On day 85 of “The Ultimate USA Road Trip” we drive from Des Moines in Iowa to Davenport on the border with Illinois. After we scored another Poker Chip at the Big Barn Harley-Davidson Dealer we drive to Lake Red Rock, also called Red Rock Reservoir, a reservoir formed by Red Rock Dam on the Des Moines River, about 41 miles southeast of the city of Des Moines. The dam was completed in 1969 as a flood control project by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, creating the largest lake in Iowa. The lake is essentially confined to Marion County. The lakeshore offers various recreational activities such as camping, hiking, boating and fishing.

Near the reservoir is the town of Knoxville where we visit “The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum”, this is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctions officials and media members . The museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa, home of the Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway.
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Foundation, Inc., is a non-profit organization incorporated in the state of Iowa on April 25, 1986, for the sole purpose of preserving the history of the sport, of sprint car racing and honoring the greatest achievers. The $1.7 million facility, located at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, officially opened on January 4, 1992.

The first floor of the four-story building houses the Donald Lamberti National Sprint Car Museum, a museum shop and administrative offices. The museum currently has twenty-five restored cars, super modifieds and sprint cars on loan. The 740 m2 exhibition space also contains displays of trophies, paintings, photographs, plaques, helmets and other sprint car racing memorabilia.
The facility also includes a library and research center, a 40-seat theater, a catering kitchen, an administration office, a conference and banquet facility and a 150-seat clubhouse for race viewing.
Highly recommended for motorsport enthusiasts.

The next stop is at the Red Rock Dam, which consists of a rolled earth embankment and a section of concrete. The dam, at a peak elevation of 797 feet (243 m) above sea level, is approximately 5,200 feet (1,600 m) long and 95 feet (29 m) high above the floodplain. The dam was built along with the Saylorville Dam as a flood control project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District in 1969 at a cost of $88 million.
You can take beautiful photos of the Dam and its surroundings at the recreation area on the banks of the Des Moines River.

We stop a little longer in the town of Pella, about 8 kilometers north of Lake Red Rock. This town with “a Touch of Dutch in “the Mid-West” is recommended for a longer stop. In the summer of 1847, a group of immigrants from the Netherlands settled in Marion County, Iowa, on the border between the Des Moines and Skunk rivers. In the Netherlands they were persecuted because of their religion, because they were dissidents about the state reformed church, and therefore they called their new place of residence Pella, the name taken from a Biblical refuge.

On the seal of their new city they wrote the words “In Deo Spes Nostra et Refugium,” or In God, our hope and refuge. Visit the Pella Historical Museum, which preserves and promotes Pella's Dutch heritage and history. Take a walk through the historic village and visit the Vermeer windmill, the Scholtehuis, the Molengracht, a remake of the original canal in Amsterdam. Stroll through the many shops and parks that breathe Dutch culture. Every year there is also a Tulip Festival in Pella on the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday in May.

If you're interested, you can plan a visit to the Vermeer Museum and Global Pavilion just outside the city. Vermeer is a nationally recognized agricultural machinery company that started here in Pella. The museum is filled to the brim with the history of the Vermeer Corporation and the Dutch Vermeer family. Inside you'll find a wide variety of artifacts, from real farm equipment to photographs, marriage licenses, gifts from foreign dignitaries and much more.

We drive to Iowa City via Lake Ponderosa. Lake Ponderosa is a beautiful lake located three miles west of Montezuma. The 440 acres of wooded landscape and seven miles of shoreline provide a beautiful setting for the 700 households that call Lake Ponderosa home. For more than 45 years, the lake has offered a variety of water sports activities, including fishing and boating. You can park at the Lake Ponderosa Marina to take photos and possibly plan a short break.

Visit the Devonian Fossil Gorge, imagine walking on a 375 million year old ocean floor! This glimpse into Iowa's geological past was first exposed during the 1993 floods at Coralville Lake, and then even more was exposed during the 2008 floods. The fossils and limestone bedrock of the Devonian Fossil Gorge date back nearly 200 million years before the dinosaurs! The Devonian Fossil Gorge brochure with detailed information for each marker in the gorge is now available online and printed copies are located at the entrance to the site.

Visit West Branch Founded in 1851, this town is considered one of the more historic towns in the state of Iowa. On April 13, 1987, the United States Department of the Interior added 14 commercial buildings in West Branch to the National Register of Historic Places under the designation West Branch Commercial District.

Herbert Clark Hoover, 31st President of the United States of America (March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933), was born here on August 10, 1874, the son of Quaker blacksmith Jesse Clark Hoover and his wife Hulde Minthorn Hoover. Hoover's birthplace, cemetery and presidential library museum draw tens of thousands of visitors to West Branch every year. The Hoover Presidential Library-Museum is one of thirteen presidential libraries-museums in the United States of America and is located in one of two national parks in the state of Iowa. In 2006, West Branch received designation as A Main Street Iowa community.

From West Branch it is about an hour's drive to the day's end point in Davenport on the Mississippi on the border with Illinois.

Davenport is the unique city center for arts and culture. With many great restaurants, breweries, live music, baseball, ice skating, galleries and much more. Downtown Davenport features a variety of music and entertainment venues and is a hub for live music, concerts and entertainment.

A few local favorites to attend a concert are the Raccoon Motel and Redstone Room. Larger shows such as Broadway favorites and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra (one of the nation's longest continuously operating orchestras) are staged at the Adler Theater. Additionally, fans of the performing arts can catch a show at Mockingbird on Main, a creator-driven arts incubator.

Downtown Davenport is home to a vibrant arts and culture scene. There are also several museums, such as;
• The Figge Art Museum, a premier art exhibition and education facility, showcases national and international art from the 15th century to the present.
• The German American Heritage Center & Museum chronicles and preserves the history of German Americans in the Midwest region and offers historical and architectural walking tours of Davenport.
• Bix Tussenbecke Museum and Archives is the newest museum in downtown Davenport and a must-stop for jazz and history enthusiasts

Enjoy your stay in Davenport!