A trip down memory lane in Eastern Iowa

We left Nashville Sunday and made it to Hannibal Missouri. I had been there once before when the band played at a Festival. Without the Festival, it is a pretty depressed town. We arrived with the need for a pipe cleaner. There was a Dollar General across the street from the motel and we arrived at closing without a wallet between the two of us. Craig went back for his wallet while I tried to keep the place open. The young man at the register was very motivated to close so he bought the pipe cleaners for me ($1.09) and closed up before Craig could get back. The next morning we left the kind young man $10 to encourage future acts of kindness.

It was 90 minutes from Hannibal to Mt. Pleasant area where the farms that my parents grew up on are. We drove through Mt. Pleasant – by my elementary school for K-3, past the house I lived in and then out by my father’s farm which looks well cared for; past Beulah Church where my parents were married and I was baptized. It had been converted to a home decades ago, but appeared to have recently burned to the ground. Then down the gravel roads to my mom’s family farm where my parents moved after I graduated from high school and where I spent most of my childhood summers. The farm land was sold separately from the house. Unfortunately the people who bought the house do not invest much time in maintaining the yard. It almost looked abandoned. Across the road from the house new grain storage bins were being constructed by the family that bought the land.

It was a bit sad to see the house in this state.

We then.traveled the back roads to Tipton where I was for 4th and 5th grade and then on to Grand Mound where I lived 6th-12th grade. After my dad’s dad died suddenly when I was in 7th grade we made the trip to the farm every weekend to help support my grandmother for at least a year. It was fun to figure out all the turns through the small towns – Winfield, Columbus City, Columbus Junction, Conesville, Nichols, Moscow and finally Tipton. I found the house we lived in Tipton.

We drove along Hwy 30 to Grand Mound – though a small town every 5 miles – Lowden, Wheatland, Calamus and Grand Mound. Our Grand Mound home had been nicely renovated and the park across the street with the ball diamond where I watched many a ball game with 3 brothers. The park now has tennis courts and is very nice for a small town.

We drove the 5 miles to DeWitt. I rode the school bus from Grand Mound to Dewitt for 7th-12th grade.

For reasons that are not clear, De Witt has remained a very vibrant town of just under 6,000 residents. The Main Street was really upgraded from 50 years ago and the high school has been enlarged and renovated to be an Intermediate School, Junior High and High School.

From there we went to Cedar Rapids to drop Carli off with Aunt Carol for a few days. The friends and family we will be staying with are not dog friendly for one reason or another. Carli stayed with Carol last summer and it went well.

I think Craig appreciated the glimpse this drive drive down provided into my upbringing – or at least he was a gracious travel companion. I decided to eliminate the drive to Decorah to see Luther College because it would have been another 7 hours of car time over 2 days and we were both a bit travel weary.

I was a pretty boring high school student and there were not really any interesting stories to share with Craig. I had a great group of friends that were not inclined to get into trouble. We studied, worked and participated in school events. Once medical school became my goal in 10th grade, I was focused on what I thought it would take to get there. And I stayed focused on school and work until I retired in 2021.

Now is MY time for FUN!!!!