Iowa Hotels

It took us about 4-1/2 hrs to get there, but we stopped at an antique shop along the way and I bought Mom's Christmas gift, a depression glass platter to add to her collection. The hotel was nice, with a pool and hot tub, but we set off to explore the town and grabbed a sandwich at the festival. There was a parade, and it seemed that the whole town turned out for it. We browsed the shops and got the layout of where things were for tomorrow, then went back and relaxed at the pool. We could have had continental breakfast at the hotel, but decided to opt for some dutch pastries and espresso ...

Madison County is known for it's covered bridges. There was also a book and movie entitled, "The Bridges of Madison County". The night of the 4th, we saw the Madison County Courthouse; still with it's Christmas lights. The courthouse was built in 1876. It has a room from the 1800's that has graffiti written by prisoners of that time. To start out the morning of the 5th, we went to the Winterset City Park to see one of the bridges; the Cutler-Donahoe Bridge. It was snowy and slushy out so we didn't walk around as much as we would have otherwise. The park also has a log cabin that was built in ...

Skipped Columbus due to family cancelling plans with us. Stopped at a roadside rest stop on Ohio Turnpike to sleep for a few hours. Father's Day. Crossed over into Michigan to eat breakfast. Visitor center closed (too early). On to Indian Dunes National Park in Indiana to celebrate Fathers Day with a swim and a BBQ lunch. Bought the $80 annual federal park pass - will come in handy later. Drove through Chicago, Illinois - paid $10 to sit in traffic on the expressway (?) through town probably people returning from a long weekend. Missed a toll somewhere and got my picture taken happily driving ...