Recently, Dad and I drove to Massachusetts. He needed to have some medical tests run at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester. He asked whether I’d like to ride along. I accepted his invitation. I had intended to blog about the trip while we were on it, but I was too exhausted to write. By the time I got home, trip odometer read 4,396.5 miles.

Dad had to be at UMass 7 a.m. EST Monday and we wanted to visit Niagara Falls on our way. Because of that, our first day out was a brutal one, around 800 miles. The trip seemed never to end.

We hardly stopped. Other than endless miles, only one place stands out from that day, the eastbound rest area at Adair, Iowa.

I had been fretting overnight Thursday that perhaps we should have driven awhile that night.

Staying at Dad’s was the right decision.

When we got up Friday morning, the ice on the driveway was very treacherous. Dad had to sprinkle ice melt behind the van so we could load. Otherwise, we were unable to stand up.

We drove in freezing fog several hours, crawling down the Interstate. We took our time over breakfast in hopes that highway crews’ work would make travel safer. That long breakfast was a very good idea.

bushes covered in ice

Adair, Iowa, would normally be around 5 hours into a trip, but getting that far took longer than 5 hours. I was glad to get out of the car. We stepped into into a fairy-tale world. Everywhere that hadn’t been covered with ice melt was covered with ice. We could hear tree branches cracking underneath the weight. That noise was punctuated by ice chunks crashing to the ground.

Ice peeling away from a branch

I stayed on the cleared walks because standing was impossible otherwise. I still had to dodge falling ice chunks and nearly was hit by one. I’m grateful that motion attracts attention.

Frozen US, Iowa and POW/MIA flags

The flags made noise, too, but not the noise usually associated with flags. Instead of a snapping sound, they emitted something akin to a thump. Most of the time, the wind was insufficient to move their weight, and they sagged from the flagpole.

IA Meet People News sign

The usual crop of newsstands stood on the sidewalk in front of the building, including this one. I found the scene hugely ironic. Does this scene encourage you to move to Iowa and meet people?

leaf in ice

I could not resist the beautiful scenes before me. Ice is deadly, yes, but it’s also gorgeous. The light was perfect, too, slightly overcast for even lighting. Fall raking missed this leaf. I love the contrast of brown on white, fall vs. winter. Winter’s winning.

Leaves on a bush encased in ice

Winter is winning here, too, but eventually spring will take hold. The ice will melt and these leftover fall leaves will be pushed off by new growth.

Icicles dangling from garbage can

Even the garbage can was beautiful with its necklace of icicles.

Praise God for ice melt, highway maintenance crews and the beauty of His creation — even when it’s dangerous.

Pictures from the eastbound Adair rest area:

To see pictures full screen or to purchase them, click on the “visit gallery” link here or in the slideshow.

Tags: adair, automobile, cold, dad, fall, flag, flags, frozen, ice, interstate, iowa, leaf, newspaper, newsstand, rest area, sculpture, travel, trip, winter