Mother Daughter Road trip in Iowa

Iowa is a rural, corn-covered state, dotted with red barns and silos.  We stopped at a couple of rest areas just to stretch our legs and then pressed on.  We hoped to make up for the slower days of exploration and National Parks, but even on this day we had one quirky stop planned. 

            Driving down the interstate we were fascinated by all the modern windmills, sleek with huge white blades.  Sometimes we passed clusters of windmills; sometimes there were only a few.  We stopped for lunch in a tiny town, surrounded by fields of corn and more windmills.  A man and woman at the table beside us discussed seeds and early ears.  The news covered the farm report and the big news of the day, the early closing of the schools due to extreme heat.  The high was expected to reach 95 F.   As Southerners we chuckled at that.

            Talking to our waitress we learned the town has over 300 windmills, but the company that owns them generates electricity for a different county.

            We drove on.  The next Iowa rest area was designed as a tribute to writers and the written word.  Mom and I walked through the inside displays, but what we really liked were the picnic tables.  Each table had a metal windbreak with author’s quotes cut out of the metal.  We had to read every one.  I later learned that Iowa is in the process of updating all their rest areas to reflect the theme of the area or county.  We were close to the University of Iowa and to the Iowa Writers Workshop.  This rest area made me happy!

            We turned off the highway to search for the tiny town of Riverside Iowa, the future birthplace of James T Kirk, captain of the Starship Enterprise.

            Driving along country roads we entered the town of Riverside.  The road curved, we rounded a corner and there was the Starship Enterprise in a strip mall parking lot.  It was late in the day and everything was closed, but we snapped a few pictures and continued on.    In the downtown area, vacant of cars or people, we parked and walked by several closed stores.  A sign pointed us to walk down a grassy path between a shop and a hair salon.  We walked back to find a little garden with a monument to Kirk’s future birthplace.  Riverside honors both the future birthplace and the place of conception, in the local bar.  At least the town has a sense of humor.

            We laughed, took a few pictures and continued on our drive, staying on country back roads.  We passed fields and fields of corn.  Suddenly we turned a corner, crossed an old metal bridge, and we were on the other side of the Mississippi.  We were nearly done with this trip.

Mother Daughter Road Trip part 3

South Dakota

The best part of travel is discovery and discovery is best in spontaneity.   The next day of our trip we drove through South Dakota.  I saw a sign for the Badlands, mom and I looked at each other, and we turned the car off the highway.  At the first pullover we read a sign that said General Custer considered the badlands like entering hell without the fire.

            For us it was like looking out at a flat-ish grand canyon.   When we first entered the park we were up high, and the weirdly eroded badlands fell away in waves.  We ate at a picnic area, enjoyed the views and continued on, stopping at every pullout.  On the other side of the park we found ourselves in reverse scenery, the limestone shapes rose above us and we were falling away.  It was eerie, and beautiful. 

            The Badlands have been home to various Indian tribes as well as homesteaders and have been used as an air force bombing and gunnery range by our military.  The Oglala Sioux performed the Ghost dance in the badlands, in a hope to drive out the white men and to become impervious to their bullets.  The badlands are rich in fossils and prairie grass filled with black-footed ferrets.  I wish we could have spent several days there, exploring the beauty and the history of the area.

            We lost some time but the detour was worthwhile.  The rest of South Dakota was like a painting, with the colors slowly fading away off in the distance.  As we drove the hills were replaced with flat fields of wheat, milo and corn.  At times huge fields of sunflowers, all in bloom, blanketed both sides of the highway.  The flowers on the left turned their sunny faces towards us, those on the right looked away.

            We stopped in Mitchell, SD to see the famous Corn Palace, basically the local events building covered with murals formed from corn and other grains.  While standing around on the main street of town, eyeing the corn murals, we saw some of the same people from the pullouts in the badlands.

            When we checked into our hotel, I asked the receptionist what she though of the corn palace and all the people travelling from all over to see it.  She wrinkled her nose, and shook her head. “It’s crazy.   That’s just the gym where we played basketball.”

            South Dakota is a beautiful state, and after driving through it all day I dreamed of planting sunflowers and baking bread full of rich grains.