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

Thank you all for reading my story and looking at my photos. I enjoy the simple things in life here on the Plains.....and hope you do too.

 

hey guy ,you should post your itineray ? before you head out next time ! we could of had a welcoming committe out? if you was in knoxville ,you should of stopped at the sprintcar hall of fame /very nice , im in norwalk just up the road a ways ,was home all week end ! dont believe there is much here ,sometimes the locals call it "snorwalk",it is the family home of "brandon routh" one of the former -super men-,nice guy his sister is a popular singer - also good to look at ! anyway stop by if yuo get up this way !

 

I hear you buddy. I spent my first working years as a dairy farmer......but now enjoy a better life.

 

Thanks so much but I never had a set plan or schedule. That is the fun of it....just drive and look.

 

I've eaten lunch there many times depending on what I was hungry for they used to be very reasonably priced.

The Northside Cafe, you might have sat in the same seat that Clint Eastwood did in that Bridges movie. I remember seeing him walking around town when they were making it.

I usually eat lunch at Rudy's or Godfathers if I'm in Winterset around lunch time. Rudy's is about two blocks South of the Square and Godfathers is about 6 blocks North.

Twenty miles to the West you could have had some of my wife's blue ribbon winning fresh peach pie.

I remember when those bridges were in use. Now I think that they have all of them blocked off and new bridges for daily use. They were a lot more fun when I could drive through them.

There used to be a good old junkyard in Sandyville that had some cool old stuff in it. I used to go over there and buy everything I could afford. I haven't been over there in a long time but I the last time I was there most of the cool old stuff was gone.

 

Thanks Flats. Yep, we're keepin' track of ya.

 

OMG----I would have loved that!

 

Oh man, I grew up in Iowa and you are making me homesick!

Did you happen to get to see any sprint car racing while in Knoxville?

 

The town was buzzing with the beginnings of the Sprint Car Nationals but I was not there for that. I'm sure it was fun but we were just driving and looking.....

 

Sandy and Paul, another great rural road trip, thanx. Knoxville has a great sprint car museum there, next time it is worth a visit. So nice of the folks to name the town after Sandy, she just charms everyone! Would have been a great cruz for the 57 Sport Sedan, love that car. Thanks for sharing and cruz on ~sololobo~

 

I spent many a Saturday night watching the sprinters run on the black dirt of Knoxville. And at Oskaloosa as well. Have been to Pella many times and some of the other towns you visited. GREAT photography, and as I said, your photos and descriptions make me miss the place. And that is quite an accomplishment!

 

sounds like you had a great time, thanks for sharing with us poor slobs at still working

 

It's best warm with Bryers peach ice cream on top.

 

Thanks for all the comments. I am going to work now. I enjoyed my morning of leisure but now need to ship an engine or two and prepare another one for sale. Always something to do at PF.....

 

Ironically I had some of that for dessert on Sunday.

 

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

 

Paul --

Thanks so much for including all of us on yours and Sandy's journey. I love this kind of thing and wish I had the time to do it myself. Small towns are the coolest! At least I am getting to enjoy it vicariously through your photos(excellent BTW) and narrative.

 

Thanks for posting the pictures and the narrative of your trip. About 6 years ago my wife and I spent a week tooling around southern Iowa in our 48 Chev. pickup. We spent the last weekend of the trip camping at GoodGuys Desmoines. We went to the Amana Colonies, north to Dyersville to tour the toy tractor museum and then hit the same covered bridges as you. We spent a couple days in Desmoines. The capitol is really something to see. They have flags on display that were carried by Iowa Companies during the Civil War. The state mueseum is well worth the visit as well. There were alot of pictures of food in your post. I hope to attend the Iowa State Fair someday. The fairgrounds are really nice and historic. Thanks for sharing. Did you buy any bicycles? See at the Drags next week. Sam

 

A great reminder to us Iowans of some of the many great things this state has to offer. I moved out to an old farm house north of Des Moines last fall and really like living in the country (just make sure the 4x4 is good to go for the winter!). As far as this city kid is concerned the only thing better than buying farmers market / roadside stand sweet corn is being able to walk across the backyard and pick a few ears right off the stalks. My landlord was nice enough to plant two rows of sweet corn on the side of the field next to the house & said to take whatever we wanted to. Sad to say it's all gone now but they got a bunch, as did I & the rest kept the local critters happy for a while.(Dang raccoons always seem to know just when its almost perfect)
The weather going to be great this weekend so It looks like I may have to take a break from clearing out the old house and go on a small town reconisence run up in this area. I'll let you know if I find any good pie!

Glad you came up for a visit.

 

Hey that pie looks familiar...?!?!?!?!

Another pie photo courtesy of PF archives!

Paul I was virtually raised in a "Rexall" Drug Store by the soda fountain... all the young Mothers of the neighborhood would meet at the soda fountain with their little children while the Husbands were at work and talk while starting their children on a "Coke and Ice Cream" diet!

My first audible word out of my mouth was "COKE"... as I'd reach for the glass on the counter!

Sadly in the sixties the store burned to the ground and we lost another wonderful piece of history.

 

Did you run into the "Pickers"? LOL Nice photos, thanks for posting them.

 

Great shots of times past...I think that Earl Binns, "The fuel'n farmer" former top fuel racer, was from Winterset...and maybe John Wayne was born there (hope it wasn't John Wayne Gacey, the serial killer!!...oops)

 

Great, pics. Actually been through alot of those towns. Looks liek a fun road trip. Thanks for sharing.

 

That mural in Beford is GREAT! Somebody did some amazing work.

 

Paul, ya should have swung by wayland. Id bought ya dinner

 

No shots of the windmill in Pella? The tour is kinda cool as they demonstrate how they trim the sails. Also, the "Dutch letter" pastries in Pella are not to be missed.

 

Good thing you didn't try to come by Hamburg,a 30,000 acre lake is all you would have seen.Nice trip ,I hope to do that some more shortly.

 

sir, i want to thank you first for the trip to iowa. never been there.looks like the place to be. also want to thank you for a new appreciation that i now have for where i live. i live in n. alabama. its beautiful here where i live. i have 8 acres part of which is still woods. 2 creeks and 2 waterfalls on my place.2 shops a pool etc. but i was really getting to hate it here.there is nothing going on here ever.at least not the things i enjoy.i guess i was missing the faster pace of life i lived 25yrs ago.since my bike wreck in 05 ive been pretty much staying home and working in our shop.building old cars and custom bikes. now buisness is dead and im working on my own stuff.being crippled up some does tend to slow you down.if you wanted to or not.i didnt.but after reading your post and daydreaming some .a thought came to me.i have what alot.it took me and my wife 33 yrs to get where we are. we are not rich. we have to fight to pay the bills some months.but i do have a decent place to live that is not noisey, or ugly to look at. i can hear the song birds and even the coyotes at night.i can watch raccoons try to see whats in the grill on the back porch.i can watch my grandkids swim in the pool or ride thier bikes in the long driveway. or just chase the dog. i can leave this place for a week at a time and go anywhere i want to and i can always come home.home, thats something ive been taking for granted alot lately. small town america is where i live. i just seemed to have forgotten that.there are 2 small cities about 30 miles away. 1 north of me and the other south.and two small towns. one about 3 miles away and the other about 8. what damn more can a man want.my wife and i are ggoing down hwy 66 in about 2 months. going to take 2 lane rds all the way to california and back.in a ot car. (67 impala). gonna spend some time getting to know my wife and even myself.i have just realized that i do like my life and where i live.people have to go and taste the kind of life you just posted. im already there.and i didnt even know it.funny aint it. you go on a weekend trip, take a few pics and post them for us to see.for entertainment or just to enjoy.and it has such a profound impact on a old crippled up biker (AND HOTRODDER).so thank you again for the insite in to my own life.i guess i do have it pretty good after all.im still alive after dying twice in that wreck. at first i was mad that i lived because of the constant pain and being crippled up some.but after your post i finally let go of it all.im living the life you just showed.i was just going to pm this to you but after i thought about it i decided that people should realize that the hamb has alot more power than they think. in alot more ways than we can imagine. sorry for such a long post but i had to tell you this again thank you. ken

 

No, thank you for posting this! It was a quick trip back home for me. As a kid Wednesday night was stock cars on the dirt at Oskaloosa, Saturday night was sprinters at Knoxville or drag racing at Eddyville, and I consumed many pastries from Pella! Plus my uncle was a partner in the Ford agency in Knoxville.

 

you sound like my kind of "farmergal"