| s/y Nine of Cups Iowa USA Summer 2010 |
| Iowa Facts... Capital: Des Moines Area: 56,276 sq mi (26th biggest state in the US) Population: ~3.1 million High Point: Hawkeye Point - 1,670' Low Point: Where the Mississippi and Des Moines Rivers join - 480' State Nickname: Hawkeye State State Flower: Wild rose State Bird: Eastern Goldfinch Iowa was the 29th state in the USA and entered the union on March 1, 1846. |
| The Iowa state flag has a red, white and blue background, like the French flag symbolizing the fact that the Iowa territory was part of the land acquired by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. |
| The name Iowa comes from Ioway, the French word for the Bah-kho-je Indian tribe that lived in the area. Iowa is a native American word meaning 'beautiful land'. |
Interesting Iowan trivia...
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| So we left Nebraska and started reading a bit about Iowa...our next state en route and remembered the book and movie, Bridges of Madison County. Well, exactly where were those alleged covered bridges? Seems they're in Winterset, Iowa not really very far from I-80, so why not stop? and of course, we did. |
| Roseman Bridge - 1883 |
| Cedar Bridge originally built 1883; rebuilt in 2004 after being destroyed by an arsonist |
| Cutler-Donahoe Bridge - 1870 |
| Winterset, Iowa was a delightful, small city and definitely worth a stop. There were originally 19 bridges in Madison County, but only 6 remain and only one can actually be used. We visited three of the six and enjoyed photographing them. The bridges were covered by order of the County Board of Supervisors to help preserve the large flooring timbers, which were more expensive to replace than the lumber used to cover the bridge sides and roof. Usually, the bridges were named for the resident who lived closest. |
| Not only is Winterset the home of the famous covered bridges, it is also the hometown of Marion Mitchell Morrison aka John Wayne and the Delicious Apple! |
| From Winterset, back to I-80 with just one more little detour...the Amana Colonies. A group of museums displaying the history of German colonists who emigrated to the US and arrived in Iowa in 1855. They chose a communal way of life and their heritage is preserved as a national historic landmark. To the right, a tidy barn and a view of the town of Amana, one of the seven villages of the Amana Colonies. Amana means to remain true (Song of Solomon 4:8). This is also the home of Amana Refrigerators |
| Corn, corn and more corn! |
| A beautiful water lily pond near Amana. |
| Okay ... enough detours and sidetrips... time to get a move on. We were now heading to New York to visit our oldest son, Brennan and his wife, Hannah and we had to make tracks to arrive to coincide with a weekend reserved in their busy schedules just for our visit. We traveled through several states now...scenery changing from flat prairies and cornfields to rolling hills and trees. |
| Considering we were travelling at 70mph over the interstates, these photos came out rather well. I nicked PA and NY from the internet since the signs snuck up on us and turning around was not an option. |
| So...New York and New England next on the agenda. Come along to Marcie's part of the world OR alternatively, Return to Home Page. |