The Rundown
Low point of the day: Lost in Wisconsin! We end up 40 miles off track, which is particularly frustrating when you're on a budget of $150 a day (every little bit counts). Luckily, the scenery is gorgeous. We drive through lush green corn fields under a deep purple sky, and there are cows everywhere.
Quote of the day: "Mommy, I just saw a cow wearing earrings," says my 4-year-old son, who spots a milk cow with tags in his ears grazing in a pasture.
Sound bite of the day: We hop on the Cassville Car Ferry (pictured above), which has been transporting cars and people across the Mississippi from Cassville, Wisc., to Turkey River Landing in Iowa, since 1833. We chat with the pilot, Steve Vogt, who pointed out two bald eagles perched high in a tree when we were crossing the river.
Most interesting person encountered: My son announces that he has to go to potty now at the tractor lot! I tell the kids to hop into the car so we can find a gas station but they ask if we can use the bathroom in the tractor store. As a city girl, I'm a little uneasy in farm country and worry about how the salespeople in the shop might react to us. But my kids persuade me to step inside and we surreptitiously slide behind two farmers and sneak into a bathroom. But when we're coming out, Darlene Schmitt catches us--and good thing she did because she tells us all about farm life and treats us to glasses of cold water and a heavy dose of Iowan hospitality. She and her husband have owned Schmitt Implement for 40 years. They also lived in San Francisco for six months while her husband was stationed in Fort Winfield Scott (now a part of the Presidio). "Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if we stayed in San Francisco because we did think about staying," Schmitt says. "But I'm glad we came back to Iowa. We have family here. We're real happy here. It's a friendly place." And I couldn't agree with her more.
Photo of the day: Playing farmer at Schmitt Implement tractor store in Tipton, Iowa.
Weather: Sunny then rainy then sunny then rainy...
Miles: 140
Total miles: 969
Hours in car: 3
Total hours in car: 20 hours, 30 minutes
Expenses
- Hotel: $79.92(Best Western Bluffview Inn & Suites/swimming pool and whirlpool suites)
- Breakfast: free at hotel
- Cassville Ferry: $13
- Lunch: $13 (River View Cafe in Guttenberg, Iowa)
- Dinner: $34.35 (180 Main in downtown Dubuque; we split pizza and Caesar salad at this hip spot.)
Total for the day: $139.44
Total for the trip: $815.12
1 comments:
If you want to sound like a local, you won't call it a "tractor store"--usually we just say "the implement."
And the $87,000 tractor was one of the cheap ones. ;-) A woman's shopping excursions are nothing compared to those of a farmer.
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