The Bridges of Madison County

Our grandson Izan has been gone for a week out of a two week visit with his maternal grandparents, to Pennsylvania, so I decided to take Donna out to Winterset, IA. For those that don’t know, it is the home of the “Bridges of Madison County.” http://madisoncounty.com/index.php?page=the-bridges

Yes even before there was the Eastwood/Streep movie there were the bridges. All seven of them, five of which are on gravel roads. Dusty Iowa gravel roads, July weather and a sidecar rig, truly a match made in heaven. Well I did have an ulterior motive, as Winterset is also the birthplace of The “Duke” John Wayne. http://www.johnwaynebirthplace.org/
Hey, kill two birds….

We left Cedar Rapids, about 8:30 am Saturday and headed SW along scenic two lane highways through towns like Oskaloosa, (Christmas Parade) http://www.oacdg.org/general/christmas_parade , Knoxville, (National Sprint Car Hall of Fame) http://sprintcarhof.com/Pages/Home and Indianola, National Hot Air Balloon Classic & Museum http://www.nationalballoonclassic.com/

We ate lunch at Casa Grande in Knoxville. Man if you like Mexican and want to hurt you waist not your wallet you’ve got to try it. The ½ sizes will feed you for two meals.

We arrived in Winterset about 2:00 pm. A little later than planned, but I kept getting sleepy after that lunch. Donna wanted to visit all the bridges first in case something went wrong and we had to cut the trip short. This happens to us more times than not as we are managers of 75 unit Apartment Complex. It is like raising 75 kids. Five hours later with a ton of dust on us and the rig we had seen all but one bridge and it had been moved to the city park. We headed to the motel and a much needed shower.

It was interesting the way most of the bridges have been left standing and the new bridges re-routed the roads. But they must be long miles because 3 miles of gravel road feels like 6 or 7 miles. There is even one that you can still drive over. I got pics of the rig on that one.

We stayed overnight back in Clive about 23 miles away as the motel in Winterset was full. We ate at Cracker Barrel (Grandpa’s Country Fried Breakfast), gotta have my grits when I can.

Sunday rode back to Winterset about 9 am. Went to the park and saw the last bridge (No Gravel), then it was off to see the “The Duke”. His birthplace is pretty quaint and the gift shop is packed with memorabilia, pictures, books, and anything you can think to put John Wayne on. Great Place.
There is also a life size bronze statue on part of the property where the new museum will be built. The sculptor did an excellent job.

The trip back home was a little faster though we stayed clear of interstate, but took U.S. Hwy 30 back for most of the trip. Twenty miles out of Cedar Rapids, my alternator gave up the ghost. It was not fun watching the volt meter drop steadily over 30 miles from 13.5v to 7.2v and the engine die. Fortunately I have a 12v charging station that powers all of Izan’s electronics in the sidecar. I connected that to the battery and balanced it on the seat behind me and made it home. Guess I get to replace the alternator next weekend.

Here are a few pics the rest are in the gallery.