THE LONG AND STRAIGHT COUNTRY ROAD

Route 6 from Sundusky to Decorah, Iowa is one straight highway with long stretches in between small four way road stops. If one was running out of gas this is not the road you will find gas stations easily. We left Sandusky behind with our destination Decorah, Iowa 10 hours away. Cruising along we passed planted cornfields touched by an artists hand, curving in gracious waves, accented by a strip of green field in between. A river of corn, undulating over rolling hills with only the clouds and sky for backdrop. While on the other side of the road the soybean crops with their stubby stocks and dark green leaves quietly waved to us asking us to notice their beauty. While the corn marched steadily across the landscape in military regiment rows according to the artists design, the soybeans touched one another, creating a blanket of green on the fields and occasionally adding depth to a farmhouse yard.

Irrigation machines stood like foreign predators on top of the crops bringing water to nourish them. The grain silos stood tall in the distance with their metal tubes connecting like spider legs to a tiny body pregnant with the mixtures of grain, releasing them like a giant breath to the mother silo. And this scene goes on and on for mile after mile while we sit and drink in the vastness of our country.

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Soon it is time to get on the great American highways to make some time, bypass Chicago and head westward. Here is America on the go with enormous trucks squeezing you. leaning dangerously toward you, then spitting you out as they leave you behind. Blocking out the sound, we chose “The Great Railroad Bazaar” by PaulTheroux and reminisced of our train rides through Russia, Peru and our travels through India. After a long while, we found Route 20 and again found the quiet of a country road and the beauty of the sunset as we road through Illinois, Wisconsin and finally Iowa.

Darkness and the voice of Paul Theroux propelled us onward to Decorah and our new camping experience found on Harvest Hosts. We called ahead to Winneshiek Wildberry Winery to make sure we could arrive late at night. A pleasant woman told us to come ahead and park on the right. Did I not say that I wanted to find the places I imagined ? We did. Arriving in the dark, with no idea exactly where we were, we pulled into a farmyard, that even in the dark we could tell there were no grapevines. Pulling out quickly (as if a large red van could be discreet),we put the address into my phone again and discovered it was next door. As we drove in the drive, the vineyards were illuminated in our headlights along with several barns and houses and an electrical box. We quickly plugged in, set up the bed and went to sleep, both of us road weary.