Day 38 & 39 - Trouble in River City
Leaving Valentine, NE there was no specific plan other than crossing the state and over the border into Iowa. RT 20 continued its straight and fairly flat terrain. With more farms and equipment. We changed direction in Sioux City, IA and adjusted our route to US RT 18 in order to make our trip to Milwaukee more direct. Unfortunately the road was not as good as RT 20 but since this was a travel day it wasn’t much of a concern. We stopped for the night in Spencer, IA
Packing up in Spencer, IA the next morning, we were given a note from the local paper looking to do an interview on our trip and stay in Spencer. I called the reporter and did an interview over the phone. Randy, reporter for the Spencer Daily Report, also came by to take a few pictures. While talking to Randy he asked if we were here looking for “Dewey the Cat”? Well, no, who is Dewey? Turns out it was a story about a cat that was abandoned at the library and lived there for 
15 years. When old Dewey went to Kitty Heaven, the librarian decided to write a book about Dewey and it became an international best seller. Well, we had to go to the Library to see where the story began. Pictures were taken and then it was off on our eastward trek.
The eastern part of Iowa was dominated by farms, LARGE farms. Fields of corn stretched as far as you could see. We had set our sights on a Pioneer Museum in the town of Mason City, but when we got there it didn’t open until 1:00 PM. Nuts! Oh well, it was time for lunch so we hit our first McDonald's of the entire trip. 
Mason City was the boyhood home of Meredith Willson (yes, two LLs). Name doesn’t ring a bell?
How about the musicals “The Music Man” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, he was the author/composer of both of those hit plays. We stopped at the museum dedicated to his life and works, which was complete with a Streetscape of the town of River City and the infamous Pool Hall that was going to bring “Trouble to River City!” It was a great stop and all we could think of was our Super Tours to Watkins Glenn, NY when we attended the play of The Music Man at the Summer Theater in Auburn. The gift shop was calling Nan and she managed to find some items that she just had to bring home with us.
Continuing on after “River City” we were cruising along enjoying the ride. The CB woke up with a call from Dick saying the woody was acting funny and as we were pulling over he realized it was a flat tire. The right rear tire was flat as a pancake, so out came the jack and we changed it without any trouble. Now we just need to hope he doesn’t get another.
The weather had changed after some rain last night and the driving was very comfortable. As a result we made a decision to reach Madison, WI for the night. A phone call got us rooms, which meant we would be lined up for our trip to Milwaukee and hopefully the ferry ride to Michigan.
Leaving Valentine, NE there was no specific plan other than crossing the state and over the border into Iowa. RT 20 continued its straight and fairly flat terrain. With more farms and equipment. We changed direction in Sioux City, IA and adjusted our route to US RT 18 in order to make our trip to Milwaukee more direct. Unfortunately the road was not as good as RT 20 but since this was a travel day it wasn’t much of a concern. We stopped for the night in Spencer, IA
Packing up in Spencer, IA the next morning, we were given a note from the local paper looking to do an interview on our trip and stay in Spencer. I called the reporter and did an interview over the phone. Randy, reporter for the Spencer Daily Report, also came by to take a few pictures. While talking to Randy he asked if we were here looking for “Dewey the Cat”? Well, no, who is Dewey? Turns out it was a story about a cat that was abandoned at the library and lived there for 
15 years. When old Dewey went to Kitty Heaven, the librarian decided to write a book about Dewey and it became an international best seller. Well, we had to go to the Library to see where the story began. Pictures were taken and then it was off on our eastward trek.
The eastern part of Iowa was dominated by farms, LARGE farms. Fields of corn stretched as far as you could see. We had set our sights on a Pioneer Museum in the town of Mason City, but when we got there it didn’t open until 1:00 PM. Nuts! Oh well, it was time for lunch so we hit our first McDonald's of the entire trip. 
Mason City was the boyhood home of Meredith Willson (yes, two LLs). Name doesn’t ring a bell?
How about the musicals “The Music Man” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, he was the author/composer of both of those hit plays. We stopped at the museum dedicated to his life and works, which was complete with a Streetscape of the town of River City and the infamous Pool Hall that was going to bring “Trouble to River City!” It was a great stop and all we could think of was our Super Tours to Watkins Glenn, NY when we attended the play of The Music Man at the Summer Theater in Auburn. The gift shop was calling Nan and she managed to find some items that she just had to bring home with us.
Continuing on after “River City” we were cruising along enjoying the ride. The CB woke up with a call from Dick saying the woody was acting funny and as we were pulling over he realized it was a flat tire. The right rear tire was flat as a pancake, so out came the jack and we changed it without any trouble. Now we just need to hope he doesn’t get another.
The weather had changed after some rain last night and the driving was very comfortable. As a result we made a decision to reach Madison, WI for the night. A phone call got us rooms, which meant we would be lined up for our trip to Milwaukee and hopefully the ferry ride to Michigan.
Did you buy the Cat book???
ReplyDeleteLooks like mom is still having you pose for pictures!!!
Can't wait for you to make it back home!
xoxo
Jess