Make the U-turn

u-turn sign

My new mantra is "Make the u-turn." So many times when we are driving down the road or on a trip we pass something interesting, and comment that we should have stopped to check it out. Now that we are both pretty much retired, I told my husband that if we see something we are going to do a u-turn and head back to it. We are going to "make the u-turn."

We had an opportunity to put it into practice earlier this month as we were driving home from Charles City, Iowa. Just a few miles outside of town is the childhood home of Carrie Lane Chapman Catt, a women's suffrage leader who campaigned for women to have the right to vote, and founder of the League of Women Voters. For as many years as we have been traveling from our home in St. Louis to Charles City, we have never stopped.

Well, last Monday after we passed the sign for the turnoff, we decided to make the u-turn. I am so happy that we did. What a great visitor's center they have, and our docent was exceptional as she walked us through the house and the restored prairie behind it. An added bonus for me was the barn quilt on the barn. I almost always make a u-turn for one of those!

There is no entrance charge, though donations are appreciated. If you find yourself in northeastern Iowa, I highly recommend a stop here. You can learn more about Catt and the home at this website.

Carrie Lane Chapman Catt childhood home