In July, 1994 Alvin Straight set off from his home in Laurens, Iowa to see his brother, Henry, after Henry had a stroke. Unable to drive due to poor vision and mobility, and far too independent to get a ride, Alvin set off on his lawn mower for the 250 mile trip to Blue River, Wisconsin. The lawn mower broke down, so Alvin returned to Laurens and set out on a John Deer mower that was in slightly better shape and made the trip successfully.
In 1999 David Lynch immortalized Alvin Straight and the motorcycle journey in the movie The Straight Story. I really liked the movie and thought it had several good lines:
"What is the worst part about getting old?"
"Remembering what it was like to be young."
David Lynch took some liberties with the actual events which is fine for a "based on real life" film. The movie itself seems very non-Lynch-like in that it bears little resemblance to things like Twin Peaks or Mulholland Drive.
I thought it would be fun to recreate, as best I could, Alvin Straight's journey on my motorcycle and I was headed in a direction on this trip which would make it a good opportunity.
We left under a cool 50F on another early morning. Backtracking a few miles, we went to Laurens, Iowa where Alvin Straight lived. The sunrise on the way there was nothing short of stunning over the Iowa agricultural fields.
Laurens seemed like a nice enough town. I had thought about staying there, but the options were limited and the Pocahontas Inn and Suites was an absolute A+ so I'm really glad that was the hotel of choice.
From Laurens, we followed Alvin Straight's route as best I could - I tried gleaning information, and took what I could find online. I'm sure there are misses and maybe a lot of them. But I did what I could and it did get us on to some new roads.
One of the few stops we made on the route was at the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa. This is shown briefly in the movie, but it deserved a closer look. It is absolutely stunning. More info on it can be found here, but seeing this in the middle of rural Iowa was shocking.
The view from above is even more amazing.
The detail is exquisite; I really liked the serpent.
We didn't get a chance to go into the museum or gift shop (unlikely to buy anything anyway with such limited room) as we arrived and left before they were open. So we continued on Alvin Straight's route.
Iowa is mostly agricultural in the Eastern part of the state, but there are some very pretty parts with good riding, especially near the Mississippi River.
We crossed the river at Marquette. I don't think I've ever crossed it this far north before. It was much broader than I anticipated, possibly because it is right near where the Wisconsin River empties into the Mississippi.
Once across the river, we followed the Wisconsin River for quite some time. Following the twists and turns of the river. It was a beautiful early afternoon.
Soon enough, we came to Blue River, Wisconsin, where Henry Straight lived - ending our Alvin Straight journey.
Along the journey I had time to think about Alvin's trip. Laurens to Blue River is about 240 miles. At five miles per hour, that means the travel time was 48 hours (we did it in about 4 on the Gold Wing). If Alvin only drove 6 hours a day, that means the actual travel time was only 8 days. I know he did stop for repairs and to visit family en route, but those stops were the bulk of the "six weeks" it took on the lawn mower.
Perhaps it is best not to overthink these things - it is still a good story.
Continuing on, we stopped for lunch at a deli in Muscoda. It was the perfect road food joint - the kind of restaurant that is only open for breakfast and lunch. The burgers were fantastic.
Back on the road we made our way towards Madison. For a capital city, Madison really sneaks up. It isn't too bad a city to get around and we made our way to Cambridge to see my sister.
Once at my sister's, we talked for a while before heading out to Azatlan Park. The park was neat, but it always feels a little disingenuous that the Indian Mounds were excavated and then rebuilt. Still, they were neat to see - much bigger than the mounds at home.
After a great dinner at a restaurant on the Crawfish River, we headed back to the house for a few episodes of the TV show Fargo before calling it a night.
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