26th Anniversary Getaway

Matt & I were able to get away for a 3 day weekend to celebrate our 26th Anniversary. We looked at some options and decided on the Des Moines, IA area - 3 hours away with plenty of things to do (indoor and out - Midwest Aprils needs both options!)

Our first stop was at the Swinging Bridge in Columbus Junction, Iowa. We visited this bridge in 2009 during one of our letterboxing day trips. Luckily, no snow on the ground (or bridge) today and we enjoyed walking across (LOTS OF BOUNCE!!) and seeing the gardens/landscape that the city has done great work on! 

We also walked the Possum Hollow Trail, which goes under the bridge.

We drove back country roads (Des Moines is a straight shot from the Quad Cities on I-80) from Columbus Junction to the Iowa Capital building. Our plans for the day (and weekend) were very loose. We made a list and pinpointed everything on a map to make things easier for our time there. 

With the weather being cold(er), cloudy and very windy...we decided to head to the capital building to take a tour. This has been on our "to do list" for a while now and we were finally going to make it happen! 

As we got closer to the building, we realized that there was a very large crowd gathered in the front lawn for a protest. We debated whether to postpone the capital tour until Monday due to the large crowd (we planned to walk around the grounds for photos which would be hard to do with the large crowd) and limited parking options, also due to the large crowd.

We decided to try and find a parking spot and head in for the tour. We figured that inside the building would be fairly quiet. We were right and so glad that we made the decision to go in. 

After going through security, we were able to tag on to a tour that had started a few minutes prior to our arrival. We had initially planned to do a self-guided tour but were told that a few areas were not accessible without the guide. We aren't typically "museum people" - we'd rather be outside exploring. We are so glad that we joined the tour group - our guide was very personable and knew her stuff! We definitely recommend!

The Rotunda - jaw dropping beauty!

The protestors seen from inside the capital.

Model of the USS Iowa

Iowa Supreme Court Chambers

with a hand-carved bench

Even the door hinges were handcrafted and beautiful!

This "wallpaper" from this room is actually not wallpaper, but hand-stenciled!

We then made our way upstairs to the law library and House/Senate Chambers.

The stairway was so impressive! There were plenty of prom-goers, taking advantage of the amazing backdrop for their photos.

Iowa House Chamber - aside from a few shared offices for the higher officials, this chamber (and senate chamber on the other side of the building) IS their office. Lots of framed pictures, water bottles, etc on the desks.

Senate Chambers

We climbed the steps to the inner balcony of the rotunda. It was impressive to walk around the balcony.

This was our last stop on the tour so we headed outside to walk around a bit to take pictures of the grounds. We visited the grounds in 2020, so we didn't take a lot of time to walk around today.

Back at the car, we looked at our map and decided to head south to the Cordova Tower and Neil Smith Nat'l Wildlife Refuge. The sun had come out and we were hoping for some great views of the area from the tower and to see lots of buffalo.

On our way south, we explored the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

Sadly, these were the only buffalo that we saw. We were hoping for more of them to be closer to the driving route.

It was REALLY windy!

We drove across Mile-Long Bridge (crosses Lake Red Rock) and snapped a picture of the tower in the distance.

We drove towards our hotel, finding dinner along the way, then called it a day. 

Sunday morning, we woke up and hit the road to drive the Bridges of Madison County Scenic Byway. We drove straight south to Indianola before heading west into Madison County. We wanted to stop at the IOOF Cemetery to pay our respects to Chris Street - a junior at the University of Iowa basketball player, who at the age of 20, was killed in a car accident 1/19/1993. 

We were looking forward to driving around Madison County - locating the six covered bridges in the county and enjoying the scenic drive. These bridges were made popular in the 1995 movie "Bridges of Madison County", starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. 

Imes Covered Bridge, St. Charles

Holliwell Covered Bridge, Winterset

Cutler-Donahoe Covered Bridge, Winterset

We ended up playing at the park for a bit (Winterset City Park). They have a fun playground and hedge maze. 

Winterset is also the county seat and the birthplace of John Wayne.

The Madison County Freedom Rock (one for every county in Iowa) is located in Winterset, next to John Wayne's birthplace and museum. 

Rippey Dumps Road (southwest of Winterset) is a popular "rollercoaster" road. We didn't test our car since it was a gravel road and the blind hilltops. 

Roseman Covered Bridge

Cedar Covered Bridge, Winterset

This was a fun bridge as we could drive across the bridge and they had a nice park setting around it. 

This picnic table was HUGE!

Hogback Covered Bridge

The bridges were pretty neat to explore and we were thankful for the quiet of the day. We had the bridges to ourselves (for the most part) with the exception of Hogback. Matt was able to track down a few letterboxes and we enjoyed the serenity of the morning/afternoon as we traveled through the countryside. 

We left Madison County and headed back into Des Moines for a late lunch and visit a few city parks. 

Gray's Lake Park

The day had warmed up and we decided to walk around Gray's Lake (2 miles). It was a nice, flat, paved walkway around the lake. 

Leaving Gray's Lake, we drove downtown and enjoyed the quiet of the beautiful evening along the river. 

Iowa Women of Achievement Bridge

Rotary River Park

Matt had seen these swings while driving for work and suggested driving a few minutes north to Bondurant to enjoy them. It was a great finish to our day! 

Monday morning, we planned to head north to Ledges State Park to hike a few trails. Unfortunately, it was really cold and windy when we got going (and the forecast didn't show any changes for the day) so we opted to start heading home - planning to shop at some Goodwills along the way. 

We took a quick detour to Brooklyn, IA - "Community of Flags" to see their flags, statues and childhood home of John Wayne. Also the birthplace of Corporal Harold Keller USMC, one of the six men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945.

We drove north into Cedar Rapids, eating lunch at Breakfast Barn/Burgerfiend and stopped at 2 Goodwill stores. On our way back to Moline, we stopped in Iowa City at Scheel's. 

Matt & I had a wonderful time away. It was nice to finally drive the scenic Madison County and see the historic bridges, tour the Iowa capital and explore many parks in the area. Many of these things have been on our mental "to visit" list for years. How great to experience these places together.