My wife and I took our usual Memorial weekend one-day road trip yesterday...this time to do some family things. I always come home with a few observations:
1.) First stop on our agenda was to be the Welsh cemetery where my wife's parents are buried in rural Louisa County southwest of Columbus Junction. In the interest of saving time, we took the boring drive from Ames down I-35, I-80 and then Hwy 218.
2.) Crops are amazingly far along already for this time of year....and never looked better across such a wide swath of the state. Before you begin counting bushels, however, I made the same comment on June 1 last year before drought and a derecho hit the state
3.) As I drove past Newton, I glanced over at the Speedway. I had just heard Chris Williams say on his show the afternoon before how the racetrack was sitting idle and collecting trash and dust. Such a shame all that investment was made just to run a handful of races over the years. Will it....and can it...be revived? I'm not a big race fan, but I'd love to see it become a "thing" again for the good of Iowa.
4.) My wife needed a restroom break after a bit, and I said we'd pull off at Little Amana...always a favorite and reliable pit stop over the years. Boy, how that nice motel has changed since I'd been through there last. Really disappointed me. We weren't there to eat, but that great 7 Villages Restaurant at the motel also appeared to be closed. Along with the Colony Villages Restaurant across the road to the East. This was always such a pleasurable stop on I-80. What happened?
5.) Got to the I-80/218 interchange and had totally forgotten about the huge makeover the DOT is doing in that area. Wow....it's already quite an improvement. And those flyovers they're building there make the Ames flyover look like a county bridge. Very impressive and driver-friendly. I love these flyover concepts.
6.) Spent some time at the Welsh cemetery, reminding my wife of her Dad's dry sense of humor. What an absolute perfect day to decorate graves. I'm German and know very little about the Welsh...but I learned yesterday from walking the cemetery that most of the Welsh must be named "Rees" and "Jones". Also, I stopped to pay tribute to one recent grave out near the road that didn't have a headstone yet. But it was gaily decorated with LOTS of ISU decor....I wish I knew the name. Maybe someone on the board knows. But I stopped and thanked him or her for apparently being a great Cyclone.
7.) From the cemetery, we headed north to Marion for a family high school graduation party. Took a slight detour off 218 to Hwy 1 so my wife could stop at a few Amish shops. My favorite was one well off the beaten path, way out in the country. A delightful grandmotherly Amish lady was minding the store....I bet we were her only customer of the day, it was so isolated. I had a great time joking and kabitzing with this grand-old lady. I looked for a couple things to buy just to make her time with me worthwhile. We stopped in another country store right on Hwy 1 that was crazy busy. Nary an Amish person or "English" were wearing a mask anymore. Didn't bother me, one way or the other.
8.) Headed north up 218 and 380 to Cedar Rapids....the "Death March", as I always call it, due to bumper-to-bumper traffic at 80 mph. I survived to live another day.
9.) The party was on the east end of Marion, so took the trip east on Hwy 30, then north on Hwy 13. I always enjoy that little trip into the backside of Marion. By the way, thank you DOT for finally repaving Hwy 30 through Cedar Rapids...it was time, the highway was so rough last time I was through there.
10.) I had still not had a chance to try out the newly opened Hwy 100 extension skirting the west side of Cedar Rapids. So after the party, we drove west into Marion. WOW! What changes Marion has had the past 10 years since we moved to Ames! That stretch from Hwy 13 all the way through town is filled with MANY new businesses (and round-abouts 😁) that my wife and I didn't recognize...and we were in Marion and CR quite often over the years. I was amazed at how progressive-looking Marion was looking. Nice job.
11.) Got to the Hwy 100 bypass, and it was just as handy and convenient as I had imagined it would be. Quite a nice option for those living on the northwest side of CR.
12.) Tama 4-lane still not open...but must be getting close.
Left Ames at 8 a.m., and pulled back in my driveway at 7 p.m. All-in-all, it was a good day seeing family...some living and some not. And chatting with my wife, who I believe was one among the living.
1.) First stop on our agenda was to be the Welsh cemetery where my wife's parents are buried in rural Louisa County southwest of Columbus Junction. In the interest of saving time, we took the boring drive from Ames down I-35, I-80 and then Hwy 218.
2.) Crops are amazingly far along already for this time of year....and never looked better across such a wide swath of the state. Before you begin counting bushels, however, I made the same comment on June 1 last year before drought and a derecho hit the state
3.) As I drove past Newton, I glanced over at the Speedway. I had just heard Chris Williams say on his show the afternoon before how the racetrack was sitting idle and collecting trash and dust. Such a shame all that investment was made just to run a handful of races over the years. Will it....and can it...be revived? I'm not a big race fan, but I'd love to see it become a "thing" again for the good of Iowa.
4.) My wife needed a restroom break after a bit, and I said we'd pull off at Little Amana...always a favorite and reliable pit stop over the years. Boy, how that nice motel has changed since I'd been through there last. Really disappointed me. We weren't there to eat, but that great 7 Villages Restaurant at the motel also appeared to be closed. Along with the Colony Villages Restaurant across the road to the East. This was always such a pleasurable stop on I-80. What happened?
5.) Got to the I-80/218 interchange and had totally forgotten about the huge makeover the DOT is doing in that area. Wow....it's already quite an improvement. And those flyovers they're building there make the Ames flyover look like a county bridge. Very impressive and driver-friendly. I love these flyover concepts.
6.) Spent some time at the Welsh cemetery, reminding my wife of her Dad's dry sense of humor. What an absolute perfect day to decorate graves. I'm German and know very little about the Welsh...but I learned yesterday from walking the cemetery that most of the Welsh must be named "Rees" and "Jones". Also, I stopped to pay tribute to one recent grave out near the road that didn't have a headstone yet. But it was gaily decorated with LOTS of ISU decor....I wish I knew the name. Maybe someone on the board knows. But I stopped and thanked him or her for apparently being a great Cyclone.
7.) From the cemetery, we headed north to Marion for a family high school graduation party. Took a slight detour off 218 to Hwy 1 so my wife could stop at a few Amish shops. My favorite was one well off the beaten path, way out in the country. A delightful grandmotherly Amish lady was minding the store....I bet we were her only customer of the day, it was so isolated. I had a great time joking and kabitzing with this grand-old lady. I looked for a couple things to buy just to make her time with me worthwhile. We stopped in another country store right on Hwy 1 that was crazy busy. Nary an Amish person or "English" were wearing a mask anymore. Didn't bother me, one way or the other.
8.) Headed north up 218 and 380 to Cedar Rapids....the "Death March", as I always call it, due to bumper-to-bumper traffic at 80 mph. I survived to live another day.
9.) The party was on the east end of Marion, so took the trip east on Hwy 30, then north on Hwy 13. I always enjoy that little trip into the backside of Marion. By the way, thank you DOT for finally repaving Hwy 30 through Cedar Rapids...it was time, the highway was so rough last time I was through there.
10.) I had still not had a chance to try out the newly opened Hwy 100 extension skirting the west side of Cedar Rapids. So after the party, we drove west into Marion. WOW! What changes Marion has had the past 10 years since we moved to Ames! That stretch from Hwy 13 all the way through town is filled with MANY new businesses (and round-abouts 😁) that my wife and I didn't recognize...and we were in Marion and CR quite often over the years. I was amazed at how progressive-looking Marion was looking. Nice job.
11.) Got to the Hwy 100 bypass, and it was just as handy and convenient as I had imagined it would be. Quite a nice option for those living on the northwest side of CR.
12.) Tama 4-lane still not open...but must be getting close.
Left Ames at 8 a.m., and pulled back in my driveway at 7 p.m. All-in-all, it was a good day seeing family...some living and some not. And chatting with my wife, who I believe was one among the living.
