open farmland and even more acres of corn.

And yes we did find Rocky raccoon and also saw several of his mates squashed on the side of the road. Must have been some party.

Portland to Devils Tower Wyoming

It was a hard thing to do but we managed to depart Jon and Lucia’s place and there wonderful hospitality and seek out new adventures on the road.

We stopped in on friends of Josie’s in Hood River just to say hello and let them know that Josie is still waiting for them to pay her a visit in NZ. We parked the camper across the road in a paddock that belonged to a Baptist Church group. Tina assured us that would be fine as they had been told they could park vehicles there anytime, but when I went to the van to get my little red book I found that we had been yellow stickered with a note saying that we had no regard for God and please move. So much for Christianity, and being charitable etc to your fellow man. Oh well it was time to move on anyway.

We spent the night camped on the edge of the Columbia River at a little town called Rufus. There were a few other campers there, most of them fishermen. I went for a couple of swims but Marty could not be enticed in, although he did get in up to his knees at one point. It was certainly refreshing and I did seem to be the only one who had a swim while we were there.

We headed off towards Wallowa Lake where we stayed in a State Park. From here we took the bike and rode up to Hats Point in Hell’s Canyon. The first 20 odd miles up to Imnaha was over a lovely road. The next 24 miles up to Hats Point was on a metal road with lots of corrugations and quite steep in places. Not ideally suited to the BMW with the Teletubbies onboard but that didn’t stop us, although at the halfway point Marty did ask if we really wanted to be doing this. What a stupid question to ask. Of course we did. When we reached Hats Point we were able to climb a fire watch tower. The view was 360° and spectacular. We could see across the canyon which was 10 miles wide and 1.5miles deep and across to the Seven Devils mountain range in Idaho plus acres and acres of forest.
Coming down we saw two very large deer, one of which decided to run in front of us. We nearly had a good set of antlers to bring home. Everywhere we have been we have had to watch out for wildlife crossing the road. They have right of way, and they can do a lot of damage to a vehicle especially bikes.
We stopped at the file mile point and had our lunch. This in some ways was more impressive than the top. The landscape was amazing and to see eagles and turkey buzzards soaring up from the valley to above us using the updrafts in a matter of seconds was incredible. It was hard to drag ourselves away.
We stopped in the town of Joseph and had a look around at the bronze statues that line the main street. They were pretty neat.

On the road again and before we knew it we were in Idaho. We came in through the back door and the scenery along the river and through the canyons was magic. Was easy to forget that the camper was sucking up $3.50 every 7 miles we travelled.
We stopped in Boise, a largish city for a few supplies. Marty is obviously having shed withdrawal symptoms as he bought some cutting paste and started polishing the RV tonight. I wasn’t tempted to join him.

My navigation skills proved a little suspect when the campsite I selected for the night didn’t turn out to be where I thought it was – i.e. just off the main road. Instead we went for miles down a very dusty bumpy road which ensured that the bike was absolutely filthy and almost unrecognizable as a BMW. There was a fair bit of dust in the camper as well. But it was isolated and by water, just like the book said.

We spent the better part of a day at the Craters of the Moon. This is a large expanse of rock and scoria which must have been hell for early settlers to cross. But cross they did. There were also a few caves you could enter. The drop in temperature was quite amazing. At one cave it dropped before you even entered the cave. We ventured into all but one.

At the end of the day we had ventured into Montana for about 10 miles and then into Wyoming and Yellowstone park where we planned to hole up for a few days. (Is that American enough for you Bob?)

We were lucky to get a campsite as most of the sites were prebooked months in advance.

Like Idaho, Wyoming is a helmet free state so we decided as we would just be puttering around the park we would leave our helmets behind. There are two loops in the park so we decided to do the northern loop one day and the southern the next. We saw heaps of bison and elk on our way to Norris Basin a geothermal area of the park. Spent quite a bit of time walking around but to be honest we didn’t find it that interesting. Too much time growing up with it in NZ. We found Mammoth Springs a lot more interesting but didn’t have enough time to have a good look around. Typical. About 10 minutes up the road, the heavens opened up. There was amazing thunder and lightning and then we got hit with hail. Boy did we wish we had our helmets and some wet weather gear!! By the time the storm had nearly passed we found a deserted gas station to take cover under and by the time we had reached Tower falls we were nearly dry.
Having to stop made it perfect timing as we got to see a Grizzly Bear. A big male running around, luckily some distance away. That made my day.
We had to pay the price for that – we got soaked again. He rain was so heavy that twice had to take cover under trees on the road side and again by the time we got back to camp we were dry.
Day two and as the weather forecast was for rain and snow we decided that we would shoot back up to Mammoth Springs before doing the southern loop. We wore our helmets this time. Again about 10 minutes out of Mammoth the heavens opened and we were drenched. We sheltered in the same gas station but this time we had another motorcyclist for company. A couple in a car also stopped and she offered us food and a blanket because we looked so cold. As we started the climb from Tower Falls to Mount Washmore the temperature dropped and we were caught in a snow storm. It was bad enough being wet but getting turned to ice was quite a different matter. It was almost white out conditions. I thought it was quite exciting but I don’t think Marty did so I didn’t dare suggest we stop for a photo shoot. By the time we got back to camp Marty nearly had hypothermia. Had to get him straight into bed and warm him up. When that failed I had to heat up some stew and make a cuppa tea. Despite these awful conditions we got to see two black bears so it wasn’t all bad.
As we couldn’t extend our stay we headed off to the Grand Tetons, via Old Faithful. We spent half the day wandering around waiting for various geysers to do their thing but only Old Faithful performed for us. That was worth seeing.

The Grand Tetons are at the southern end of Yellowstone and are a park in their own right. We both thought that the scenery here was more spectacular than in Yellowstone. The mountains look so amazing and they seem to be visible no matter where you are. An added bonus to the visit here was that we got to see a grizzly mum with three cubs at very close range. A roadway away infact. Some people were so stupid and tried to get even closer which kept the rangers very busy. Apparently the bear had charged a person earlier in the day when they got to close to her cubs. As the brochures tell you, it’s not Yogi Bear you are looking at and you will be the picnic basket if you get to close. We also got to see a moose. Alas only a Mrs Moose not Mr Moose with a full set of headgear. They are a pretty impressive animal.

Last stop in Wyoming was The Devils Tower. This is a huge rock of great spiritual significance to many Indian Tribes who still hold ceremonies there each June near the Solace. Evidence of these gatherings can be seen in many of the trees where ribbons etc have been tied. The rock was also used in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Point of entry for the aliens. It is quite impressive. Unless you are a rock climber you can’t climb to the top but there is a trail around it that offers great views. While we were there we were able to watch 4 climbers slowly making their way to the top. Not quite sure how they felt about the vultures circling overhead.

Next stop South Dakota home of Rocky Raccoon – if you are a Beatles fan.