Today's portion of this adventure started in Ames Iowa, home of Iowa State University. After finding the LH I quickly made my way West moving towards Ogden. This portion of the LH will give you three things to loom forward to:
1 Cool Bridges
2. Dirt Roads Galore
3. Corn... actually the entire trip. More about this later.
Ogden is your typical small mid-west town but you will notice that as you move west the towns look the same but they start getting smaller not just in size but in scale. The next thing is that the LH becomes a dirt road as it leaves Ogden. The roads seem well maintained but if it was raining I would not dare to ride them on a motorcycle. If you are the type of Harley owner who just cannot deal with dust, dirt and flying rocks... Route 30 is a better choice for you.
a very dirty bike
Between Ogden and Grand Jefferson, you run into to some really nice original Cement bridges. One of the three is rather plain but the other two are significant because they are different than any other bridge I crossed all day in Iowa and there were quite a few. One has the letter "L" on each end post and the other is a cement arch bridge.
East of Grand Junction there's a trio of bridges that demonstrate the growth of the LH over the years. In the distance was an very old unused bridge that according to Brian Butko has been purchased and is being preserved. The next bridge is a railway bridge and then the current LH bridge that the image was shot from. If you turn around 180 degrees you will see another bridge that carries Rt 30 traffic. Look closely for the third bridge in the image.
Three bridges across on the LHJefferson has a great statue of Lincoln and a Bell Tower that is really impressive to say the least. It was a gift to the residents of Jefferson. Unfortunately the tower did not open until 12 noon so I was not able to go to the top to enjoy the vista that it would provide. I wondered around the town and entered their local Radio Shack to purchase a memory card for my camera... I soon found out they no longer make this type of card. The sales Clerk Stephanie (see picture) was very nice and very helpful. Turns out she was originally from the Jersey Shore and has made Jefferson her home. Thanks for the nice conversation Steph.
Just outside of Jefferson four little entrepreneurs were selling lemonade at a roadside stand. Even though I just purchased a bottle of water I stopped for a delicious cup of premixed powered lemonade but I passed on the Skittles
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Just past Westside while traveling on the Lincolnway (DIRT ROAD) I stopped to snap a picture from the highest point on the LH according to Brian Butko.
In case you do not know who Brian is, he is the author of The Lincoln Highway Companion. The Companion is great to have while making your way across the LH. He provides some great facts, ideas for places to eat and just good stuff to know. The best part is that it is small enough to tuck in my jacket while riding my bike. My main complaint about the book is that it reads from the West to the East so if you are traveling East to West you need to read the book backwards. Non the less a very good book to have.
The final stop for the day was at the Higgins Historical Marker in Columbus. Higgins was the inventor, designer and manufacturer of the Higgins boat. The Higgins boats were used to land troops on beaches during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. If you have ever seen the first five minutes of the movie Saving Private Ryan than you know what a Higgins boat is. The memorial features a real Higgins boat in a simulated beach landing with bronze troops making their way onto a beach. A very nice tribute.
After the memorial, the day ended with a visit to Columbus Harley Davidson. They were real nice and pointed me to a great local dive bar restaurant for dinner. The place is called TK's and they know how to make a good steak.
The trip from Columbus to Grand Island was about 70 miles. It started off okay but the skies started darkening and the winds picking up. The temperature dropped from the mid 90's down to the point that I was very cold riding with my t shirt and vest with no jacket. As I moved towards Grand Island the rain started and on went the rain gear. Being between two towns there was no other real choice for me but to trudge on. The last ten minutes brought heavy rain and then some hail. OUCH. I was a bit concerned but I made it no problem.
As for the corn... my suggestion would be to make the trip when the corn is not as high as an elephants eye. It cuts down your view... nothing too major... just a thought. Also, make certain you know what you want to see. Time is the limiting factor so certain things I elected to bypass. A bit of research will help you figure these things out.
The dirt roads were the highlight of the day. There is something to be found on these roads. For me it was just the opportunity to experience and to appreciate what the early cross country travelers on the LH experienced as they made their way west in their motorcars.
Back out to the LH for another day...
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