Event Coverage My trip to rural Iowa on the roads less traveled

Recently I decided to slow down my lifestyle somewhat and change my work schedule from 5 days a week to a 4 day week which is Monday -Thursday. My employer and manager at my real job were nice enough to let me make this change. Even though I love my job as a hot air salesman (medical oxygen), I needed more time for my own growing engine business. It takes time to drive all over the Mid West in search of good used merchandise. And now I find myself with more time to do all the things I have been wanting to do and am very happy.
Last weekend I decided to escape the brutal Kansas heat and head north for a couple of days. This time I was not on the hunt for old engines. I just wanted to find cooler weather, relax, and buy some fresh sweet corn. Since my wife also works part time, we left home at about 4 am Friday morning and headed towards Kansas City, MO and then north to Iowa. It was only a 5 hour drive until we hit the Iowa state line and the town of Lamoni. This town used to have about a dozen or so antique stores but now there is only one and it is only open by appointment. Still we enjoyed the nice little town and a chance to begin our backroad tour of rural America. I took a photo of some Amish horses tied up downtown and I bought Mrs. PF a mixing bowl at a gift shop that she seemed to really like.

 

get your butt down here...got a couple of engines for sale...

 

Now heading north, drove perhaps 45 minutes or so in a light cool rain and reached the picturesque area of Madison County Iowa.....home of restored covered bridges, John Wayne's birthplace home, and very scenic rolling hills and valleys that are a must see. I was wishing we were in our 57 Chevy instead of our late model daily driver as the roads were just perfect for scenic cruising. First stop was Winterset, Iowa.

 

In between the nice cool rain showers I tried to take some photos.

 

The downtown area of Winterset is a courthouse square and is common in the Mid West. Their courthouse (local government offices) was being renovated. We liked the huge hanging baskets of flowers that would not survive the winds of Kansas. Very nice

 

By this time it was around noon and we were hungry so we asked a local shop keeper where we should eat lunch. She pointed at a nearby Rexall drug store and said they serve a good lunch. It was like stepping back into time. Amazingly, these places do still exist.

 

Congrats on the 4 day week! I am still on the 7 day work week!

Cool trip and pics, That first shot of the low HP model T's is rare!

 

They still had the old soda fountain and a bigger dining room in the back.

 

It was sort of a cafeteria and as I looked over the food selection, I was not too happy with the choices. Maybe I am a food snob but fish sticks was the lunch special and so we just ordered one piece of pie to share. It was banana meringue. As you may know I am on a Mid West pie tasting tour and have begun to realize that not all homemade pie is good. This pie was a day or two old and not fresh. We ate a few bites and left the quaint drug store with it's friendly atmosphere.

 

Walking around the square we quickly found an old diner that looked interesting. A look inside revealed a place that time had forgot.....very cool indeed. We had BLT sandwiches and iced tea. Very good.

 

Looking over the pie selection, this time we decided to pass and moved on to a nearby bakery. Sadly, it was only a donut shop but we each bought a homemade Bismark and they were good. Then we stepped into the local Chamber of Commerce where a very friendly gal gave us a map of the covered bridges and other things she wanted us to see while in the area.

 

Still raining off and on but very pleasant change in temperature for us, we looked at some of the bridges. I didn't get many photos but most of them looked similar to each in design and construction.

 

You come to my back yard and cant call or stop by. We have pie in my area ya know. Cal

 

Moving east and driving on a paved county road we enjoyed the well kept farms with red barns, white fences, and manicured yards. Beautiful and productive fields of corn and soybeans were to be seen at all times. Unlike some folks, I do not get tired of seeing new wealth growing from the ground up......hard to beat if you ask me.

 

Great thread Povertyflats!! Love it! I love the old buildings, main streets, the quiet side of life. I feel very fortunate to live in the country and in old towns here in New England and we still have these beautiful old Main Streets. Unfortunately here; its "out with the old and in with the new." The old business are gone, the storefront sit empty, the towns are now filled with welfare loving people and drugs...lots of them. In recent years these small towns, that once helped build economic strength in America, are going through a "revival". Main streets are being restored, our factories are being restored, people are once again starting to use Main Streets for what they once were. We still see a lot of mills and buildings becomming victims to the wrecking ball; but not so much anymore. I feel like the places you have visited have been the lucky ones spared the burden of time.

our farms are being bought out by developers because the farmers can no longer afford to farm in this state. They sell off their dairy cattle for beef, auction off the equipment, and sell the 300 yr old family farm to a developer that is going to turn them into mini-mansions for the city people who want to live in the country. the city people move into farm country, take over town government and complain about the farm smells, the noisy machinery, etc and they basically pushthe farmers out. CT farmers cant afford the CT fuel prices, very high taxes, and CT utility prices. There is a big push to save our local farms here and our open space. I never get tired of driving through our farmlands and smelling the fresh cut hay on the night air, the corn silage, the dairy farm smell, and the sight of locally grown products in our stores and in roadside stands. Local farms = Local Jobs.

We still have quite a few old 40's, 50's and early 60's eateries around that are survivors of time and guess what?!...they are the most popular places to eat around here.

Sometimes we all need that "escape" time. enjoy it!

 

Next stop was a very nice winery down a gravel road and I think we were near St. James and St. Charles, Iowa at this time. Lovely place and the owner was too. We drank the wine as she poured it with a great smile and told us about each one. I liked them all. We bought a few bottles and moved on. I believe the name of the place is 2 Saints Winery. I recommend it.

 

Continuing on the blue highways of southern Iowa, we mostly drove in a East and somewhat North direction. I was headed to Oskaloosa, IA where I had heard about a corn festival with all the free sweet corn you an eat.........
Arriving at that town late in the afternoon we stopped at a McDonalds for coffee and restroom break. I asked some local coffee drinkers who were wearing overalls and John Deere ball caps about the schedule of this event. One of them said..."that was last night...where are you from anyway?"
"Kansas" was my reply.
"well, you missed the whole damn thing" he said.

 

Oh well, no harm done. And by this time we had been on the road over 12 hours so we stopped at the next town which was the Dutch village of Pella, IA. It was nice and well kept with tulips and flowers. After a steak dinner it was time for sleep.

 

Next morning we hit the road early, crossing over a man made reservoir with foggy steam rising over the water and soon we were at the lovely town of Knoxville. I had seen on Facebook that they had a farmer's market on the courthouse square on Saturdays and it was Sat. morning so we were in for a treat. We do not have good farmer markets in KS as the weather can be harsh and not friendly to good gardens. I was impressed with the goods at this one.....

 

More photos from Knoxville market

 

baked goods including pie.....yum

 

I tried to buy something from most of the vendors. I was happy to get this fresh produce and bought a car load including lots of corn........

 

By now it was late Saturday morning and we began driving westward along some back roads in southern Iowa, stopping to look around if we saw something interesting. Wasn't long before we found a sign for my wife to pose by.......her name is Sandy.

 

Then I stopped at Mt. Ayr, IA to snap a photo of this cool old drive in burger joint.

 

"Midwest pie tasting tour". I love it!!!

 

Same town had this cool diner downtown.

 

Still driving west thru the lovely rural countryside we came into the pleasant village of Bedford, IA. It was scenic and had a nice antique store where we shopped.

 

Turning south we were soon welcomed to Missouri by a sign that said as much. Then it was getting hot and humid again so I kept moving and fast. A few hours later brought us to Lawrence, KS where we had a late lunch with my son Kevin who is a student at University of KS. Arriving home on Saturday night, we were very pleased with our short but sweet Iowa adventure.

 

Thanks for sharing your weekend with us - you hit some pretty "cool" places which I would never have seen.

 

Sundays may be a day of rest, but for the 2 people who live at Poverty Flats it was time to work. I shucked a zillion ears of corn and she put it in the freezer. Then we had a nice Sunday dinner. I would like to thank the local Kansas farmer for the fresh beef and all the nice folks in Iowa for the veggies......yum