Retired and Trippin

Gary and Allison were spending a couple more days with Julia so Chris and I were on our own for this last leg of the trip. We left West Des Moines at 9:45. It was a beautiful sunny day at 68 degrees. Our route for the day was 169 south, I-29 south, I-435 south to Shawnee. A short distance down 169 we stopped in Winterset, IA, birthplace of John Wayne. We did not visit the John Wayne Museum this time but we visited a city park with one of the covered bridges of Madison County. Also in the park, we hiked two miles (round trip) to Clark tower, which was erected in memory of Caleb and Ruth Clark, pioneer settlers of Madison County. By this time we were hungry and it was lunch time so we enjoyed a lunch at the historic Northside Cafe, where part of the movie "Bridges of Madison County" was filmed. Our trip today covered 229 miles with a high temperature of 82 degrees. Click HERE for today's photos. It was a great convertible trip of 1,142 miles visiting f...

At 9:15 we left our hotels in Decorah. It was sunny and 75 degrees. Beautiful day! Since we visited the Pulpit Rock Brewery we decided to hike/climb to Pulpit Rock in Decorah. pulpit rock Gary was leading today and he was using Google maps set to avoid interstate highways. It took us on a lot of county roads and back roads but the main highways used were 52 south, 24 west, 63 south, 57 west, 14 south, 330 south, 65 south, 5 north, and I-35 for a very short distance to West Des Moines. Gary and Allison motoring down the highway We spent the night with Gary and Allison's daughter, Julia, and her family, which included twin babies. It was great seeing them and enjoying time with the babies. We drove 218 miles today with a high temperature of 83 and a low temperature of 71. Click HERE to see all the photos taken today.

Today was another short mileage day so we were in no hurry to leave our hotel. Plus, there was a Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure around our hotel, which lasted until 9:00 so it would have been difficult to leave early. We took the opportunity to take a morning walk along the Mississippi River and in downtown Moline. Chris and I lived here right after our marriage in 1973 so we looked up some familiar sites. As you can see, the river was out of it's banks. Chris worked in this building and we lived in an apartment that was above a pharmacy that used to be next door. We finally left at 10:15. Our route was 84 north, 136 into Clinton, IA, 67 north, 52 north, back roads around Dubuque, 20 west, 136 north, 52 north, and back roads to Pikes Peak State Park (Iowa), 76 north and 9 west. We enjoyed a stop at Pikes Peak State Park that offered a beautiful view of the Mississippi River and a hike to Bridal Veil Falls (surprisingly, not much water). Our final destinat...

It was a warm 78 degrees and sunny when we left Ft Madison at 9:30. Our route was 61 south past Montrose to Keokuk, 136 across the Mississippi River into Illinois, 96 north (the Great River Road), 400 north, 1900 east, 700 north, 116 east, 67 north to Moline. Highway 96, which goes north from Hamilton, IL to Nauvoo, follows the Mississippi River and is a beautiful drive. Gary and Allison enjoying the top-down drive along the Mississippi In Nauvoo we stopped just long enough to take a photo of the Mormon temple. We stayed at a very nice hotel in downtown Moline, IL. We (Chris especially) enjoyed a visit with her Aunt Mary. That evening we were treated to a Mexican dinner with Aunt Mary, Dan, cousins Amy and Mike, Dawn, Collette and Gary. Today we drove 170 miles. Click HERE to view all the photos taken today.

Chris' brother, Gary, and his wife, Allison, have a Mercedes convertible so we decided to take this trip for some top-down travel to visit relatives and friends. We started in Lenexa, KS at 10:30. It was cloudy and 75 degrees - perfect for top-down driving. Our route was intended to be I-35 north into Missouri, 36 east at Cameron, 11 north at Brookfield, 15 north, 136 east at Memphis, 27 north at Wayland into Iowa, J62 east, 61 north to Ft Madison. We hit a snag on Hwy 11 however. First off, we had a close encounter with a deer that ran across the highway right in front of us. We had flashbacks to our collision with a deer near Memphis, MO last year. A while later Hwy 11 was closed due to bridge construction. We ended up on 129, county roads H, FF, and BB, 149 (where another deer darted across the highway), 6 east, 63 north and 136 east. We had a fast food lunch at McDonalds in Brookfield. We stopped for an extended visit with Deb & Tim near Montrose, IA. Our day ende...

Our last day of this trip. Happy to be home for a few days. It was 65 degrees with rain when we drove out of Garden City. Our route was Highway 50 east to Newton, E 1st Street east, which turns into NW 150th Street to Cassoday, 177 north through the Flint Hills, 50 east (again) to Emporia (lunch at Freddy's) and then I-35 north to home. Our final day covered 396 miles. Highlights of the trip were the gigantic wind farm around Spearville, Mel with his top up and his convertible top down, and the Flint Hills along Hwy 177. Click  HERE to see the few photos taken today. Our total trip mileage was 2,966. Poonie averaged 24.7 mpg.