US 6: Trip 5: Day 28 (Iowa City)

Here's a bit of boring route history. If you want to know what I did today, scroll down until you reach the dotted line. But first, pictures of Iowa landscape

Following US 6, even its original form, through Illinois is actually pretty easy. There have been very few route changes in 60+ years, and most of it is well-signed and obvious. There are a few turns, but they're usually at stop signs or in the middle of towns, where your speed is a bit lower.

Iowa, on the other hand, is a bit tough. Entering into the state, there were two separate versions of US 6.

From a 1956 Shell map

Originally (US 6 first appeared on maps of the region in 1932), US 6 ran over the Government Bridge, a shared road-railway drawbridge that spans the Mississippi River via Rock Island (the island, as opposed to the city). In 1935 though, the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge opened, and US 6 was re-routed onto it. In 1959, a second span opened, making up what is today known locally as the "I-74 Bridge," as it carries Interstate 74, which was created in the 1970's. But US 6 is still on that bridge. Prior to that, US 6 is easy to follow: from its current turn north at the Quad Cities Airport, it went west on 1st Avenue East, joined US 67 to bridge the Rock River, then continued north to Downtown Rock Island before turning east on 1st Avenue to reach the Government Bridge. After crossing the river, US 6 likely (I don't have sources, though I'm pretty certain from later maps) went west through Davneport on 2nd Street, turned north on Marquette Avenue and west on Locust Street (both turns were Iowa Route 122 in the 1950's, which likely took the place of the old route of US 6), then turned northwest at the five-way Marquette/Division/Hickory Grove intersection along Hickory Grove Road. That's a lot of turns.

The more recent routing followed today's 27th Street north toward Moline, then making a slight left on 19th Street toward the bridge. After crossing into Iowa, it became today's Kimberly Road, going north, then west, to meet the old route at the current intersection of Kimberly and Hickory Grove Roads in northwestern Davenport. The problem with this route is that there is very little left of a lot of these streets due to construction of Interstate 74. Many of the streets just do not go through. The section of roadway on both sides of the bridge is more or less gone, with no evidence left.

In 1956, US 6 had a "City" routing that extended through Davenport and Bettendorf, mostly along the older routing, with the exception that it followed US 67 between the two cities. There is also a "City" routing in Des Moines, with one route making a sort of bypass of the center of the city.

West of Davenport though, it continues to get a bit confusing. Kimberly Road passes Interstate 280 and continues along as Scott County Road F58, forming the boundary between Muscatine and Scott Counties. Some maps here will show Iowa State Route 927, which used to run from Interstate 280 to the current US 6 west of Wilton, but it was randomly removed about ten years ago and transferred to Muscantine and Scott Counties, leaving Wilton and Durant without

There are many other turns in Iowa though. US 6, for several miles in eastern Iowa, follows Interstate 80. The original route mostly sits several miles south of I-80, bisecting a number of small towns, like Colfax and Mitchellville.

Historic US 6 route sign

However, thanks to the efforts of the Route 6 Tourist Association in Iowa, the original routing of US 6 is easier to follow, thanks to the recent (2013) placement of a number of route markers, leading you through the small towns and past the various twists in the road.


Near West Liberty

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Today was meant to be about Iowa City, but the weather seemed to want me to do other things. In the morning, a light mist started. The sort of mist that makes you squint your eyes out of discomfort. Then, around 11, it got really, really windy. Gusts were about 40mph, and, despite not being that cold outside, it was uncomfortable to sit. So I ended up indoors a lot today.

One indoor place was the Herbert Hoover National Historic Park in West Branch. I have a thing about hitting presidential parks, and this one is only a few miles north of US 6, coincidentally right off of Interstate 80. So I couldn't not hit it. In fact, US 6 is quite the presidential highway: Garfield, Hayes, Harding, Van Buren, Hoover and even Reagan have national park sites dedicated to them that are just a few miles from US 6.

Hoover's historic park was quite impressive. There was a visitors center, a museum and his gravesite, but they also had a large part of the town blocked out as a pedestrian mall lined with preserved homes, including his birthplace, a two-room cottage. West Branch itself was a very cute town.

Iowa City, in front of campus

In Iowa City, I was desperate to bike. Iowa, perhaps to distinguish itself, has the deserved reputation of being a bike destination, with miles of trails throughout the state. Iowa City, the quintessential college town of the state, has its own extensive network, mostly following the river as it snakes through town. However, as I pulled the bike out of the car and began to ride, I realized that the brakes were in a condition that made the bike somewhat dangerous to ride, particularly with Iowa City's sometimes steep hills. The bike shop said that I needed a new cable, so the total bill was $25. That was a bit disappointing, but it was well worth getting fixed. I biked around a bit more after that, then came back when the rain started to threaten. In fact, as I pulled up to the car, a couple of drops fell. However, the rain would hold off until later as the evening started.

Short's is a burger place that happens to have an excellent selection of beer. All of their 15+ taps are devoted to Iowa breweries, and they change constantly. When I went in, for instance, I was mainly looking for Toppling Goliath, a brewery from Decorah that multiple people have told me that I should try. They had five Toppling Goliaths. They also had a brewery Kalona listed that I was interested in. However, it was out, and replaced with a brewery from Solon, just north of Iowa City. They do pints, but also samples for $1-2 for a 5oz pour. Overall, it's a pricey place, but it was nice to find a place where I could try several Iowa breweries without spending a fortune or getting wasted.

I only had about 30 minutes at Short's. The parking meters in that area are 1 hour maximum and $1.50 per hour, so it was a bit pricey and complex to stay there. I shouldn't be spending all my time in bars anyway.

Just as the sign indicates, that is a
vending machine for LIVE BAIT.
I got close, and that is, indeed, what it is.

Marengo

The place was to drive to Mariposa County Park, northeast of Newton, and sleep. However, as the rain came down yesterday, I decided to just sleep in the car since it would be too muddy to camp. When you try to camp in the mud, not only do you get your tent filthy, but the stakes also have trouble staying in unless you're in rocky soil. And Iowa does not have rocky soil. So, as I drove from Iowa City to Grinnell, the rain started pouring down.

I paused in Grinnell to think about the situation. It was the last town before I was to drive north to the campsite. Grinnell is a liberal college town, an insular little spot on the map where the children of the wealthy can be groomed away from the dangers of normal society. Grinnell is the sort of place, as the husband of an academic, that I fear the most. I think that, if we ever wound up in a place like that, I would have no choice but to have at least four kids, just to keep myself busy and away from the really horrible people that tend to populate these places.

Some of these people were in the restaurant where I sat and drank my bad French wine. I watched in pour down and listened to the sort of conversations that I was accustomed to hearing in Bloomington, plus one next to me between two students who, I guess, assumed that I didn't speak any Spanish (it was not about me and was pretty tame, mostly about their boyfriends and getting married, so I don't know why they thought they needed to keep it secret), and switched between pretentious white girl English and Español de Gringa, with me just listening at selected intervals. For the most part, I sat, watched the rain and sipped my wine and water. The restaurant was hosting a "physics banquet" for the college's end of year celebration, and awkward physics majors kept showing up early.

When the rain calmed down a bit, I walked back to the car, and moved it around town attempting to find the wifi signal that I was picking up. By then, I had decided to book the Super 8 in nearby Newton, waiving the white flag of defeat. The rain has won this round.

Near Atalissa

West Liberty

I stopped at a Mexican bakery in West Liberty. I spoke
Spanish to the woman there initially, but she responded in
English. I typically take that as a sign that they want to
speak English. She did not seem excited about me buying
the cream donut that I did. It was good though.