Where's that confounded bridge?

Earlier in the day before the hockey game in Des Moines, I went on a fun little adventure checking out the famed Bridges of Madison County—all six of 'em!  Iowa isn't nearly as boring as people think.  There are a lot of cool things to do there—you just have to look for them.  I spent roughly ninety minutes criss-crossing Madison County visiting the famed covered bridges, most of which were built just after the Civil War (ours, not Iraq's).  I stopped off at the visitor's center near the town of Winterset (which is also the birthplace of actor John Wayne), and the elderly gentleman there was nice enough to go over the map with me and direct me to all six bridges—kudos to him!  I saved the most famous bridge for last, the famed Roseman Bridge (pictured above), which of course was the focal point in the film The Bridges of Madison County.  It was a bitch to get to, over 4 miles of twisty-turny gravel roads, but it was fun anyway.  There was no note waiting for me from Francesca, though...

Great film, by the way, especially for a "chick flick", but one scene in it always drives me nuts.  It's where Robert (Clint Eastwood) and Francesca (Meryl Streep) do the dirty deed on the floor in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace—on a HOT night!!!!  I still can't believe that Eastwood, of all people (he also directed the film), fell prey to this lame Hollywood cliché.  These two are suddenly (and rather impulsively) drawn to each other, yet they have time to build a fire before they fuck each other?!?  Oh, please!  Did I mention it was a HOT night, too?  And unless one has really good knee pads or thick carpet padding, I can tell you from personal experience that doing the wild thing on the floor is about as romantic as an autopsy.  Give me my ol' Sealy Posture-pedic any day...