DONDINO TOURS IOWA

I O W A

Looking for a vacation that you and your family will remember for the rest of your lives? Don't want to spend half your time trying to calculate Euros or pesos into dollars and the other half asking for directions and wishing you'd stayed awake more often in your high school Spanish class? Want something as American as..well..corn on the cob?

Then look to the heartland of America...look to Iowa.But, first things first. Let's dispense with the obvious. In the summer there's a lot of corn- over 14 million acres of the golden-tasseled stuff, which translates into nearly 2.5 billion bushels. End of the Iowa story, right?

Wrong. That's the Iowa that most Americans think they know. Only there's so much more. There are crystal clear rivers, limestone cliffs, wooded hills, prairies, rocky ravines, pristine lakes, historic trails, and wildlife refuges. There are picture postcard towns, diverse cultures, and an endless array of events and attractions.

So where do we begin? Bring your camera and let's get started. Perhaps you still remember a thin little book about covered bridges, star-crossed lovers, and Madison County. The book some people (not you, of course) read three times, crying even harder with each successive reading, then later dragged their husbands along when the movie came out and those husbands (not yours, of course) claimed they had something in their eyes that was making them water. Those bridges-only you won't just find them in Madison County-they almost traverse the entire alphabet of Iowa counties, starting in Bremer and ending in Webster.

Along the way on your leisurely journey, stop in Audubon to see Albert, the world's largest bull (weighing in at 45 tons), in Brandon for the largest frying pan, in Centerville for the world's largest town square, and in Burlington for the world's crookedest street. At the opposite end of the spectrum lies the world's tiniest church in festina. Of course, if your family is too large, you'll have to enter in shifts since the church only has room for eight.

Want a touch of history? Celebrity? Mystery? Then make time to reminisce about "the day the music died" in Clear Lake, the site of the crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper.

Or play catch on the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, see where Captain James T. Kirk will be born on March 22, 2223 in Riverside, explore the Herbert Hoover Presidential museum, and the home in Winterset where Marion Michael Morrison was born.

Don't remember Marion Morrison? The folks in Winterset sure do. Maybe you know him by another name...John Wayne.

After the old-fashioned county fairs, world-class museums, exhilarating amusement parks, and award-winning wineries, there's one last stop to make-the nationally acclaimed Prairie Meadows Racetrack, Casino, and Events Center.

Relax under the stars and watch one of their free summer concerts, whose past acts have included a range of performers from Pat Benatar to Neil Sedaka to Randy Travis. Or perhaps you are looking for a touch of Vegas.

From turn-of-the-century covered bridges to top-of-the-line entertainment, Iowa provides something for everyone. It is a world where the past, present, and future intertwine to create irreplaceable moments and memories in the lives of all who experience what it has to offer.