fossils and sights!

This is the one stop that might have been more fun with kids.  We walked about in the gorge looking for fossils and had a snack.

There is the world's largest wooden nickel on the road to the park 

And Dennis pointed out a trunk stump that had been carved into a peace sign (hand with two fingers up).

We finally found an Iowa rest stop to pickup a road map.  And check out the sculptures.  The cooler sculptures were on the eastbound side but the long lens let me snag a shot of the pen.

And we saw the stack of grain wagons.  It's in private corporate property so I could only get a partial shot from the Kum and Go across the road.   Look under the tree to see the top 3 grain wagons

Now we are on the road making time to Des Moines to check on out a sculpture park.

swinging bridge

Morning walk to see a long swinging bridge.  We took the possum hollow trail to switch back our way across the valley and up to the other side of the bridge.

We tested at the shelter and checked out the sculpture in the flower beds.

Deep breath and cross the bridge.  It swings quite a bit in the middle.

After a rest on the other side (which right by a city street - we could have bypassed the trail), we went back to the middle for kisscam

So if you find yourself in iowa with time for a detour, it's worth a stop.

Welcome to Iowa

 After leaving the cemetery, we made tracks for Iowa and I searched for a Hilton property to spend the night.  We could have stayed in Davenport but the small town of Muscatine downstream.  The last bridge on I-74 before crossing the Iowa line had interesting supports.

And that brought us to the end of I-74.  We have driven the entire run from Cincinnati to Iowa.

One last bucket list item for the day.  The world's largest truck stop.

We took a spin through Muscatine looking for the Hampton Inn only to discover it was back out on the edge of town.  We found it, checked it and then headed back into the downtown area to find a local brewery.  We arrived too late for dinner (no worries, we had cheese and crackers in the hotel room) but Dennis did get a local brew.

Then we took a stroll along the river walk.  And crossed the bridge that is lit up.  The lights came on just as week were crossing the bridge.  We found an overlook back on the Muscatine side to get a quick picture.

Now it's bedtime.  More adventures await us tomorrow.

Evergreen Cemetery

A roadside America.com find.  A cemetery in Bllomington-Normal Illinois where we found Dorothy's grave (think Oz), a carved tree stump to remember a plane crash I'm the cemetery in 1948, another tree stump carved for a baseball player.  The world's long epitaph in granite.  And bonus find, the graves of both Adlai Stevenson I and Ii.

baseball and windmills among the corn and soybeans

We've entered the land of corn and soybeans fields.  In the little town of Ellsworth, the water tower is painted like a baseball. 

And just up the road is a wind farm with a viewing area.  Fun to actually stop and see the windmills up close-ish and hear the swosh swish of the blades.  The pathway was a life size representation of the tower and blades.

first pit stop

You never know what interesting historical tidbit you might find I'm the unassuming rest area.  We stopped at the first rest area in Illinois to pickup a state map (I misplaced the atlas before we left)

As I was getting into the car, I noticed a piece of machinery on display.  

Never pass up an opportunity to learn a little.

Back on the road (with a quick stop at the next exit to get a burger at McDonald's) making tracks for the windmill farm viewing area.

and we're off....

The kids are "adults" now.  So tomorrow Dennis and I are off on an adventure.  We have a map of about a hundred places of interest.  The "kids" are taking care of the homestead.  Here's hoping for a quiet week.