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.