In 2005 I was tired of work travel and itching for a good vacation. Naoto & I had taken several flying vacations before, but I wanted a road trip. I kind of hate flying, so sometimes the anxiety about getting on a plane is enough to spoil the relaxation in a vacation. Plus, road trips are a great way to see plenty of states.
We started in Iowa in Madison County. I’ll let you take a moment to giggle…I’ve always loved covered bridges, not necessarily because of the book or the movie, but because I visited one as a kid and I thought they were neat. Well, I probably didn’t think it was neat at the time, but as an adult, I grew to love them. I think Winterset, Iowa is just about the cutest tiny town in Iowa and I loved that the bridges held years of history…many initials and names were carved in the old wooden walls and the floor boards of the bridges were gorgeously worn.
Our next stop was Mount Rushmore. On the way, we visited the “required” stops in South Dakota: the Corn Castle and Wall Drug, the Black Hills, Crazy Horse, the Badlands. Mount Rushmore was incredible…breathtaking…it’s absolutely amazing to think that it was designed and executed without technology… I am not someone who gets weepy about my country (okay, I sometimes am) but seeing those presidents sitting on a mountainside just made me feel proud of their hard work many years ago…
Our final stop was…the SPAM museum. Naoto grew up in Hawaii from age twelve and is a huge SPAM fan. He ate it all the time growing up and he still eats it today (when I’m not around). The museum was great fun…the exhibits were interesting, educational, historical and hilarious. I think we giggled through the whole place. And we spent a fortune in the gift shop on crazy SPAM paraphernalia and “limited edition” SPAMs (that sit unopened in our pantry, yet still have a few years to go on their expiration dates…)