A Snapping Good Time

City of Winterset Campground


Hogback Covered Bridge

Yesterday and today we explored the famous "Bridges of Madison County". Out of the original 19 constructed, only 6 remain. Of these, several have been relocated from their original locations. All were originally build in the late 1800's, and have been restored. We also stopped by the home where John Wayne was born.

Iowa can fool you. We had always thought of Iowa as a state not to be vacationed in...well, because it couldn't be anything but flat farmlands. Not true - flat in some places, farms, in some places, but lots of hills and woodlands. Very beautiful.

As we meandered through dusty backroads in search of covered bridges, we happened upon a turtle slowly crossing a road. Donna thought that we should "save" it, by moving it out of harms way. So we stopped to a relocation. I immediately had my suspicions: nasty looking beak, long, sharp claws, and a jagged pointy tail. Plus the shell was moss and scum covered. As I reached to grab the sides of the shell, the little bugger hissed and jumped at me. Yep, my suspicions were confirmed, I was in a confrontation with a snapping turtle. Sorry, Donna, that amphibian will get to where it's going on its own, with no help from me.

We got back in the truck, and turned to look back...the turtle had turned around and was moving quite quickly back to where it came from. So I guess our stopping did get it moving.

Friday we are heading to Nebraska...where I know there are cornfields! We will be back in Denver earlier than originally planned. When we were in Hill Country in Texas, I injured my wrist, and it's not getting better. After a rainstorm, branches from the oak tree we were under had sagged and were on our roof. This provided a path for ants...so I was up there doing some trimming. As I squeezed the cutters and twisted the branch to break it, something popped. I've done that a thousand times, with no repercussions, but this time: OUCH!!

Since we had previously scheduled all of our doctor's appointments for this timeframe, I moved one up a week. So soon I will know what really happened, and what it will take to get it fixed.