September 23, 2010 – Day 42 (402 Miles).
Though today was a travel day, it was a good & interesting day. Along the way we stopped in Winterset, IA to visit with Alan & Diana. Unfortunately Diana wasn’t available. If Alan decides to give up his day job he would be a very good tour guide & Chamber of Commerce ambassador for his community. He showed one of seven cover bridges of the Madison County and showed us some the locations where the movie was made. Also on the tour was John Wayne’s birthplace and related sites. He then showed other sites including homes (etc.) of the Underground Railroad. There was even a peacock. After good lunch with him at a sport bar, he finished the tour at their beautiful home. We continue our trip east stopping at a few rest stops. The last one was near Tiffin, IA. This is one of the most unique & pretty rest stop with each of the 9 picnic had a backstop having an unique quote. The inside & outside of the building was also attractive & unique. We saw a peacock, a Pamida (a small town Wal-Mart; Iowa people understand) and there was more. We finally saw the first car with Tennessee plates, leaving only Hawaii that we didn’t see. It’s seems fitting that we stayed at the same motel as the first 2 nights of this trip and we walked the Southpark Mall. A little trivia: it’s 455+ miles across NE & 300+ miles across IA.