Two Men On A Mower

While in Waukee we drove to Winterset Iowa. I met a lady at the Ben Franklin Store and she said Iowa stands for Idiots Out Wandering Around. That pretty much describes mom and I. The first place we stopped was the city park to eat lunch and hatch out a plan. Mom talked me into hiking to the Clark Tower, about a two mile hike. It is accessible by car if you drive carefully but it was off limits to vehicles over 20 feet. Clark Tower is a 25 foot landmark built in 1926 of locally quarried limestone. The tower is a memorial to the early Clark Family settlers by their descendants. It overlooks the Middle River valley and the views are spectacular.

I met the first man on a mower on this hike. I made it to the tower and was offered a ride back to the park by a very nice lady and I declined. After exploring the tower I decided to walk back the same way and not make the loop which I knew would be shorter walk. I am trying to walk more. When I started out I saw a gentlemen on a mower and I waved and went on my way. I met him again at the end of the trail and he just grinned when he saw me. Told me I took the long way back. I was raised to bite my tongue and be polite. I just smiled. Did he make it a point to drive down there to give me a hard time? Maybe he needed to get off the mower and do a little walking himself? hmmm

There is a covered bridge in the park and mom and I walked through it. Then we drove to the cemetery. The oldest part of the cemetery was in the back and the narrow road to it was lined with trees. Low branches and there was no way I could take the van back there. So mom explored the new part and I walked to the back part. When you are exploring cemeteries you need to be respectful of the visitors, and the caretakers. When they are mowing I stay away from them until they are through with the section they are working on.

Here I was stopped by a man on a mower. He wanted to know what I was doing and I explained to him my hobby of exploring historical cemeteries. He gave me a brief history of the cemetery and I think if I encouraged him he would have gotten off his mower and given me a tour. It was tempting to learn of the people that are buried there and hear the history. He was nice enough to give me space to explore the oldest part of the cemetery. Winterset Cemetery is beautiful, well maintained and the stones are legible. It was just awesome.


Winterset is the birthplace of John Wayne. Even though he left when he was 3, the town celebrates their celebrity. We drove by the little house where he was born and walked over to the statue of him.

Then we drove over to the town square and we walked that. The courthouse is on the historical register as is many of the buildings. Then we stopped at a local used bookstore and mom found Jim Harrison’s first novel “Wolf” and I found ’You Shall Know Our Velocity!” by Dave Eggars.   We both were excited.


Even though we only went to one bridge in Madison County it was a great day! I will be posting pictures of Winterset at a later date. Right now I am going to give you the links to the rest of my pictures.  The carousel and the city park has video, just short clips.


Click here for Carousel Pictures in Story City Iowa
Click here for City Park Pictures in Story City Iowa
Click here for RV Park Pictures in Story City Iowa