Tuesday June 25, 2013- Romance in Madison County

Left: Adel, Iowa at 10:50am CST (C)
Arrived: Mitchell, South Dakota (pop. 15,254) at 7:15pm CST (D)
Total time on road: 8 1/2 hours
Miles driven this leg: 467.5
Total miles driven: 1517.9

Today’s Travel was going to be a bit different. After some loving discussion, Pete and I came to an understanding. I understand his need to get wherever we’re going and he understands our need to experience the culture and sights along the way.

There isn’t much to see and do in Adel, Iowa. Its central location makes it a handy stopping place. However, the neighboring town, Winterset (population 5,222), is the birthplace of John Wayne and home to The Bridges of Madison County.

Stone Schoolhouse

Madison County’s countryside scenery is romantic. Possibly the most dreamy, bucolic hillsides I have ever seen.  

Hogback Bridge, Madison County, Iowa

We took a ride through the rolling countryside to see the Stone Schoolhouse and Hogback Bridge. Hogback was built in 1884 and refurbished in 1992. We took some romantic photos while we were at Hogback Bridge and then we stopped at a farmhouse and asked if they had a clawfoot bathtub that we could use to pretend we were Meryl Streep and (a younger, saner) Clint Eastwood. The lady of the house must have not heard me because she closed the door in my face. When I knocked again, her husband came to the door with his shotgun.
Where is the friendliness that the Midwest is so famous for??!!

Not John Wayne's House

The drive continued into the center of town to see the courthouse and John Wayne’s statue. There is a beautiful home next to the statue. It is not his home, but I am pretending it is because it looks like it should be.

In Adair, we witnessed the hundreds of wind turbines of Iowa’s wind project. Iowa produces 24.5% of its energy from wind. It ranks third in wind production in the United States, coming only after California and Texas.

Windmill of the Adair Wind Project

The One and Only Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota

As we made our way into South Dakota, we took a side trip to the World’s Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. This is a free museum that is annually stripped of its exterior adornments and redecorated with new corns and grains. Over 3,000 bushels or rye, oat heads and sour dock are tied in bundles and attaches. When the corn is ready, about 275,000 ears are sawed in half, lengthwise and nailed to the building following the theme’s pattern created by local artists. There are lots of corny items in the gift shop that we chuckled over and then walked away from. It was cute. Worth about 1 hour of time.

We pulled into the campground. Kids took a swim. Mama wrangled up some grub.

Dinner: Grilled Chicken Breasts, Knorr Rice Side Dish, Micro-steamed Veggie Blend, Pickled Roasted Peppers, Peach Mango Daiquiris, Remaining halves of Chipwich Ice Creams.

Tomorrow: Wall Drug or Bust and The BadAss Badlands