A visit to the state that doesn't exist
Flying over Iceland- The glacier on the left is part of Vatnajökul, Iceland's largest glacier.
On July 6th, it was time for Tim and I to begin our road trip which proved to be longest ever, both in days and miles. But first we flew to the United States to start the trip. The trip had two main purposes. Partly we were going to visit friends, not least some of Tim's friends whom I had never met, and a few of them he also only knew from the internet, while he had met most of them when he went to Kilroy, a conference on freedom of speech in Arizona back in 2018. On the other hand, we were going to visit some of the states that we both missed visiting in the central part of the USA - six in total, and then of course we also had to see things along the way - and that's how it went, as the next several articles will show. We had planned the trip in detail from home, and not left as much to chance as we normally do when we are on a road trip, but there was room for individual improvisations - and of course we changed the plans along the way - partly forced by the circumstances (and the weather ), and partly because we just wanted something different than originally planned. But first we had to leave Denmark. As the plane took off very early and no family members wanted to get up early enough to drive us to the airport, we booked a taxi to pick us up around 4 AM.
Off we go
There is not much to tell about
the flight to the USA. There was a lot of noise in the media about delays,
canceled flights and lost luggage, but we experienced none of that. We flew with
Icelandair and the plane departed as planned for Keflavik, and the baggage was
not misplaced. When we arrived at Keflavik we had to wait on the runway for 40
minutes as there were no available gates. This meant that we only had 20 minutes
before the next flight was due to depart, but even though we had to show our
passports three times on the way through the airport and answer various
questions about the purpose of our trip etc., we made it, and when this flight
was delayed approx. 15 minutes before departure, the same applied to our baggage,
so when we landed in Chicago, the destination of the flight, the baggage also
arrived. Getting through immigration and customs was easy and painless. Actually,
what took the longest in immigration was that the immigration officer was very
funny and interested in our trip, so we had to chat with him a bit, but gained
entrance without any problems.
We had a little trouble finding the train to Car Rental, but after waiting on
the wrong floor for approx. 10 minutes, we discovered we were in the wrong place,
so we took the escalator up one floor and then we were good. The car was ready
when we arrived. Not a "full size" as we had booked, but a medium-sized SUV in
the form of a Ford Edge, which actually had more room for our suitcases and
other luggage than a full size would have had. From the car rental we drove to
the airport hotel we had booked from home, and once we were checked in, we drove
to a nearby Chili's, although we had to take a small detour to get there. Here
we ate dinner and when we got back to the hotel we went to bed straight away. We
had to get up pretty early the next day so we could start our road trip.
Heading for the road
IOWA80 in Walcot, Iowa along Interstate Highway 80, is the world's largest truck stop.
Already on the second day of the vacation and the first day of the road trip, we were going to visit Jen, one of the people Tim knew, and her husband. She lived in the small town of Walker, Iowa, so that was our first goal. However, Walker IS a small town without many accommodation options, so from home we had booked a hotel in the somewhat larger neighboring town, Independence. But first we had to get there, and although it wasn't the shortest route, I had decided that I would visit IOWA80, a truck stop on Interstate Highway 80 - in fact, the world's largest truck stop, and that was why I wanted to see the place. On the way, we made a short stop at a Walmart in the Chicago suburb of Morris, where we bought the "mandatory" cooler, ice for the cooler, and some water to cool. Also sunscreen for4 both of us and fruit for me for today's drive. On the way to Walmart, our GPS had directed us at toll roads, but by taking control ourselves, we managed to avoid them, and we actually didn't drive on a toll road at any point in the 31 days we were on the road.
Next stop was Walcot (in Iowa) where IOWA80 is located. As mentioned above IOWA80 is the world's largest truck stop. Outside there is space for 900 parked trucks, and lots of stands for refueling dielsel for the trucks, but also for ordinary passenger cars that run on gas. The store was huge, with several (eight) restaurants, both fast food chain restaurants, such as Wendy's, but IOWA80 also had a full service restaurant. We didn't eat though, but looked around and Tim bought a trucker cap as a gift for one of the people we were going to visit later on the trip. In addition to the shop, there were facilities for the long-distance drivers in the form of sleeping cabins, bathing facilities, cinema, museum and much more - and in addition to souvenirs, the shop also sold spare parts for trucks, decorations for the same and much more. Here we changed drivers before continuing our trip. I took over from Tim, who had driven from the hotel, and drove the rest of the way to Independence.
When we
reached Walker we drove out to Jen's (Jennifer) house and said "hello" so she
knew we had arrived in the area before continuing to our hotel in Independence,
north of Walker. Once we were settled and had relaxed for an hour, we drove to
another Walmart, this time to stock up on snacks and more fruit for the evening
and the next day. Tim also wanted to buy some breakfast for the next day, and
when I came down for breakfast myself (Tim rarely eats the hotel breakfast), it
turned out to be unusually poor; in fact the worst hotel breakfast since we
stayed in a hotel in Raleigh, North Carolina back in 2000 - all I got was a
wrapped cinnamon roll (which I unwrapped from the plastic though) and a cup of
coffee. So tomorrow we'll probably visit Walmart again so I can buy some
breakfast too.
We then drove back to Walker and Jennifer's house where we hung
out for a few hours before driving to a very local restaurant, Kula's, where
Jen's husband met us when he got off work. Jen and her husband, Farid, knew the
hosts, so we got exceptionally good service and extremely good food. Here we
chatted for a few hours with Jen and Farid as well as the hosts. After a few
hours, Tim and I were tired, so we drove Jen home to their house (we had also
picked her up), and then we headed for Independence and our hotel, where we
studied the Internet a bit before going to sleep. Tomorrow we are going on a
trip to some caves in a state park with Jen.
I might just add that Iowa was the first of the six states that none of us had
previously visited that were included on this trip.
A visit cancelled
Once the largest frying pans in the world. Now just the largest in Iowa.
Tim and I had been
teasing Jen from Iowa for a long time that her state didn't exist at all in
reality, it was only an imagination, but now we gave her the chance to convince
us otherwise. We had therefore agreed that we should pick her up, and then she
should show us things in the state, so as to establish that it existed. It was
our first "real" day off (the trip over and the drive to Independence didn't
really count), so it should be a relaxed day. And it was. Jen had suggested we
visit Maquoketa Caves State Park, which was about 60 miles east and a bit south
of Walker, and we went along with it. Caves are always interesting in my
opinion.
When we got out of bed that morning, however, the weather was not for outdoor
activities. It was raining cats and dogs, and the appearance of the clouds did
not indicate that it would stop any time soon. Jen had said that we had to walk
around in the park quite a bit in order to see the caves, which we didn't felt
much for due to the rain. However, we decided to do the necessary morning
activities and then drive down to Walker and Jen and see what we could come up
with. However, the breakfast left a lot to be desired. In fact, it was at the
time the worst breakfast since our visit to Raleigh, North Carolina 22 years
earlier. See the article
Bridge, bullets, bats and a cavern on the
2000 travel page. However,
it would turn out to be over- or rather under-done later on in the trip. The
menu consisted of cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins (both of which I like to eat,
but not for breakfast), coffee and juice, so my breakfast came to consist of a
glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee.
When we were ready, we headed for Walker. Leaving Independence we drove past an impressive building with what looked like a golf course outside, so we thought it must be a country club. However, it was not, as the sign said it was the Independence Mental Health Institute, founded in 1873 as the Independence State Hospital, but still an active psychiatric hospital, and thus not a golf club. When we got to Walker, Jen suggested that we should drive to the state capital, Des Moines, and see the city's botanical garden, which both Tim and I thought was a great idea. The trip would take about a couple of hours each way and then there would be plenty of time to see the garden. However, it was not to be quite like that. When we left Walker it was still pouring down, and it did all the way to Des Moines. On the way we stopped in the small town of Brandon, which used to be home to the world's largest frying pan. Today, however, there are at least two places that have a larger frying pan, but we'd still like to see it, even if it's reduced to being Iowa's largest frying pan. Although it still rained a lot, Tim left the car so he could be immortalized with the pan. Then we continued the direct route to Des Moines.
The Capitol Building in Des Moines, Iowa
When we arrived in Des Moines however, it was still raining, so we decided to postpone the botanical garden until later and start with a visit to the state Capitol, which was an indoor activity after all. When we got inside we met a counter with some ladies who explained to us that we could either join a guided tour or just get a map showing where we could and couldn't go and then walk around ourselves, and we chose the latter, as we would not be bound by having to follow the group. There wasn't much to see at the bottom floor other than the counter and an area where you could sit at smaller tables and enjoy refreshments from some vending machines, so here we stayed for a while - though without enjoying anything - while we discussed the world situation, before we went up to the next floor. Here we looked at the various things on display, paintings, models and more, and from here there was an excellent view of the interior of the dome of the building. The exterior of the dome is gilded. and almost 3 kg of pure gold has been used for the gilding.
Besides looking around we
also visited an office that belonged to Iowa's Secretary of State. There were
staff working here, but we were invited inside and a pretty young lady told us
about the office, and we were even invited to see the secretary's private office,
which was very impressive with an excellent view of the city. The lady who told
us about the place was convinced that it was the nicest office in the building;
with better view than even the governor's. Unfortunately, there was no access to
her offices, as she herself was present in the building, so we had to satisfy
our curiosity by looking at her door from the outside. All in all, an exciting
experience. From the next floor there was access to the rooms that housed the
state Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively. However, we could
only enter the latter while the Senate was locked. There were no people here -
the politicians probably had their summer vacation! On this floor we also
visited the house's library; an incredibly exciting place with books (not least
law books, biographies, etc.) on five floors with shelves that could be reached
by various stairs. We spent some time here before continuing on to the fifth and
top floor of the building. Here there were two galleries (balconies) from which
you could see the two halls where the politicians meet, and here it was open to
both the Senate and the House, so we saw a bit of both rooms. The halls looked
empty, but Tim believed that in an imaginary state, the politicians were also
imaginary, so in reality both halls were filled with non-existent politicians.
When we got back outside, it had stopped raining and the sun was
shining, so we got some pictures of the building and of the view over the city
from the "main staircase" leading up to the building. It turned out that we had
spent so much time in the building that we gave up on the botanical garden and
turned our backs on Des Moines. It was almost 3.30 PM and we knew it was a good
two-hour drive back to Independence. When we went to Independen and not directly
to Walker, it was because we had to pick up something from the hotel room - a
present for Jen. When we had picked up what we needed we looked a bit at
Independence itself, which is located by a river with the interesting name
Wapsipinicon River. The river is a tributary of the Mississippi. A legend tells
about the name:
Wapsipinnicon River south of Independence
"Many years ago the Sauk and
Meskwaki tribes lived between the Mississippi River and what we now call the
Wapsipinicon River. Another tribe, the Dakota Sioux, had long been their enemy.
One day the Sauks were out hunting. They found the body of one of their young
men, Swift Deer. Had the Sioux killed him?
The leader Black Wing sent his son Pinnekon and six others out to look for clues.
When they returned, the Sauks decided that the Sioux were guilty. But the Sauk
tribe needed help to attack the Sioux. They asked their friend Good Heart if his
tribe, the Meskwaki, would fight with them, and Good Heart agreed.
Together, the Sauk and Meskwaki warriors won the battle against the Sioux. When
the battle was over, Good Heart invited the Sauk warriors home to his village.
Black Wing himself attended with his son, Pinnekon. In Good Heart's village,
Pinnekon met the chief's daughter, Wapsie. Pinnekon and Wapsie fell in love and
Good Heart and Black Wing agreed that the two could be married.
Everyone seemed happy about the upcoming wedding except a Meskwaki warrior named
Fleet Foot, who himself had wanted to marry Wapsie. One day Wapsie and Pinnekon
were canoeing on the river. Suddenly an arrow shot through Pinnekon's chest.
Wapsie screamed and jumped up to help him. The canoe overturned. Wapsie and
Pinnekon sank under the water and died together. Was it the jealous Fleet Foot
that shot the arrow or was it the defeated Sioux? Nobody knows. But ever since
the day the two lovers died, the river has borne their names together — the
Wapsipinicon."
In reality the name originates
from the Ojibwe language (Waabizipinikaan-ziibi), where ziibi means river, and
the first part of the name can be translated as "plenty of swan potatoes", which
was the Native American word for wild artichokes, which were found in large
quantities at the banks of the river. So in short, "the river with the many
artichokes". Here we saw a large water mill (Wapsipinicon Mill) from the outside
and a brewery, Allerton Brewing Company, unfortunately also only from the
outside - wrote the man, who is actually not that enthusiastic about beer. Among
other things, they make a beer called Wapsi Daisy, and it's a good name. Just
think of Hugh Grant in the movie Notting Hill.
From Independence we headed back towards Walker, but by a different route than
in the morning. This led along the river and we stopped at a place where we were
very close so I could take pictures as well as video. We were back in Walker a
little after 6 PM, and then Jen started cooking. It went relatively quick. The
food consisted of grilled tandoori chickens and freshly cooked, freshly
harvested corn on the cob and green asparagus wrapped in bacon. An excellent
meal. After the meal, we chatted for an hour and just got to say hello to Jen's
husband, who had worked overtime, before having to say goodbye and return to the
hotel. On the way we visited Walmart, mainly to get shampoo, which for some
reason was not in the hotel room. It normally is in most hotels - and we also
bought some bread so that we could provide ourselves with breakfast the next day,
if it was as poor as it had been in the morning. Tomorrow we will head to
Wisconsin, where we have planned to spend the night in the town of Appleton.
Then we'll have to see if it's going to last - it's one of those days when we
haven't booked a hotel, so anything can happen.