Two of Us

Second Day of Driving: Grand Island, NE – Nauvoo, IL – 8 hours/458 miles

One of our goals on this trip was to see as much as we could and drive only as much as was necessary. After driving more than half a day from Utah to Nebraska we were delighted to see that our next destination was only 8 hours away and we could really take our time to get there. Unfortunately, there wasn’t too much to see.

This is mostly what we saw.

But then, we stopped in Eldon, Iowa to get gas and the town was a tiny bit creepy, and totally awesome. I know the creepy part is so judgmental but of the 10 cars we saw in the town, 8 were missing windows and other big parts. One car that followed us around for a while (mostly because the town has like two roads) didn’t even have a hood!  I don’t know why but it totally freaked me out. Anyway, as we tried to kiss this little town goodbye we couldn’t help but follow the signs leading to the American Gothic House. We turned off our navigated path, ignoring the voice of our GPS frantically telling us to “make a u-turn now” and arrived at a big parking lot with a tiny house at the end.

This is what we saw.

Oh, you don’t recognize that you say? Let me help you...

...with this.

Still doesn't cut it? Let me help you one last time...

...and I'm out of ideas so I hope you get it this time.

Yep, that’s right people. We saw THE American Gothic House. Used for this very influential American painting by Grant Wood, a native of Eldon, IA. We were totally bummed to have missed operating hours of the visitors center because they offered costumes, exact replicas of the ones worn in this painting (pitch fork and all), and someone took a picture for you…copying the painting. What!? Why did we miss that? Boo.

Sadly/gladly, we had to leave Eldon and carry on to our final destination of the day. But, the American Gothic House lives forever in the memory of our cross country trip.

The rest of the day led us on back roads and across the Mississippi river into Nauvoo, IL. I love the Mississippi river! Here are some pictures of our journey across the bridge that crosses the river.

 The Mississippi river is so big and industrial. I don’t know what I love about it…maybe it was just monumental for our trip, actually being on the East of the Mississippi. I also think it has something to do with my childhood dream of owning a house on the river and sitting on my porch in overalls, playing a banjo with a jar of fireflies as my light. Does anyone else remember that part of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland? Anyway, then I saw the reality show Swamp People and realized that no one wants to live in a house where the threat of Alligators and West Nile Virus is always knocking at your back door. But secretly, I still do.

Driving into Nauvoo was the perfect end to our travel day. We came in from the back of the city and got to see all the cute Bed and Breakfast type homes and old-time shops before we came upon the temple.

I can’t wait to actually blog about our time in Nauvoo, is it just too much for me to write two posts in one day? Who am I kidding…it’s my blog! Nauvoo was peaceful and spiritual and beautiful! It was by far one of the best parts of our drive. Also, a shout out needs to go to Sir Perry (Dad) Brätt for hooking us up with his housing connection, I swear he has friends everywhere! Because of him we got to stay in Nauvoo for two days and really enjoy everything we wanted to do. Stay tuned for details about our stay in old Nauvoo including the Rendezvous, the best sweet ham balls this side of the Mississippi, and so much more!