Corn, wheat, cattle,cowboys and the settling of the West...in the heartland of America

Go west young man....each step of the route now is bringing us to a place in America that is newer in history than the road past.  We are into the "heartland" of America and it's not hard to see that agriculture is key to this region.  Miles of land used for the growing of crops important to the livestock industry or the recent ethanol fuel development, hoping for a future time when fossil fuels are no longer the main source of power for all of us who are travelling these roads through America.  

But let me begin by saying that when we planned this trip, I had hoped to visit the birthplace of my father, Madison, Wisconsin.  My Dad was the third child of young Italian immigrants who had moved from Molise province in the rocky rural area of southern Italy to find a better life.  Their parents and relatives had come via ship to New York, then Cleveland and my Father's four brothers had founded Di Rienzo Bros. monumental works in Madison.  I'm not exactly sure of the details of how the brothers parted ways, but the story from my Dad was that his father, Angelo, who was the senior brother founding the business was later hired by John Paul Getty to work in his cemetery businesses in San Francisco so my Dad's family left the East and settled in San Jose.  The business continued with the remaining 3 brothers and exists to this day, now owned by a corporate firm with multiple offices, but the name persists today.  

 So we chose to divert from Route 20, leaving our friends for a daytrip to Wisconsin.  I was sad that I could not make contact with anyone from the shop, but it is a family memory that was strengthened by my visual contact. 

 Back on the road, we entered Iowa by crossing the Mississipi River in Dubuque, the Eastern edge of Route 20 in Iowa.  This was an important fur trading route through America and I was surprised to find out that the city was named after a French Fur Trader.  

 This ornate courthouse, now functioning as the Opera House gives a clue as to the importance of the region in the history of settling the west. 

 Back on the road....our next stop was the small town of Dyersville Iowa, made famous in some of our memories (Tom) by being the movie set for the popular Kevin Costner movie "Field of Dreams"...so driving down the small roads enroute to the magical campsite named "New Wine" we began to appreciate the scope corn plays in the economy of this region. 

I mentioned in a previous blog that I am no longer enamored by the KOA branded campsites as I often find that we are paying considerably more for a product that includes numerous amenities that I am not going to use. These are campgrounds that have become destination resorts for families with big RV's.  The concept of "home decor" has obviously extended to your camping vehicle too as I walk the multiple lanes of these large elaborate campgrounds and see "tiki bars", mood lights, inflatable lounge chairs around cocktail tables and personalized flags on every site.  

I guess that I'm just kind of old fashioned as I like the small scale state parks, privately owned campgrounds and National Parks of our great country.  I do however acknowledge that staying at a KOA has removed my need to stay at any hotels/motels over the 8 weeks we have already been on the road.  Staying at a KOA, doing my laundry and having a shower is all I need...cable TV, wifi and onsite stores fulfill my needs for the "city fix" and allow us to continue on in as good a shape as we are still.  

So for two nights in Iowa, we chose campgrounds that were part of the State Park system and they were Ollie's favorites...trails, campfires and almost to ourselves..it was a dream come true.  

But back to the Field of Dreams...on a chilly morning we pulled in to the site and Tom was able to check off another trip goal.  

From there we headed over to the other reason to visit Dyersville,...the Farm Toy Museum.  Now if I did not have a grandson, Wyatt who is in love with all things tractorlike, perhaps I would not have cared but this was a trip with Wyatt in my heart to a collectors mecca.  It was fun.  

Leaving Dysersville, Tom wanted to stop in Fort Dodge, a place where he attended one year of Junior College on a partial basketball, baseball scholarship.  He has fond memories of the time he spent there and was amazed at how much his college had grown and modernized in the almost 50 years since he was there....gee...I guess that really is what we could all say if we were to go back in time to those fun college days. 

The second night in Iowa we chose to spend in another local park, Cameron Lake outside of the small town of Holstein.  It was another idyllic choice for Ollie and us.  Of interest was that only a week before, the same night as the devastating tornado in Ontario and our tornado warning in New York; a strong wind had uprooted trees and driven people into the built-in tornado shelters with secured doors carved into the side of the hill in the center of the campground.  

 The next day we entered Nebraska...one of the breadbasket states of America. 

 Route 20 once again travels through the mainstreets of the small towns where entrepeneurs have built attractions for the travellers using this route which was once advertised as the main route to Yellowstone.  

 Our pick for that night was the small town of Valentine Nebraska..but on the way we chose to travel through the Niobrara River wildlife refuge to see the river and the waterfall which is the highest waterfall in Nebraska.  

 As Alice and Barbara like to say "Route 66 reunion" shot. 

 Our campground for the night, Fishberry Campground was closing the next day but not before the operators wife showed us with great pride the gourds her husband had decorated that won first prize at the state fair.  

The next day, Tom and I had planned an overnight side trip to see the famous attraction "Mt. Rushmore".  I was expecting to be underwhelmed as I often find that popular locations have become overly commercialized, but as we left the lovely Sandhill region of Nebraska and climbed into South Dakota and the Blackhills region of natural beauty around the famous mountain, I soon changed my mind.  Amazing how travel has a way of opening your mind and altering preconceived expectations.  

 Bison wandered the golden prairie south of the site.  

 I have never been this close to one before and we carefully held Ollie back and viewed him from the safety of our vehicle..but still, he seems to be warning us with his "evil eye' that he could roll our truck or trailer at any time if he chose.  

 Unfortunately for us, the afternoon of our arrival, Mother Nature chose to obscure the Mountain from our view...a humorous coincidence that sent me into gales of laughter thinking of how far we had driven only to be shown a view that could have been the westcoast on any fall day...and luckily, others shared our laughter as we stood on the beautifully constructed "Grand Terrace" to see nothing....

Celebrating our safe arrival in the chilly 38 degree mist of a KOA campground that was closing the next day, Barbara and Alice had highly recommended the locally prepared buffalo stew for a chilly night and I found the perfect Bison wine to pair with it.  

This morning we awoke to one of those mornings that make you have continuing faith in the good karma that has been ours throughout this journey. 

 And on we drove back to Route 20 to rendezvous with Alice and Barbara in the now decidedly cowboy western landscape of Wyoming...gone are the corn and wheat fields and instead are rolling hills of large herds of cattle and quite frequent sightings of antelope on the plain.  We heard that hunting season is in full gear so we hope these beautiful animals are safe tonight.  

Tomorrow we leave Casper Wyoming heading west and  we are hoping to be lucky and use the window of opportunity we have seen in weather forecasts to see Yellowstone before another snow storm hits.  

Tom and I have now been on the road for 8 weeks, 2 more to go; with us beginning to make plans on how we can alter the final days to not only finish Route 20 with our travelling companions but also still visit family and see Crater Lake but be home as soon as possible.  

It is indeed a long road home but when we look at where we've been and the scale of Canada from coast to coast and completing the reverse course in the US too...well, we are pretty amazed that we can almost see "we've done it!"  Still some fun ahead too, I'm sure.  Western US,...here we come.