Tag: #iowa

Tristates Iowa Wisconsin Illinois

11 – 12 June 2018

The Mississippi River! I get so emotional every time I see it! Interestingly I have been to 5 of these 10 must see towns on the Mississippi without realising till now.

I am in Dubuque (rhymes with The Duke)Iowa listening to the bird song mixed with the sound of the huge freight trains. I am getting accustomed to them sounding their air horns day and night in many of the areas I have stayed. Memphis, Goshen and Dubuque being the most noticeable so far. I am so glad I took a day off from driving and chose this spot to sit and enjoy the river reading and people watching.

The Shot Tower was built to produce lead shot in the 1850s with a brewery next door built in 1898 only to be shut down in 1917 due to prohibition. It reopened in 1933. The building is in the Sylvester Stalone movie FIST and an Art Carney film Take This Job and Shove It.

The Mississippi at night in Dubuque.

A daytime video of the above.

A little foggy today.

Dubuque is a pretty town with hills and some houses which remind me of San Francisco.

Diverse architecture.

Another impressive Veterans Memorial.

I came across these black dragon flies caught in a spider web.

And more Amish. This was just outside of Dubuque.

Iowa

10 June 2018

For the John Wayne fans, I stopped at his birthplace museum and his birthplace in Winterset Iowa.

The film, the Bridges of Madison County with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood was filmed with real historical bridges in Winterset.

The one made famous in the movie was the “Roseman Covered Bridge”

It has its own gift shop.

The oldest is the “Imes Covered Bridge”built in 1870.

The “Holliwell Covered Bridge”.

The “Cedar Covered Bridge” was sadly destroyed by an arson attack committed by 3 local teenagers.

The “Cutler-Donohoe Bridge”.

The “Hogback Bridge”.

I am intrigued by the patriotism of this country. I always thought that the USA was founded at a similar time as Australia however, a band of Vikings date back to 985 as the first to found North America.

They have endured war,on their home soil, with the British, French, Spanish and of course their own Civil War. There is evidence of all their battles in almost every state. There are forts and battle grounds that are reminders of their fight to keep their freedom. Other examples of their patriotism are homes decorated with their flag everywhere. Driving through many towns the flags are lined up as if a procession is to be held.

Then the memorials.

And today I witnessed a man who is running through Iowa to raise awareness of Veteran suicide.