On a whim as we were leaving the house to pick up my Mom Meghan decided to pick up some CDs for the drive including a box set of Harry Chapin songs, more on that later.
We've been making slow progress on driving the 48 states. This is the eleventh trip this year and we have now driven in 16 states spending countless hours on countless miles of road. I know it could be done faster but "it's gotta be the going not the getting there that's good"- Later came sooner then I expected. There was something about Harry Chapin's storytelling style that really struck me on this drive. His songs are about the everyman, regular people in their imperfect, conflicted, and confused lives all trying to make the best of where they have found themselves. His song Greyhound reaches a frenzied conclusion as the character in the song realizes:
"Looking to tomorrow is the way the loser hides
I should have realized by now that all my life's a ride,
It's time to find some happy times and make myself some friends
I know there ain't no rainbows waiting when this journey ends.
Stepping off this dirty bus first time I understood
It's got to be the going not the getting there that's good.
That's a thought for keeping if I could,
It's got to be the going not the getting there that's good."
Reaching each state is the goal but along the way will be great conversations, new jokes, beautiful sites, delicious beer, and superb dinners. I know that there is a record for driving the states in the shortest time but my goal is to see and experience each state as much as possible.
This trip was a little different then the others because Iowa is pretty far and really starting to stretch the weekend trip limits we left on Thursday from Nashville. My Mom took the driver's seat first while I slept in the backseat with the dogs. Then I took over from her after a few hours. A little bit after St. Louis we pulled over in a rest stop to sleep for the night.
In the morning we continued the drive to our first stop in Iowa, Council Bluffs. Now as I had been talking to coworkers about the upcoming trip one coworker told me we had to go to Omaha and see the Old Market. Friday as I told Meg and my Mom about this Meg found quite a bit of amusement from someone's reaction to "hey I'm going on a trip to Iowa" being "that's cool go to Nebraska." But once she finished laughing I asked if they wanted to detour. Meg remarked that Nebraska is far and I reminded her.. not when you are in Iowa. When you are in Iowa it is close, and in fact was only 11 minutes away from our last stop in Council Bluffs.
Our first stop was a monument to commemorate Abraham Lincoln's visit to Council Bluffs on August 19, 1859 and the selection of Council Bluffs as the Eastern Terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad.
The spot had a perfect view of the river below and the open western lands. Before heading to our second stop in Council Bluffs we made a slight detour to the Squirrel Cage Jail. I had seen a sign for it as we drove to the the Lincoln Monument and I recognized the name from several different haunted stories. Actually Meg wants to do a year where all our road trips involve a paranormal investigation and this is one of the locations I would like to go. The jail is one of three (I think) still standing rotating jails. Basically instead of a jail cell opening the whole thing rotates to an opening. It was built in 1885 and in use into the 1960s. Most rotary jails were only one story so this one being three stacked levels of cells was quite unique.
I had gotten out of the car to snap a picture and look around when I realized I had left my bandana that I use as a mask in the car. So I trudged back and grabbed it. I want the country to open back up I want businesses to be able to help customers. I want to continue my road trips. And I don't want people to get sick. For all those reasons I'll wear a mask when I am out and around people. I remember at first having a knee jerk reaction of "you can't tell me what to do" but then I realized I live in a society and I have a social contract with the rest of society. From the very start of human evolution our growth from single nomad to living in communities and cities has been about accepting that we need to participate in society. Where am I going with this? I'm going to Harry Chapin's song The Rock. A song about a prophet who tried to warn a town about a rock that was going to fall and destroy the town. No one listened to him and thought he was crazy. Seeing the danger he dedicated his life to trying to fortify the rock. One fateful night when it began to move the man sacrificed himself and thanks to the preparation he took the rock did not fall. The people below never knew. They thought the crazy man was wrong since it never happened. That's how I look at the masks. Assuming the mask works and keeps people safe no one will know but if they don't work more and more people will become ill. So I guess in this respect I will err on the side of caution. The mask doesn't hurt me, it annoys me when I forget it but overall I'm ok. But if it stops me from getting sick or another person from getting sick I'll take it.
We then continued on to our second planned stop in Council Bluffs, a Golden Spike honoring the location as the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Rail Road.
I love trains and seeing their effect on the development of the nation. Towns were made and destroyed by where railroad lines were placed. The eastern terminus being placed in Council Bluffs definitely aided the development of the area to what it is today. To this day Council Bluffs plays a large role in the rail road travel and in fact grain storage is a large industry still because of the rail line. As we drove we saw a freight train pulling up to a grain elevator and being filled.
Next we slipped into Nebraska to visit The Old Market Area and get some lunch. Now Old Market in Omaha is a section of buildings and brick paved streets that have been preserved from Omaha's original heyday. It definitely had the classic old West town look with brick buildings and large awnings. It was awesome to see flower boxes ling the edges of the awnings with flowers spilling over as vines climbed the buildings.
We started back east through Iowa to our next location. At one point we pulled over into a rest stop and saw gigantic trucks marked with "oversized load" stopped on both shoulders of the rest stop ramp. As we passed it took a moment to realize what we were looking at and then we realized. It was the blades of the giant wind turbines that pepper the landscape all around Iowa.
True story there is a road stop in Iowa that has one of these standing straight up, we saw it from across the highway.
We reached our last stop for the very long day, seriously we kept asking each other if it was still Friday, Winterset. Our first stop in Winterset was the museum and birthplace of John Wayne. We pulled up to the museum and I got out to see the statue of John Wayne and the "Freedom Rock" behind the museum. What I didn't realize was that his actual childhood home was around the corner so we returned shortly to check it out.
The Freedom Rock is the work of Ray Sorenson from Greenfield, Iowa. He plans (or maybe by now has finished) to paint a Freedom Rock in all 99 counties. Madison County was his 64th and was dedicated on August 26th, 2017. More of the rocks can be found at Freedom Rocks.
In my panorama picture above starting from left to right you see an image of a female soldier in a quilt this represents the Quilts of Valor Foundation which has its headquarters in Winterset. The foundation makes quilts for military service members as a symbol of welcoming them home.
The next panel shows four images of John Wayne in various movie roles where he played characters from different branches of the military: The Fighting Seabees, The Sands of Iwo Jima, The Green Berets, and The Flying Leathernecks.
The third panel shows four young men from Madison County who were held as POWs: Carl Hircock and Eddie Benge both from Winterset who were captured after the battle of Faid Pass and held for over two years, Larry Spencer from Earlham who was held in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, and Don Thomas from Macksburg who survived the Bataan Death March and was held for three and a half years.
The final panel shows George Stout a native of Winterset who served as member of the unit dedicated to recovering stolen art work during WWII, The Monuments Men. Beside him is Glenn Martin from Macksburg who turned his love of aircraft into his own company The Glenn L Martin Company where he designed the Martin B-10 Bomber.
We had switched to checking radio stations and weren't listening to the Harry Chapin cd anymore but his stories were still running through my mind in particular, I think my favorite Harry Chapin song on the three cd set, the story of Mr. Tanner the cleaner. It is a story about a man who loved singing.
"music was his life, it was not his livelihood and it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good. And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul. He did not know how well he sang it just made him feel whole."
After a review in NY where the critics were not impressed and recommended a career other than music he returns home to his cleaner shop where he only sings late at night. I think the lines "it was not his livelihood" and that "it made him whole". I know that feeling. A couple of takeaways for me enjoy your talents. We have hobbies and interests and we should pursue them for ourselves. And there is nothing wrong with that. A singer is a singer when they sing. A painter who never sells a painting is still a painter.
Our next few stops were a long time coming. Last time we had been coming to Iowa I had looked up the Bridges of Madison County but we didn't have time for it with some of the other stops planned. So we did it this time. First we went to the bridge featured on the cover of the book: the Cedar Covered Bridge built in 1883.
Then we visited the Hogback bridge built in 1884.
And we ended at the Roseman Bridge which was the bridge featured in the movie. And I left one of my rocks in the bridge.
So far it has been one of my favorite rocks.
We then started driving towards Des Moines where we spent the night at a Laquinta Hotel in West Des Moines that had a wonderful and helpful staff. The next morning we looked up coffee in Des Moines and found out about Scenic Route Bakery. We found a parking spot just a short distance away and put enough money in the meter to get us an hour so we could sit and enjoy our coffee and pastry before starting the days drive. Outside they had a dining area on the side and then a few tables out front. That worked well for us since we could be out of the way with the dogs. Meg stayed outside with the dogs just telling me to surprise her with something. We went inside and immediately we smelled the delicious scent of fresh coffee and pastries. Their symbol was awesome and it had a nice feel inside. Unfortunately the chairs were all moved to the side because of Covid-19 precautions but I'm sure in different times local have a great spot to sit and enjoy themselves. Speaking of locals a man was coming in at the same time as us and we started a conversation. I asked him what we should order and he began listing several different pastries in summary he highly recommended most of their products. And he was right. We ordered and went outside to join Meghan. He came out shortly after us and asked about what brought us to town so I explained about driving the 48 states. Turns out he has family in TN, not near Nashville, and we talked about the area. Later as I was walking to throw out our trash a woman who was sitting on the side most have over heard some of our previous conversation because she asked me where else we were visiting in Iowa. She specifically asked if we were going to go to the Field of Dreams which I informed her we had already visited.
It was nice to share our journey and my excitement with others and if I was better at promoting myself I would have told them about the hashtag or how to find my blog. But I didn't I was happy with the shared moment and conversation. And I think that is a big part of these trips and why I am pushing on with it this year. I miss people and connecting. I was walking past a coworker and they had a funny tee shirt and I smiled while reading it then realized she wouldn't know. I said "You can't see it but I'm smiling" she said "me too." That yearning for a connection made Harry Chapin a perfect musical host for this trip. Any trip but I think that last minute pick up by Meg was perfectly timed. Social distancing and masks are so isolating. From March until May other than work we basically stayed home only going to the grocery store and a few local spots. And it was isolating. Harry's songs are the stories of real people and emotions that anyone can relate with and the feeling of loneliness and longing in "Anywhere's a better place to be." The little man, the barmaid, and the lonely woman are real people. And like the name of the brewery we visited back in Ohio, Sonder Brewing, they each have their own lives that they star in and we are side characters just passing through their stories. At different times I can identify with each of the characters in the song. They come alive through his singing and who hasn't wanted to escape from loneliness. Even the beautiful woman who you wouldn't think feels lonely or the smiling girl serving drinks feels that need for connection.
Next stop was the small town of Grinnell, Iowa apparently nicknamed the "Jewel of the Prairie" which we came to because of its bank. The bank is one of 8 remaining banks designed by Louis Sullivan one of Frank Lloyd Wright's mentors. The bank also shows the many talents of Louis Millet who did a lot of the stained glass work.
The town was founded by Josiah Grinnell and three others who he convinced to name the town after him. It was incorporated in 1865 and quickly began to grow due to its position at the cross roads of the east-west railroad line of Rock Island Railroad and the north south line of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway. Josiah was originally from New England and was a strict abolitionist so much so that his grave has been listed on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing. In 1862 the Iowa Free Press was quoted as saying:
"no man in America more fully embodies the whole juice and spirit of rampant abolitionism in its present sense, then does J.B.Grinnell."
Apparently his position and his aid to slaves searching for freedom was so widespread that the people from the state of Missouri put out a wanted poster for J. Grinnell.
After Grinnell we began the 40 minute drive to our second to last originally planned location in Iowa- Tama and the orphaned bridge. Back in 1912 as automobile traffic was becoming more and more popular many began turning their attention to the idea of a transcontinental highway. And one of the earliest of those was the Lincoln Highway which would take a traveler from New York's Times Square all the way to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. The town of Tama, Iowa was on the original route and immediately began work on a bridge recognizing the highway. However the highway has changed and the new route no longer runs through Tama but you can still follow the original path which is marked.
Now it was 11am on Saturday and all that was left was one more stop on the way home. We would have been home easily on Saturday probably by 9pm. Buuuuuuut my coworker had also told me about this truck stop on Interstate 80 that is the largest truck stop in America... and while it wasn't on our way stranger things have happened. So we turned the car north again and began driving along I-80 until we reached Walcott, Iowa. Let me tell you this isn't a truck stop- it is a small mall. There were three main shopping areas, a food court, and an 18 wheeler inside.
Not enough can be said, especially right now with the Covid Pandemic, about the job truckers do to keep America running. Short distance and long distance truckers but especially I'm thinking about the drivers who are on the long hauls leaving home for long periods of time to deliver cargo. I know I don't think about it a lot as I drive 25 minutes to a grocery store and wish there was one closer. Someone drove a lot further to get that product there for me. For that reason I try to be good to them when I'm on the road for example by giving them space and slowing to signal them for a merge if I see them signaling. After all I am on my time but they are working.
And speaking of truckers I had never heard Harry Chapin's song about 30,000 lbs of bananas until this trip. And it may not be respectful to truckers and I know the drivers widow was upset to have her husbands story turned in to a song. The driver did unfortunately pass away from his injuries as he lost control of the truck but there is a theory that when his breaks failed he caused the truck to roll over on purpose to stop it from driving into the town and causing further injury and harm. This is definitely one of those songs that should only exist in live versions as Harry gets to interact with his audience. Which with everything I read about him makes me think was his favorite part of the song. He certainly sounded like a man who wanted that connection and enjoyed that connection to others. Also I have tokens on the app touch tunes where you can request songs on a virtual jukebox at some restaurants. And I like to request the odd song or ones you don't hear often like to give some examples Weird Al's Amish Paradise or Arlo Guthri'es Alice's Restaurant. So last Thursday as we settled at the bar for our weekly thirsty Thursday I put on 30,000 lbs of bananas 11 minute live version and watched to see if anyone reacted.
Having visited the truck stop, filled up the car, and filled up ourselves with delicious Orange Julius we reprogrammed the GPS to get us back on our original path. It took us on some really small roads through Iowa which was nice to drive by large fields, small towns, and wind turbines. We passed the Durant Cemetery in Durant Iowa and a wood carving caught our attention from the road so we stopped and circled back. I don't know if there are more but there were two beautiful wood carvings towards the front of the cemetery. One is a very fitting stalk of corn and the other was hands in prayer. I don't know anything about the carvings so if anyone reading this can shed some light that would be awesome. I know the town was originally called Brayton for its founder, Benjamin Brayton. In 1855 the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad was built traveling through Durant and the town's name was changed to Durant for Thomas Durant who played a major role in the Transcontinental Railroad and donated money to the building of a school in the town.
Harry Chapin's Corey's Coming had my attention from the first line of "Old John Joseph was a man with two first names." The story of a young man listening to the tales of an old man who works alone at a train yard. The towns people tell him the old man's stories are not true and when asked John Joseph responds "reality is just a word". I don't know if Corey was supposed to be death as a lot of people theorize. I like to think that she was someone attached to the late night train. And the stories John Jospeh told the young man were stories of places she had told him about. But mostly I love the song because when Corey shows up made me think of the end of a movie (and book) Big Fish. The movie is about the relationship between a father and son as the father reaches the end of his life. The father was a story teller and his son feels like he doesn't know a single "true" thing about his father. The townspeople denying John Joseph's stories are like the son doubting all his tales. Corey showing up validates his stories. To me it's an appreciation of life. Maybe John Joseph had only travelled to places in his mind by hearing other stories. But I imagine he described them with great joy he must have for the young man to keep returning for the stories. And maybe they were exceptional places or maybe they were just ordinary places but John Joseph made them real and vibrant to the young man. At the end of Big Fish you discover there was truth in each of the Father's stories but he embellished many. He took an ordinary life and found something special and magic in it. A lesson his son learns at the end. And I think finding something special in an ordinary life is necessary. I think it's why I like traveling and finding places and stories.
Four hours after the truck stop we were back on track in Burlington, Iowa. A while ago I posted on my neighborhood facebook page explaining what I was trying to do and asking if anyone had suggestions. Living near Nashville, one of the fastest growing cities, means I have a wealth of neighbors from all over the place and they may know places I won't find with a google search. One recommended Snake Alley in Burlington. It is a steep narrow winding brick paved road so of course I had to make sure we went there.
I drove the road three times :-) It was the work of three German Engineers in 1894 who wanted to create a path from the shopping district to the business district using the space on Heritage Hill. The angles are tighter than Lombard street in San Francisco and the bricks are actually angled up which would have helped give horses pulling carriages a better foot hold on the steep road. In the 1940s Robert Ripley visited the street and named it the Crookedest Street in the World.
Now it was around 4pm so we stopped for dinner at a brewery just a few blocks away called Parkside Brewing Company. Obviously with the dogs we were sitting outside but I did go inside to look around. The inside space was very welcoming and I was struck by a piece of art and quote right inside the door. The quote was
"Through the winds of change we often find our true direction."
It seems to be just one of those inspirational quotes you find on posters with beautiful landscapes or images behind it. I couldn't find any person who it is attributed to but it definitely delivered a message to my traveling soul.
The brewery is a success story for home brewing. Two of the founding members were award winning home brewers who wanted to share their love of the craft with the people of Burlington. We ordered the pretzels that came with a wonderful white beer cheese dip. And then saw that the pizzas were made with spent grain. I've been to a lot of breweries that also serve pizza but I don't know that I have ever noticed spent grain pizza dough. We split the pizza between the three of us and we built three flights to sample their beers. They had great names and I think we ordered at least three beers just on their names not even worrying about the style. That's the one thing we both agree on about trying beers, we may have our particular likes and a styles of beer but generally we will still go out of the comfort zone to try beers in a variety of styles. It won't ever be a growler contender but still worth the try.
I've got one more Harry Chapin song to write about that I actually did think a lot about as we were driving home. Thats the nice thing about a long drive even in a car with others its good thinking time. Well politically we are pretty different. My Mom is a Conservative Republican. I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal, minus one major issue, but generally identify as a libertarian. Meg is a little more liberal then I am but still falls into the libertarian category though I think social democrat may not be to far for her sometimes. Anyway trapped in a car for hours politics comes up a bit we can't help it and I try and keep it out of my blog because it is so polarizing and I wish it wasn't but it is. We should be able to discuss major issues like adults but no matter what side you are on these days I feel like it results in thinking the other is an idiot or evil. Then I heard Harry Chapin's What Made America Famous? And I knew politics was going to be discussed in this blog.
"I shook his hand in the scene that made America famous
And a smile from the heart that made America great
We spent the rest of that night in the home of a man I'd never known before
It's funny when you get that close, it's kind of hard to hate.
I went to sleep with the hope that made America famous
I had the kind if a dream that maybe they're still trying to teach in school
Of the America that made America famous... and
Of the people who just might understand
That how together, yes we can
Create a country better than
The one we have made of this land
We have a choice to make each man
Who dares to dream, reaching out his hand
A prophet or just a crazy God damn dreamer of a fool."
I love America. It is a country that has been good to me and my family and I think as a country we have done great things and we can have more great times ahead of us. We've done things wrong too. No person and no country is perfect. I don't think we are as far from each other as it feels watching the news. So I think just taking it back and focusing on what we have in common will help. Because when you are finger pointing and dehumanizing (on both sides) it is easy to lose sight of the goal. I want everyone's experience of America to be more like mine. My immigrant Grandparents came here and fought for a good life for them and their children. My parents grew up as first generation Americans and dreamed of an American life for themselves and their children. My sister and I were raised to appreciate the opportunities we had in America that our Grandfathers had travelled to find for their children and grandchildren and so on. Now here I am with a good job that supports me and my hobbies. I own my own home that I closed on the day I turned 30. And I haven't found the right guy but there is still hope. Hope and optimism is what I think makes America Famous: an assumption that things will work out and that people have other's best interest at heart. That is America to me and that is what I want others to experience. In this song there are two very different people, enemies if you would- the plumber and the hippie. But they are both what makes America Famous. Our differences can be our strengths if we have the courage to come together and support each other. Harry Chapin dedicated himself to ending World Hunger because he saw it as cause everyone could agree on. Well there are a lot of causes that everyone can get behind but they may have different ways of getting to a solution but if each side just runs to their corners and yells "idiot" or "hater" at each other nothing will get done. I don't have the answers and I don't know what is right on every issue. But I do know I want people to be safe, fed, educated, protected, and free to enjoy their rights of life liberty and happiness. And I think we can all agree on that.
Also here is a Harry Chapin concert in Passaic, NJ from 10/21/1978 where you can here some of the songs I mentioned above.
At the encore section Harry says he will be in the lobby to sign anything. He really meant that. Packed in a box in my bonus room is a frisbee that my parents got Harry Chapin to sign one day when they saw him :-)
Is that Chevy Chase with Harry?
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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