October 4, 2024. High School Reunion.

CAMPGROUND:  3rd night at Lake Ahquabi State Park

LOCATION:  Near Indianola, Iowa

WEATHER:  Crisp, Sunny fall day. Highs in 50s

I met 2 of my high school friends, Nancy Edwards and Debby Miller.  We drove around country roads enjoying the scenery and looking for farmhouses of previous classmates.  We stopped in Truro where I grew up.  

Truro is a small town of about 300 people.  When I was growing up, it had a thriving downtown, including my dad's grocery/general store.  Now there is not much left.  Truro is right off Interstate 35.  When I was in elementary school, Truro consolidated its school with two other towns located along the highway, New Virginia and St. Charles, to become Interstste 35 School.  Our sports teams were the Roadrunners!  Here are Nancy and Debby in front of the high school's mascot.

We drove past one of the houses where I lived.  The first one was really old and has been torn down.  My dad and his friends built this  "new house"  in the 60s.  It is now a chiropractic office.

 We drove on to Winterset, a town of about 3000 people. This is the town famous for the Bridges of Madison County book and movie.  We ate lunch at the Northside Cafe, located on the north side of the town square, where actor Clint Eastwood ate every day while filming the movie.  His bar stool is famous...

Winterset is also famous as John Wayne's birthplace.  He was born Marion Morrison.  (John Wayne certainly sounds more masculine!)

We drove by a ranch where I was a camp counselor one summer.  Across from it is a new winery/brewery that is very picturesque in the rolling corn fields.  A cow mooed its welcome as we entered.  The beers and wines are quite nice.  

We stopped at one of the famous covered bridges.  This is Imes Bridge.

We joined about 40 classmates for our high school reunion.  It was great seeing old friends.....and YES.... We are old!  The reunion planners wisely had made name tags so we could identify each other.