The Bridges of Madison County (Pt. 2)
I’d scheduled my Saturday appointment in Des Moines early enough to spend the afternoon visiting the three covered bridges I’d missed a couple of weeks ago. However, when I had finished the appointment, I stepped outside and discovered that it had just rained. I learned the day’s weather forecast indicated heavy storms were likely to occur occasionally throughout the day. But the weather map showed that the storm patterns were mostly already east of the area, so I took the chance and headed southwest. By the time I reached Winterset, it was approaching 3:30 and, realizing that museums tend to close at 5 p.m., I headed to the John Wayne Birthplace Museum, which included the house where the famous actor was born in 1907. I didn’t tour the house since one of my nieces and I had visited it in 2008 nor the museum since my main intent was to…
The Bridges of Madison County (Pt. 1)
I woke up early Saturday morning with an appointment in Des Moines scheduled in the afternoon, so I decided impulsively to drive an extra 20 miles to Winterset to see the famous covered bridges of Madison County. This would give me a chance to “test drive” my new walking shoes and dash cam–both not yet picked up from the post office–plus the cowboy hat I’d recently received. One of my nieces and I had visited Winterset back in 2008 to see actor John Wayne’s birthplace. I’d been living in Iowa less than three years and was only then beginning to explore the state. I simply didn’t know that the bridges were in the area. So, I’m glad I had another chance to visit them. By the time I got the cam, figured out how to set it up and looked up information about the bridges online, it was already 11…