Keith did the driving and chose a route that would be far enough away from the flooded Missouri River which had been our regular route on I-29 north of Kansas City for many years. Normally it takes no less than 6 hours and usually about 8 hours with stops for peaches and refueling once and a meal. The biggest flood on record happened last Spring and still caused many detours. At least two areas of I-29 near Omaha were still affected. The new route was definitely not what we were used to and much longer; about 9-10 hours and 100 miles more but it was a good trip. We were not in a hurry and got to see some places we had not before such as a HUGE Wind Farm near King City, Missouri - pretty cool.
There were hundreds of modern windmills near King City. The photo shows the new and the old. There was also a large power station nearby that collected the power generated for distribution.
Our 15-year-old dog, Daffney, travels very well. She sleeps a lot and knows when we stop she's expected to do her business...every time. We arrived in Onawa before dark and got settled in for the night. We met Lottie (Keith's Mom) for breakfast and spent all day driving around to see the flood areas. The cemetery at Whiting is where Keith's maternal family is mostly buried and she was worried about how close the flooding came to the cemetery. We spent some time there and the nearby Whiting Harbor where there was once a nice restaurant along the river and is now a campground area.
The flooding was just beyond the trees but all was well for the cemetery. Later we got closer to the river access at a place Lottie remembered nearby that she had been to at a class reunion. It was once a remote restaurant. Now it is closed for the public as is the campground.
Keith and his Mom next to her old Cadillac at the Whiting Harbor area near Whiting.
Me and Daffney walking along the flooded campground at Whiting Harbor.
There is a bridge near Onawa that connects Iowa with Nebraska known as the Decator Bridge. The only other ways to get across the Missouri River would be in Sioux City, IA and at Blair, NE which are about 85 miles apart now that the Decator Bridge is closed due to the flooding. The old toll bridge was closed last June and likely will not be repaired or replaced anytime in the near future. The closing of this bridge has put much hardship on the local economy as it averaged 2500 cars per day.
We could only get about a half mile from the bridge because of the danger and instability. There were several workers in the area and it was all blocked off to car and foot traffic. Keith wanted to get some photos so carrying my camera he left us behind and walked past the workers with authority. When they said he couldn't go any further, Keith told them he was from Missouri doing a documentary and preceded to take all the photos he wanted and they didn't stop him. Keith is always thinking.
Flood damaged Decator Bridge from the Iowa side
That evening we met all that could come for a Family Dinner at the Club by the Onawa Airport. It was great to catch up with Keith's sister, Joanne and her husband Joe. We also had a good visit with Keith's Aunt Norma who has had some recent health issues.
Left to right: Joe, Lottie, Charlotte, Norma, Keith, Beti, Joanne
On Friday, we drove around some more around Blencoe and saw the "phantom farmer's illegally built earth berms." The story goes that the town was likely to flood but the town folk stood their ground (literally) and saved the town at the expense of some corn fields instead by plugging some drainage and building berms around the perimeter. Time will tell how that story will conclude but the town did not flood as expected.
We never traveled on I-29 because we knew there was some compromised areas and didn't need to find out first hand. We went around the outskirts of Onawa by the old Blue Lake Road past Willey's Pond and found Bo-9 Acres. Doug was not home but his 28 year old son was and we let him know we would be back. Keith spent the rest of the day at his Mom's apartment while Daffney and I rested at the motel. That afternoon, we all went to visit Keith's sister Charlotte. I had not seen her since husband Mike died suddenly over a year ago. She is doing well now and her home is very nice. We had a good visit before going to dinner at the Onawa Cafe with Lottie.
After dinner, we took Lottie home and went to look up Doug and Vicky. Although I had seen Vicky in recent years, it had been at least 20 years since Keith and I had seen Doug. We had a lot to talk about and it went well into the night. It was a wonderful visit.
After taking Lottie to the Onawa Cafe for the third breakfast in a row, we said our goodbyes. I had to try to see my brother Ed and Dee so we went south to Blencoe to find them and hug them. Ed was working on a house remodeling job and we visited for a short time. Then we dropped in on Dee at their house and visited too before we headed back north. Our detoured route took us through Mapleton where a horrific tornado caused much destruction last spring. Other towns we went through included Denison, Harlan, Shenandoah in Iowa then Tarkio, Bethany, then south on Hwy 35 past St Joseph and then east on Hwy 116 to Polo where we connected to Hwy 13 back to Hwy 54 which is home. We stopped a lot and enjoyed the no-stress drive which avoided all large cities and flooding. There was only one unexpected detour on Hwy 136 near Conception because of the flooding of the Platte River.
We did good but it was MUCH longer drive than we were used too. The trip home took 10 hours and 470 miles. It was dark when we got to Hermitage. It was all good and so well worth the effort!
No comments:
Post a Comment