A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Day 12 – July 26:
After Breakfast this morning, I headed east, out of Fort Dodge, on US-20 for about 35 miles, thru Webster City to visit the Hemken Auto Collection Museum located in Williams, IA. I met the owner of the building out front, and she told me the museum had been closed and all the autos in the collection auctioned off two years ago. She said several people, like me, had showed up to visit the museum, and that she had tried several times to remove the museum’s website from the internet, but with no luck. This is not the first time I have arrived at a museum’s location, only to find it permanently closed.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
After that disappointment, I headed south for about 30 minutes to visit the Farmhouse Museum located in the middle of the Iowa State University campus in Ames, IA. According to their website, this small farmhouse was built in 1860, restored in 1976, and moved to its present location as a museum. You would think this museum would be easy to find, but Greta (My Garmin) brought me to this building, which didn’t look anything like an 1860s farmhouse. I re-entered the website address, but she brought me right back to this building. Okey, maybe next time I’m in the area we can find it.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
From Ames, I headed south 1-½ hours on I-35, skirting Des Moines, IA (I had visited the Des Moines museums on another road trip) to visit the John Wayne Birthplace & Museum located in Winterset, IA. Being a John Wayne (The Duke) fan from an early age, it was worth the stop. This museum follows the life and career of John Wayne (born in the small town of Winterset) with antique cowboy artifacts, life-size sculptures, memorabilia, and of course, a movie theater where you can watch one of Wayne’s 169 movies, while sitting comfortably in seats from the famous Hollywood Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Photo Credit:Bill Lites
After that delightful trip down memory lane (being raised in my younger years in the southwest ‘Cowboy’ state of New Mexico), I turned east for about 25 minutes on SR-92 to visit the National Balloon Museum located in Indianola, IA. This amazing museum displays all types of hot-air balloon artifacts and memorabilia related to the history of manned ballooning from its inception by the French balloonists Joseph-Michel & his brother Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier in 1783. As an R/C model airplane flyer, I was fascinated to learn that there was such a thing as R/C model hot-air balloons, using propane to inflate the gas bags. I am going to have to find a hot-air balloon club in my area and see how that works.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Leaving the Balloon Museum, I headed south on I-35 for 30 minutes to check out the Osceola Railroad Depot located in Osceola, IA but it was closed. Before leaving Osceola, I stopped to visit the J.V. Banta House Museum. This Queen Anne style house was built in 1902 for J.V. Banta and his wife Lillie, whose family lived in the house until 1983. The house is now furnished with original early 1900s furnishings and allows the visitor to experience turn-of-the-century privileged living conditions.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Now it was another 35 miles south on I-35 where I planned to visit the Lamoni Colosseum located in Lamoni, IA but it was closed. However, the Amish Country Store there in Lamoni was open, and on the outside, looked like it could be a museum. Inside, this huge store was filled with a large varity of hand-made Amish clothes, crafts, antique buggies, and farm equipment, that made me feel like I was in a time capsule.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Since I needed gas, I stopped in at one of the local gas stations to fill up and got the surprise. The pump showed 87-octane Regular gas for $3.59 and 88-octane Premium gas for $3.44. Go figure? I didn’t ask any questions, I just filled my van’s tank with Premium, and saved 15 cents/gallon. As I was filling my tank I saw a crop duster airplane, in the distance, spraying a field. Then on my way to the motel, there in Lamoni, I passed a sign for the local airport, and drove out to see if the plane was there. I found the lady pilot washing down her Embraer EMB 202 (I think that’s what she told me it was) and I asked her about her plane and how she liked her crop-dusting job. She was very nice and willing to tell me all about her airplane and her job.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
At the motel I checked in, got my things in my room, and heated up my leftover Lasagna from last night, and enjoyed that meal again. No TV worth watching tonight, so after recording the day’s activities, it was off to bed for me.
Photo Credit: https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;mineral+city+restaurant+fort+dodge+iowa
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
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