The Meadowlarks and Rust and Smoke tour to Boone Iowa

Two Model A Standard couples, a 66 El Camino, and a 71 Chevy
pickup took off on a 500 mile trip to Boone Iowa.
Our first destination was Atlantic Iowa to see the Coke a Cola Museum,

there we saw a lot of coke memorabilia,
and we were even given a Coke for the road. We started
down the road again once more and stopped at
the Guthrie County Historical Village. This is a really cool old
town which includes a train depot, drug store, and log cabin.

We even saw a factory made tractor with a Model A engine in it.
We eventually made our way to Boone.
If you have never been to the Boone area you will realize it is
not your typical flat land and corn fields.
It is hilly, really hilly and there are a lot of trees and you
can’t help but think of the Colorado Mountains.
As you descend on old Highway 30 to the valley it is really an
experience. The next day we were in the valley again
and checked out the Kate Shelley depot, Hickory Grove School,
and Battin Chapel. We took the winding road down and marveled
at the Kate Shelley High Trestle Memorial Bridge. The Kate Shelley

Bridge is the highest longest double trestle Bridge in the World.
Our travels took us to the now abandoned Wagon Wheel Bridge. It
was a really good look out point as we watched some
U.P. trains cross the high bridge. After lunch, we went to Ledges
State Park. Some of the roads were closed roads because
of heavy rains and flooding. The six of us were determined and we
went on a half mile hike down to where a couple of creeks

had flooded the road. We took off our shoes and socks and waded
across the ankle deep water. We continued to walk a little further
and our reward was the sight of a Camelot style bridge. We
eventually made our way back up the hill which seemed a little longer
than before. We prevailed and were met with cold water and a picnic table
for a little rest. Next we then followed the Dragoon Trail
and saw the Madrid Bridge. It is the tallest and longest walking bridge,
pretty cool but a lot of tax dollars.
Our next destination was the Snus Hill Winery. We admired the grounds
and some of us tested the wine. The owner even gave us a
demo of how to put together one of the smallest compact bikes I have
ever seen. After dinner, Kristy and I went to a car show
in Ogden while everyone else went back to their hotel rooms. The show
was good with lots of cars and tractors. The next morning
we met at the Van Hermann Bakery for coffee and Swedish rolls, they were
delicious. We went across the street to the Boone Historical
Center. The Historical Center is a converted Masonic lodge. The historical
items included guns, local wild life, and other local
artifacts. Upstairs we walked through time in a series of well-organized
displays. We laughed as we saw old beepers, bag cell phones,
and a 1930s hair perm machine. I even saw one of my child hood computers,
a Commodore 64. I did not realize it was an antique.
We then grabbed some subs and headed to the Scenic Train depot. We ate in
the park next to the depot. We then looked through the
museum. The museum was full of old rail road memorabilia, watches, uniforms,
plate ware, and tools from a bygone era.
It was finally time to ride the train. I could hardly wait to board

the train. We found a car with fewer people on it close
to the engine. This allowed us to go side to side and see all the
different scenery. We went over the High Trestle Bridge.
It was a little scary but riveting at the same time. We were very
high up, much higher than the trees, and could see for miles
and miles. After the train ride Dale led us on a tour of Ames and the
Iowa State Campus. He told us the campus had changed a
lot since he was there. They have added buildings and tore some down.
We then finished the tour at Hickory Park BBQ in Ames.
It is a LARGE place with an Old West theme. The BBQ was delicious and
the banana split was even better. The quality of the
food was evident by the few hundred people eating and the line out the door.
Dale took us for a last roll through Ames and
back to Boone. The next morning we set out for the long trip home.
We broke up the trip by stopping at the Morh family
Minneapolis Moline collection to admire the “prairie gold.”
The collection contained about a hundred tractors,

a large collection of models and other memorabilia. The collection was
impressive and the Morh family was very hospitable.
Our next stop was Denison for some Lunch then we headed down the road.
We parted ways at the McDonalds in Missouri Valley
going are separate ways home. Thank you for going out on a road trip
with me. I had a great time and
I hope everyone else did too. I learned a lot planning this trip.
One thing I will take from this trip is that
if you have a good fun-loving group of people to travel with you will
have a great trip. I did have fun and it was
relaxing. The people attending the trip were Dale Jergensen, Elijah Paulson,
William and Mary Paulson, John and Kristy Leddy.

Thanks again John Leddy