St. Charles, Madison County, Iowa

Iowa became the 29th state to join the United States on December 28, 1846. The capital city is Des Moines. The highest point is Hawkeye Point at 1,670 feet.

Road Trip 2013 - Day 3 - June 13 - Iowa - Stop 1 (Indiana Dunes, De Immigrant, Amana Colonies, Des Moines)

On the Road Again, Peru, Iowa (IA) Day 3 was shaping up to be a road trip classic. We were starting in Madison County, Iowa. That is The Madison County! What do I mean by "The"? Remember Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood), Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep), and most importantly the mean yellow dog? Well, I am afraid I am getting a bit ahead of myself here though. I'd like to get to the bridges, but not in today's post. By the way, it's not easy even for covered bridges in this world. There have been quite a few arson attempts on this bunch and unfortunately some successful.

There's another reason to visit Madison County. The birth place of Marion Mitchell Morrison is there. Who? John Wayne should ring a bell. But there I go getting ahead of myself again!

All I really wanted to share today was that I've always liked these road photographs with lines converging towards a vanishing point. They can be curvy or straight, in bad weather or good, really anything. There's just something special about a road disappearing beyond where eyes can see. It's almost like these photos throw a question at you. What's next?

A road trip was an ideal opportunity to try some of these on my own. There were quite a few miles to watch for opportunities and stop on the side when the road ahead just looked too good to pass up. Thousands of miles! In the first photo, the double yellow line disappearing in the dark blue sky was what called me. It was simple, with not much around this rural road, just some green grass and some trees and a straight road in the middle leading towards the unknown in the distance.

On the Road Again, Winterset, Iowa (IA) Soon, we had to turn off road. Not really off road, just on a dirt and gravel road that would take us to the next bridge on our list. And the feelings about the distant mystery repeated all over. This time without the yellow dividing line and with a good dose of dust enveloping the car that managed to stay clean until this point. Day 3 changed that concept altogether. You know how that goes. Once the car is dirty, dirt no longer matters. Very liberating in a way. One no longer has to worry abut the choice of the road ahead.

As in the paved road photo, the dirt road was straight and leading into an unknown future, with the converging sides reinforced by the tracks dividing the road not in halves but in thirds. Greenery around again, and that blue sky, just couple shades darker here. And even the poles remained, well, just one here. Really, so similar, yet, so different!

Which one says road trip better? Which one is more mysterious? Which one do you like better? To me they both had their magic and that is why you see them both here. Each with its own character, each from a road trip, each now a reminder how much fun a road trip can be, each an inspiration to do it again!

Have fun capturing your direction!

Sources:

• Iowa on 50States.Com
• Madison County, Iowa - The Bridges of Madison County
• John Weeks' Highways, Byways, And Bridge Photography - The Bridges Of Madison County
• The Bridges of Madison County
• The Bridges of Madison County on Filmwerk
• John Wayne on Wikipedia

Equipment used:

• Nikon D600
• Nikon 24-85mm Nikkor Lens
• Promaster 72mm Circular Polarizing Filter
• Think Tank Speed Demon Waist Pack,  Petzl Zipka Plus 2 Headlamp (always in the bag just in case), SanDisk Extreme 32GB SD Cards
• Nikon Capture NX2

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