No, it's Iowa. And we didn’t get to the Field of Dreams in northeast Iowa. This trip we stayed along I-80, preferring smaller roads to interstate but in the general area. We had beautiful clear skies during our visit with crisp autumn breezes and temperatures. Pleasant overall. We hiked, dined at great restaurants and enjoyed time with family.
Crossing the Mississippi River means an amazing bridge. This white, twin basket handle bridge is new to us and totally cool. It opened in 2021 and is called the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge on I-74. Definitely our first crossing. That bridge took us into Iowa and our first Iowa hike along the Mississippi in Davenport. Bridges, river/water. Nice hike/walk.
September 15 we visited the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. It is one of the largest libraries. In Iowa we stopped by the Herbert Hoover Library in West Branch. This is the smallest of all 15 libraries. I found it fascinating. Learned a lot about Hoover as an engineer and humanitarian. Saw the actual two-room cottage where he was born. The grounds around the library are interesting, with a working blacksmith on duty every day. Nice visit with the young man as he worked heating and pounding the steel.
Iowa is decked out for fall/Halloween. Very festive with the decorations! The large barn near Iowa City was a hoot with all the skeletons, every window filled. Can’t miss a visit to the Amana Colonies during our Iowa visits. So much heritage there. There were leaves on the ground everywhere, giving us that fall crunch under foot. We definitely have experienced a couple weeks for true autumn weather. That has been a treat for us.
As we drove through Iowa on county and state roads, we passed through clouds of dust caused by farmers busy with harvest. At first we thought it was smoke in the distance but too many plumes dotted the horizon and the plumes were tan in color.
A couple Iowa hikes. Ledges State Park near Boone. We hiked the Lost Lake Trail. An easy 1.5 mile figure-eight loop with enough bridges and steps to keep it interesting. I didn’t get to run the steps in Philadelphia so I ran these steps and beat Papa to the top. There were many young families out. How refreshing to see and hear very young, preschool children running the trails, laughing, having fun. We didn’t see their parents. They knew their way on the trails and were safe to explore. How wonderful.
The surprising hike was near Dennison. Yellow Smoke Lake is a popular camping and fishing spot. Nicely paved trail around the lake with a few grass/dirt trails through the woods. Beautiful afternoon. Lots of bridges of various types make the hike interesting too. We left the paved trail to hike through the woods and came across deer. Don’t know who was more surprised, us or the deer! So fun!
This marathon road trip is winding down. We have not been able to visit many people along the way, which we feel badly about. Too many goals we are trying to knock off on this trip and time slips away. There are still a couple goals left to check off. Soon!
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