DAY4

Day 4

 Today was a 377 mile ride from Independence, Missouri through Kansas City, MO (I look for some crazy little women but decided to keep the one I have) and up the east side of Missouri River through Iowa and into South Dakota. One of the stranger sites is the 24 St. Bridge in Council Bluffs. Here’s a little background on it, Photo at the bottom of the page.

24St. Bridge

Albert Paley's iconic gateway into Iowa and the City of Council Bluffs stands at 100 feet above Interstate 80/29. Located on the 24th Street Bridge spanning I-80/I-29, this site is a prioritized site within the City's Public Art Master Plan.

Paley's Odyssey is comprehensively his largest composition, with each of the four individual sculptures ranging from 46 to 61 feet high and weighing in at 46,000 to 70,000 pounds. Communication from the beginning between all parties allowed the Iowa Department of Transportation to properly engineer Paley's plinths (located at the four corners of the bridge) based on Paley's estimated weight, wind loads, and dimensions during initial 2009 bridge construction.

Paley's design for the site includes four works of art constructed of bronze (which has a green patina), Cor-Ten steel (which develops a rust color) and brushed stainless steel (which reflects sunlight). Each material was chosen to represent the dialogue between the land and air and sky and light, as well as minimize future maintenance expenses.

 Time for the farm report from Iowa, I thought we had seen a whole heap of ethanol farms in Illinois and Missouri. I believe Iowa out does them both. On either side of the road from where we entered Iowa all the way to the South Dakota border it was cornfield after corn field interspersed with soy beans. In Texas they pump it out of the ground; in this part of the country they grow it out of the ground. Ethanol is not going away soon.

 

 

I-29 in South Dakota presented us with longer straight stretches over rolling hills. We keep looking for a herd of Tatanka (Buffalo) to come roaming over the hills and through the valleys, but none appeared, we did see some Black Angus if that counts for anything.

We are currently checked into the most expensive, over a $100, Microtel I have ever been in, but it is still less expensive then any of the other motels in the area. Looking at Sioux Falls I can’t see why or how they manage to get these prices. From what we’ve seen of the town it isn’t much.

We skipped lunch today for lack of hunger. As we have not been in a Cracked Barrel for two days, it’s the Barrel for dinner tonight. The Pecan Crusted Catfish was real good. Judy had the Spice Glazed Pork Chop and enjoyed it. Tomorrow we start the real sightseeing part of this trip, the last four days where just to get us here in South Dakota. On the agenda in the morning is a stop in Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace and then before we get to Rapid City…Wall Drug!