Iowa - Day 9 - Mason City and Waterloo

Waterloo KOA, Waterloo

Wednesday, 9 November 2022

This is a video I took of the kittens last night.  They regard my bed as a nice padded playground.

We left the campground just before 8:00 today.

today's route

I had two main goals for today's drive: to see Mason City and to get down to Waterloo, where we'll be staying for 6 days.

Leaving last night's campground, Dext and I saw a male deer running away from us across an empty field, and then a doe that ran across the road in front of us.  Either Iowa has more deer than Nebraska does, or they're just showing themselves more here.

We turned west at West Union and from then on saw continuous cropfields at one stage or another.  Cows now and then.  Intermittent farmhouses.  Unfortunately, it was another overcast day.  I don't know if Iowa has a lot of them or if it's just this time of year.

Near the town of Fredericksburg (in Iowa, not Virginia or Texas), I saw a large flock of black geese grazing by the road.  I'm guessing they were a domestic flock because they were near a driveway.

Today was tough driving because not only were the roads bumpy, but there was a very strong wind, making it really hard for me to stay on the road.

I heard an interview on the radio with Robert Draper, author of Mass Delusion: When the Republican Party Lost Its Mind.  It sounds like a well-researched, fascinating look into how we've ended up where we are today.  Here's a review, if you're interested.   https://www.theguardian.com/weapons-of-mass-delusion

Apparently farmers in this area use manure on their cropfields.  My nose told me so.  The smell was bad.

Near Nora Springs, I saw a large flock of sheep in a feed lot.  I didn't know farmers put sheep in feed lots.

At Mason City I discovered I'd shut Bucky up in the bathroom when we left the campground.  He'd ridden that whole way stuck there, and if he said anything about it, I didn't hear it.  I learned my lesson to always identify specifically where all the critters were before we started, and not just make assumptions.

My first goal in town was Central Park, so Dext could walk.  I had to do some driving around to find a place to park, but we did it.  The park is a full block, lots of trees and grass, and a large veterans memorial.

Each of the stones that listed the names of those who died in service had quotes at the top.  Here are some of them.

Adlai Stevenson died in 1965,
which makes this quote even more interesting.

And nearby was a statue I'd never seen one like before.

It's titled "Stand for the Flag."

You can see in the background that there's a large building that I'm not sure what it is, next to a pedestrian mall.  I think they're in the Prairie style of architecture, a style created by Frank Lloyd Wright.  These are the building and the pedestrian mall:

And across the street from these buildings, looking in their direction, is a statue of Wright himself.

It's titled "American Architect."

Behind it is another war memorial that had a different feature than I remember seeing before.

I didn't take a photo of the whole thing, just the base.
I don't know why it says "Pleasant Hill, LA." on it.
I've enlarged the names that are on the plinth above that.

I'm guessing these names are for local boys,
because only one of them seems to have died in Mason City. 
All the others died in other battles or "In Rebel Prison."

I came to Mason City because this was the childhood home of Meredith Willson, famous for The Music Man, one of my favorite musicals.  Willson based River City on Mason City, which does indeed have a river running through it: the Winnebago River.  I drove around town a bit - nice town, lots of public art - but didn't see anything that reminded me of the movie setting.  Apparently that's because they keep all that inside a building, away from casual non-paying eyes.

They charge $10 for adults (no senior discount) and for that you get a whole lot of Music Man stuff.  I guess if I had the time, it might be worth the money because I do love the movie, but today was definitely not the day.

In Mary Tyler Moore's autobiography, she tells about the time she starred with Robert Preston in a movie, and during a break she asked him if he still remembered any of the "Trouble in River City" routine.  She said he jumped up instantly and did the entire routine, including the spoken words, the singing and the entire choreography.  (I would love to have seen that - a virtuoso performance for a small audience.)  But since he'd played the role nightly on Broadway even before the movie, it's not so surprising he could remember it.  

I didn't know this, but he got the part in the movie because Meredith Willson said he'd void his contract if the studio didn't choose Preston for the part; Warner Bros. had wanted Jimmy Cagney, Cary Grant or Frank Sinatra instead.  All good actors, all with strengths, but I honestly can't see anybody but Robert Preston doing that role.

Back on the road, we headed mostly south toward Waterloo.  For some of this way I was on the Avenue of the Saints.  I don't know if you remember - I didn't - but I was on this same road in Minnesota, and I think in Missouri too.  It's 563 miles long and connects St. Louis, MO, with St. Paul, MN (thus, Avenue of the Saints).

Near Charles City, I came to a sign telling me to turn right to visit the Carrie Chapman Catt Historical Site.  She was the well-known peace activist and women's suffrage advocate, and this site is the home where she grew up in the late 1800s.  It still sits at its original site and has been preserved as a historic site.

I passed small towns like Nashua (in Iowa, not New Hampshire), Janesville (in Iowa, not Wisconsin), and Cedar Falls, which seems to be almost on top of Waterloo.