After breakfast we headed north up Interstate 35 on a mild overcast morning. Within half an hour we crossed the state line into Iowa. The road ahead kept climbing up undulating hills. I was struck by how green and lush the land looked and there seemed to be more trees bordering properties - not unlike New Zealand. I would assume there is reasonable rainfall here.
After a while I saw a sign advising of a historic attraction at the next exit. I couldn't resist. We turned off the interstate and entered the very picturesque town of St Charles and stopped for fuel. St Charles was very quaint. Most homes had Stars & Stripes flags in gardens and hanging from porches, lawns and gardens were perfectly kept and the town centre was made up of red brick shops and a very historic looking white wooden church. I could almost smell the apple pie in the kitchen window as I rode past.
We had entered Madison County - famous for the romantic novel and movie 'The Bridges of Madison County'. Tracee saw one covered bridge in the distance, but from the signs, most were accessible down unsealed roads (like riding on marbles on a Harley). You must think I am a romantic and going soft, but don't panic - the covered bridges were not the reason I turned off the interstate.
About 14 miles further up of great winding road (reminded me of the Grey Valley around Nelson Creek) we came to the small community of Winterset, the birthplace of 'The Duke' - John Wayne. There is a statue to honour the man in the town square and his house is just around the corner. A kind elderly gentleman saw Tracee & I looking at the statue and offered to take a photo of us beside the statue with our camera. We had a good chat as he was a 'Western' fan like myself.
After our visit we took the 169 'backroad' through Madison (very pretty but very bumpy!) and linked up with Interstate 80 East. This took us through the State Capital of Des Moines. We stopped at Colfax for lunch and then continued down the 80 before taking the 380 North to Cedar Rapids, our final destination for the day (or so we thought!).
One trick we were schooled up on was to look for discount voucher books in Information Centres, Dennys, McDonalds and garages, that offer some good discounts on motel accommodation. I had ripped out a voucher for the Quality Inn in Cedar Rapids. We were both ready to get off the road as it was getting hot - but to our disappointment we were told the Hotel was full due to about 3 different tournaments in the town (something about horses and soccer - but not both together!). The receptionist said we needn't bother trying any other motels as she had phoned around and everyone was booked solid - even in neighbouring Iowa City.
We decided to continue on our way (reassuring ourselves that any extra distance we ride today is less we have to do tomorrow). We took the 151 East and about an hour up the road stopped for fuel at Dubuque. This town borders the Mississippi River and is known as the Tri-State area as it is the junction for three states, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois.
To my horror the place was jam packed with traffic - most of which had racing bikes on cycle racks. We found out later there were about 1500 cyclists in town for a big race. Not holding out much hope - we pulled into a hotel and to our relief managed to get the last room available (we had to pay more than we would have liked - but any port in a storm!).
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