Corn, Corn, Corn

We drove north along the Iowa side of the Mississippi. We stopped in Bellvue to make a tomato sandwich and watch the river traffic at lock 12 (our son-in-law grew the tomato from seed-best we ever tasted). This photo shows the lock. On our drive through Iowa we saw Iowa corn, lots of Iowa corn and many wind farms. The video shows a typical farm of corn and energy. Most Iowa corn is converted to ethanol, also for energy.

The 'old man' (Mandy's retaliatory name for me when I call her Meemah - a babytalk substitute name for grandma. She hates babytalk ).

We camped that night north of Independence, Iowa at the best manicured campground we have ever seen. It is owned by a former farmer whose daughter and son-in-law talked him into selling the farm and joint venturing with them on the campground. After a year, the kids wanted out. Too much work and it ruined their summer. Let that be a lesson.
The woodlands in the background was a pleasant diversion from the miles and miles of corn fields. If you want to camp here, it's just west of corn field 1000 and just east of cornfield 1001.

This barn, like many here, have a sign on the side. Hollywood called them hex-signs to make dramatic scary movies. In reality, they usually extend a wish for pregnancy, for a bachelor farmer to find a wife, for a good crop. This is Pensylvania Dutch country and the sight of Amish families in their buggies is common. We saw five Amish children walking a counttry road, the girls in their long black dresses and bonnets, the boys in black trouisers and shirts with straw hats. We didn't ask to photo them. We've all seen Amish before. Aslo in this picture is more corn.

After we crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska. we stopped at a bar in the little town of Willis. This is outdoorsman country. One of the patrons, who was sitting nearby, shot this moose in Canada and brought the head back to his favorite bar. Bullwinkle, as he is called, produced 1200 pounds of meat and weighed close to an estimated one ton before dressed. You will notice that he has no cigaratte, party hat, or beer bottle anywhere on his head, certifying that he wasn't at a party when shot. The principle crop in Willis is corn.

We spent the next night in Randolph, Nebraska at the Cedar Motel. The nice people above, who run the motel, gave us good advice and great stories about old US 20. They say that it was originally a buffalo run which made it an easy path to convert to a road and later to the longest coast to coast highway in the US.

Next stop; Valentine, Nebraska - the Rosebud Casino - and the Badlands of South Dakota.