You asked what land I love the best, Iowa, tis Iowa

The Iowa State song begins:

You asked what land I love the best, Iowa, tis Iowa. The fairest State of all the west, Iowa, O! Iowa.

To where Missouri's waters gleam. O! fair it is as poet's dream, Iowa, in Iowa. See yonders fields of tasseled corn, Iowa in Iowa, Where plenty fills her golden horn, Iowa in Iowa. (Full lyrics)

This song may be an exaggeration, but Iowa is certainly full of corn, see below.

Today's route is very simple - head North. See the map here:



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When planning the route the decision as where to stop tonight was challenging. It was 660 miles from Nebraska to Bismarck, North Dakota and that is to much for one day. Watertown, South Dakota is 335 miles along, so seemed like a good half way stop. The route also had the bonus of taking the I-29, following the path of the Lewis and Clark Trail, which goes through Iowa - my 5th and Drew's 7th new state.

Iowa is bounded by the Mississippi in the east and the Missouri in the west. Our route takes us parallel to the Missouri. Through miles and miles of corn. The state of Iowa is primarily agricultural 95% of the land being fertile. It is known as 'the food capital of the world' being the state that produces more soybeans, corn and pigs than any other US. 25% of its crops are exported.  <<Note to pilot it is also the birthplace of the space faring hero, Captain James T Kiiiirrrk>>

This focus on agriculture means there is not much else here. So today's photos are largely of large corn lands and the occasional hill.

On this holiday we have not been as regular as we were previously about visiting state welcome centres, largely because they only have toilets and pamphlets of local amenities, it is better to pull off at a service station for food or drink. The big attraction in the past was picking up local maps that would give more detail than the national road atlas we used. But with Google Maps that need is reduced or even removed. However on coming into Iowa we thought we might stop at one and see what Iowa has to offer. We turned off at junction 75 of the I-29, about 20 miles after passing the state-line, where the Welcome Centre was advertised. As we left the junction a sign appeared mentioning that it was 5 miles away! We decided not to go that far off our route so went in for a coffee in McDonalds instead. The wi-fi access at McDonalds has been very good all holiday, so with the coffee we caught up with e-mails and other Internet things. Drew particularly liked the landscaping of McDonald's which used Corn as a flower - only in Iowa!

We continued on the I-29 until we reached the outskirts of Sioux City, we had noted on the map a monument to one if the Lewis and Clark journeyers. We became familiar with Lewis and Clark when we travelled with my sister and her husband in Washington state and Oregon. in lots of places Lewis and Clark were the only famous thing that had happened there. So we decided to pull off and visit the Sergeant Floyd Memorial and Interpretation centre. In doing so we came to a road which ran beside the Missouri and formed the Iowa/Nebraska state line here.

The Interpretation centre was interesting. it outlined the whole story of the Lewis and Clark expedition and explained that the significance of this point was that it was the sight of the only death during the whole expedition. The death, from what is now thought to be appendicitis, of Floyd one of the Kentucky woodmen who supported Lewis and Clark's work.

 From here we travelled the three miles into South Dakota, the 8th new state for Drew, and after another 15 miles stopped for lunch and a local restaurant just of the interstate called Cody's Homestead. This place doubles up as a bar, restaurant and local community meeting place, it is the first time this holiday that we have found such a place to eat.

Drew opted for a cheeseburger and fries, it was freshly cooked and tasted much more natural than some of the fast-food alternatives. I opted for country chops with gravy and mash. The chops were breadcrumbed and had country gravy over them. While this is of no interest to me as breakfast, it was very pleasant with the pork.

We were back on the road and travelled the rest of the way along the I-29 watching the large numbers of billboards that had now appeared alongside the road, something we had hardly seen down south. Quite a number of them were for the famous Drug Store at Wall.

In Sioux Falls the I-29 crosses the I-90, the road I had travelled along on my last visit to South Dakota on our first cross-continental trip. I can remember still the lovely meal we had in Sioux Falls back then when I saw chocolate sauce on a salad bar for the first (and maybe the last) time.

The I-29 goes straight up South Dakota and after Sioux Falls there is little to note other than vast plains stretching out on either side of the road.

We followed the route up to exit 177 and there left the road, until tomorrow, and checked in at the Rodeway Inn, Watertown, SD.