Road Trip: Day #2

On the second day of the road trip across the USA, Nicola and I started our day taking a slight detour. 

As most of my readers know, I'm a member of Pi Phi. The location of where Pi Phi was founded is in Monmouth, Illinois.  So, rather than continue to drive straight into Iowa, we headed down to Monmouth.

From the moment, we turned onto the street, I felt at "home." I met with Denise, a fellow Pi Phi, for a tour of Holt House. Two of the founders had rented a room in the boarding house at the time of the founding. After a quick tour, Nicola and I drove to the cemetery nearby where I was able to find the graves of five of the founders. 

Holt House

To get to Iowa, we did manage to take some single lane highways for a bit. But, soon, we were crossing the Mississippi River!  We stopped in Burlington, Iowa for a few brief moments to see the flooding that had occurred only the week prior. 

Mississippi River

Iowa

Downtown Burlington, Iowa 

The real gem of this day was finding the American Gothic House. One of the best things we did throughout the entire road trip was to take the roads that ran parallel to the Interstates. The speed limits are the same, there is less traffic, and we found some true gems.  We were so surprised to see the American Gothic House advertised that we immediately turned around at the next exit to come back!

American Gothic House

If you get a chance to visit, make sure to try on the costumes and put your own take on the famous painting! 

Cruising down the road, we passed a lot of corn and soybeans before we got to Des Moines. We did a quick detour to stretch our legs and see the State Capitol! 

Iowa State Capitol 

Des Moines

Our final stop before reaching Omaha, Nebraska that evening was in Council Bluffs to see the Golden Spike Monument.

Golden Spike Monument

Stay tuned for more recaps!