Dotted roads

 After leaving 4 corners at White Cloud, KS, we continued on into Nebraska, following the Missouri River along highway 7.

We pulled into Rulo, Nebraska, population 144.

Back in the 1980s, there was a religious cult 2 miles north of here along the Missouri River. The farm had been converted into a compound and the members of the cult committed thefts throughout the Nebraska-Missouri-Kansas area. The stolen property would be sold in order to buy weapons and survival equipment for the group.  It was later raided and the leader put on death row.  We did not know this information beforehand or we might have tried to locate the area.

We crossed over the Missouri River.

We came to a village called Big Lake.  There are homes and cabins around this lake.

We took North 111 to highway 29 and took it for 30 miles.

We had made it from Kansas, into Nebraska, to Missouri and into Iowa in about an hour.  At Hamburg we filled up with gas.  I saw this interesting statue by the park.  

I love it when a town decides to keep old buildings!

This would be a fun house to re-do!

We had decided that we would take the dotted road from Hamburg, Iowa - a dotted road means it is a scenic route (although sometimes we wonder why it was ever considered a scenic route).  

Using Maps on my phone, we found the "dotted road" called Bluff Road that followed the bluffs to the east.  This runs along the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail. 

The Loess Hills rise 200 feet above the flat plains forming a narrow band running north to south 200 miles along the Missouri River.  The plains are between 3 and 8 miles wide.   If you look at a map, you will see it from Kansas City, through Omaha and on north into South Dakota!

We drove past Waubonsie State Park

We missed this scenic overlook.  I noticed the sign when I reviewed my photos.  I was just taking a picture of it to remind me what roads we were on.  We may have to try this road again!  I looked at pictures on-line and it would be worth it!

At a fork in the road, the signage was not clear on how to stay on Bluff Road and we went out of the way just a little.  Luckily it wasn't too muddy since it was a minimum maintenance road!  I guess if it had been muddy, we would have made a U in the road.

We came to a town called Tabor, Iowa.  There is an underground railroad station here; the Todd House Museum.  It would have been closed when we drove through.  That would be interesting to visit!  We visited one in Wisconsin.  The Milton House.

There is a Christian college named Tabor here!  

We have a Mennonite Brethern college named Tabor College a half hour away from us in Kansas too! 

When we got to highway 34, we went east to highway 59 and north to highway 80.

The sun set as we got to Highway 80.  We pulled into Des Moines around 11PM.  Passed our bedtime but what a fun adventure going on unknown, "dotted" roads!  Tomorrow to Dubuque to see something we have never seen before!