Iowa and Illinois---Nauvoo, here we come!!

Another early morning start by Gary and more sleeping by Jena and I.  I think we left at 6:00 a.m. again.

Still in the Great Prairie, Iowa also has a lot of flat land along 80.  We passed a number of these wind farms making electricity.  It was harvest time for the first crop of grain.  Notice the huge round bails--so different from the bales we see in the intermountain area.

And another educational rest stop in Iowa---

This one had a display showing the lost of the loam--or top soil--which was so rich along the rivers here in Iowa.  The whole rest stop talked about

The date of the first farms in the area and a description of the
different layers of soil.

These are the murals INSIDE the rest room lobby (yes, those are the doorways to the Men and Women restrooms.)  Seriously, remember the day when rest stops were basically outhouses in the middle of no where.

                                      

This rest stop was dedicated to a man who figured out some important concepts about farming this area.  I can't remember his name but he was credited with rotation farming and other ways to protect the land.  He eventually became Secretary for Agriculture at one point because of all his work in this area.

Field ready to pick up the hay

Another rest stop south of Des Moines where we finally left I-80.  I kept hoping to actually see a real life bison this trip since they were an important part of the trek west, but no luck, so here is my token buffalo picture.

A gorgeous bird which we saw everywhere through Iowa and Illinois.  I don't know what kind of bird it is but when it flies you can see the pretty red markings across its back.

This rest stop was near a prairie grassland exhibit.  We didn't have time to make the detour to the actual park but it did tell us a bit of the botany of the area in some informational displays.

As we traveled southeast from Des Moines, we traveled on highways instead of the interstate. Looking at our map we thought they were going to be mainly 2-way roads, but they were divided highways most of the way.  Of course we got to drive through many little towns.  They have some very beautiful old houses and buildings in these small towns.

Here is a Catholic Church that we stopped and took pictures of in a small town prior to getting to Ft. Madison.

Next--crossing the Mississippi- 2017 style!