Villages of Van Buren

Chris and I were ready to head home after an enjoyable visit at Deb and Tim’s ranch. We’d arrived there on May 16th (http://shawneegoldwingertrips.blogspot.com/2014/05/ride-to-daltons-graduation.html) and enjoyed helping them celebrate grandson Dalton’s high school graduation.

We left at 11:00 and, since we did not need to be back in the Kansas City area until 6:00 (to see our granddaughter’s softball game), we decided to tour some of the scenic and historic Villages of Van Buren (http://villagesofvanburen.com/index.html). Chris’ grandparents on both sides of her family have roots in this area.along Hwy 2 just east of Farmington, IA

From the Montrose area we rode west and north to Donnellson, where we picked up Hwy 2 westbound. The first village we passed through was Farmington, home of the Farmington Strawberry Festival every summer.  At route W40 we rode north and crossed the Des Moines River into Bonaparte, IA, another one of the villages.view of a portion of historic Bonaparte, IA from the brdge over the Des Moines River

After a quick couple of pics in downtown Bonaparte we rode J40 west and north a short distance to Bentonsport, also located on the Des Moines River.

Bentonsport is home to the Mason House Inn built in 1846. It is the oldest steamboat hotel on the river and it was built by Mormon craftsmen on their way to Utah. Also in Bentonsport is a bridge over the Des Moines River that was built in 1882. Currently it is used only for pedestrian traffic, but it is the oldest existing truss span bridge over the river.riverside park in Bentonsport, IA

J40 took us out of Bentonsport, back across the Des Moines River (on the new bridge) and west to Hwy 1. Highway 1 took us north to Keosauqua, Chris’ birthplace. We visited the two cemeteries where Chris’ grandparents are buried, located the two houses where her paternal grandparents lived and had a picnic lunch beside the Des Moines River.lunch by the Des Moines River; Keosauqua, IA

Now it was time to head home. We rode J40 west across the river (again) and through the very small town of Pittsburg, IA. J40 took us almost all the way to Bloomfield where we hooked up again with Hwy 2 westbound.

The wind from the south was ferocious and very uncomfortable, especially for Chris. So, at Hwy 65, we took the opportunity to turn south and rode into the teeth of the wind to Princeton, Missouri. We refueled in Princeton, rode Hwy 136 west and south to Bethany, MO and picked up I-35 south. At Liberty, MO we exited onto Hwy 152 west and rode to Jenna’s softball game. Jenna’s team won 4 to 1.

We had fun in the Villages of Van Buren but the ride home was slightly uncomfortable. Even with the wind, it was a good 302 mile day with my Peach.

For more pictures from today click on the following link: https://plus.google.com/photos/104542123131082631220/albums/6016048970737205681?authkey=CPCOgaa0ob31Aw

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Colorado; Day 9; June 30, 2012

Image
The evening of June 29th we saw the play, “Is He Dead” at the Creede Repertory Theater ( http://www.creederep.org/ ).  It was very entertaining,  one of the better plays I’ve seen. When we drove away from Creede at 6:05 am it was 41 degrees.  A short distance south the temperature dropped to 39.  We tried soaking up the cold for what we knew would be a hot afternoon. We rode South Fork and then east to Alamosa.  From Alamosa we took a detour north up Hwy 17 to see the UFO Watchtower ( http://www.ufowatchtower.com/ ).  It is a place for UFO enthusiasts to go to watch for UFO’s.  The lady who runs the place said something about some sort of vortex existing on the property.  Weird stuff, even for an open-minded guy like me. If the UFO Watchtower wasn’t weird enough we saw a male driving a Jeep with eye lashes over the headlights at a gas station in Alamosa, CO.  Hopefully it was his wife’s Jeep and he was just gassing it up for her. We continued east to Walsenburg, LaJunta, and La
Read more

My Last Ride

On January 11th, 2017, I departed on a ride to Kelli's Korner (Paradise, MO - near Smithville, MO) for lunch with four friends (Carl, Gary, Bill and Larry). It was a beautiful day, which was all the excuse we needed for a ride. I was leading the group and we were taking a long way there. Riding north on county road N, about 6 miles north of Hwy 152 and I-435, the road turned and I didn't. I exited the road into a field. Fortunately there were no fences, trees, rocks, oncoming cars, etc. I have no explanation for this except that I was out of it for awhile. I remember crossing the center line but I was looking down at that time, which is weird. I have no memory of seeing anything after that until I was laying in the field separated from my motorcycle. I do remember a sensation of tumbling but that is all. My first thought was to drive my motorcycle out of the field and get it cleaned up so Chris would not know what I did. What a ridiculous idea that was. After I'd been up
Read more

Florida Trip; Day 11

Image
A beautiful, sunny and warm day! After our B&B breakfast we rode away on our golf cart at 9:45 AM. It was 51 degrees. We spent an hour or so exploring Cedar Key again and Chris did a little shopping on Dock Street. Morning is low tide. It was strange seeing boats sitting in the mud at the marina. This next picture is of the marina at high tide. At noon we had to return the golf cart and then we walked to lunch at Tony's. After lunch we walked the Railroad Trestle Nature Trail. We went to the Cedar Key Scrub State Park to walk but found it uninteresting so we didn't go far.  Back at the B&B we watched a movie and then watched the sun set. We drove a whopping 13 miles today (not counting miles in the golf cart) and our high temperature was 68. A very relaxing day! Tomorrow we start home. Click here to see all photos from today - Day 11 Photos  
Read more