{"id":1744,"date":"2009-08-07T23:13:58","date_gmt":"2009-08-07T23:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/?p=1744"},"modified":"2017-09-04T01:36:45","modified_gmt":"2017-09-04T01:36:45","slug":"american-road-trip-1-iowa-to-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/american-road-trip-1-iowa-to-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"American Road Trip 1: Iowa to Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day Sixteen: Iowa to Michigan<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Before leaving Iowa, I had two important stops. The first was at Cedar Rock, a Frank Lloyd house that he imagined was a modest suburban home. I knew a little about Wright’s style and personality, but I had no idea how particular he was to the homes he designed, and what a fixture he became in the lives of people who lived in his homes. I asked the guide if Wright knew Ayn Rand, whose\u00a0Fountainhead<\/em>\u00a0character Howard Roarke is so similar. He didn’t know, but later checking proves she did. While Rand may have had the inspiration for Roarke earlier than her impressions of Wright, it seems outrageous coincidence that she did not refine her character based upon his work.<\/p>\n

Here’s what I mean. At Cedar Rock, Wright designed the home, furnished and decorated it, and then had a few more conditions. 1) The Larson family could move in with nothing but their clothing. No new furnishings or knick-knacks could be used; 2) A housewarming gift of a pitcher and cups, because they did not fit Wright’s style, had to be removed; 3) No garage or attic or basement would be designed, because these represented clutter, and no family in Wright’s home would live in clutter; 4) The chimneys would not draw air because they were too low, but Wright would not redesign them because that would ruin the line of the house; 5) Items in the house had a particular place; if Wright visited the home and found one out of place, the owner was chastised; 6) Wright\u00a0produced two front doors with a wall-corridor between them in order to make the home seem unwelcoming to strangers. Not ridiculous enough? When they moved in, the Larsons found that the master bedroom had two separate beds; when she asked him, Wright told Mrs. Larson, “You will both appreciate having your own bed to sleep in more comfort.”<\/p>\n

Even with all this, the home was beautiful. The choices he made in creating horizontal line, creating corner windows, allowing nature to grow through the foundation of the home, how furniture would unfold into the room, the use of natural light, were all amazing ideas. Landscaping, room names, and redefining social spaces (i.e. dark entryways to discourage hanging around near doors), were intriguing. Homes and owners that lived up to his ideals received his signature tile of approval.<\/p>\n

Rand’s Howard Roarke differs from Wright only in that he would never ask for money for his ideas, as Wright often was compelled to do. Roarke would design a building and not care if no one lived in it, so long as his personal aesthetic was never violated (when one owner does change his building, Roarke blows it up). But Roarke was truly flawless, marrying aesthetic to engineering. Wright seems to have had trouble keeping the engineering part in focus (poor heat, roofs which leaked, etc.). Oak Park, IL, has many Wright homes, but this seemed a much easier and more intimate stop on the Wright parade.<\/p>\n

Only a few miles down the road is the movie set for Costner’s\u00a0Field of Dreams<\/em>. Why not? The best part of re-discovering this beautiful farmhouse in the middle of Iowa’s cornfields was not the nostalgia of the film, and certainly not the souvenir stand which sold everything from\u00a0Field of Dreams<\/em>\u00a0baseball bats to\u00a0Field of Dreams<\/em>\u00a0ice cream cones. It was the twenty or so people playing baseball on the field. The rules are simple: anyone can play at any time. And the spirit of that was there, with a four year old girl batting, with adults trading sides as the pseudo-game progressed. They just played.<\/p>\n

But after that, I was anxious. Looking at the clock, I couldn’t help estimate that I would hit Chicago right around rush hour. Sure enough, I hit the north side at 4:00 pm and the turnpike by 4:30. Never mind that I spent 20 minutes at one of four toll booths, by the time that I cleared Chicago and made it into Indiana, it was 7:00 pm (8:00 EST). Now, weary with the madness of tons of steel jostling for positions for three hours, I had to decide to hold up for the night or press on. A quick stop at the Michigan Welcome Center and a meal made up my mind. Time to bring it home.<\/p>\n

I pulled into my driveway at exactly 1:00 am and exactly 5600 miles on my odometer since July 21 when I left, American Road Trip concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day Sixteen: Iowa to Michigan Before leaving Iowa, I had two important stops. The first was at Cedar Rock, a Frank Lloyd house that he imagined was a modest suburban home. I knew a little about Wright’s style and personality, but I had no idea how particular he was to the homes he designed, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247,309,304],"tags":[325,633,636,634,631,630,718,413,578,635,579,632],"class_list":["post-1744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chizblog","category-literary-criticism","category-travel","tag-america","tag-ayn-rand","tag-field-of-dreams","tag-fountainhead","tag-illnois","tag-iowa","tag-literary","tag-michigan","tag-road-trip","tag-roarke","tag-usa","tag-wright"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/080809_0335_AmericanRoa1.jpg?fit=319%2C209&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1742,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/american-road-trip-1-south-dakota-to-iowa\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":0},"title":"American Road Trip 1: South Dakota to Iowa","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2009 Aug 6","format":false,"excerpt":"Day Fourteen: The Badlands to the Middle of Nowhere [Obviously, finding an internet location today was difficult, so I am behind in uploading my updates!] The storm over South Dakota's badlands was serious enough for a few to lose their tents. Mine held and I slept soundly! My early morning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/080609_0251_AmericanRoa5.jpg?fit=485%2C313&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1629,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/accepting-responsibility\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":1},"title":"Accepting Responsibility","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2008 Jun 1","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent most of Saturday watching the Democratic National Committee Rules Committee debate the fate of Michigan and Florida\u2019s democratic primary delegates.\u00a0\u00a0I know, I know\u2014for many of us, watching my toenails grow may have been more entertaining. Nevertheless, I am fascinated by election processes.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m proud of the RO Model UN\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/votes.jpg?fit=448%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1768,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/on-james-berlin\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":2},"title":"On James Berlin, Yahoo News, and the War on Christmas","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2010 Dec 19","format":false,"excerpt":"I still remember my direct encounter with Neo-Marxist philosopher and rhetorician James Berlin (1942-1994) during a presentation I made at the Michigan College English Association conference. I was horrified and embarrassed at the time because, an honoree at the conference, he sat down in the front row of my presentation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/berlin-christmas.jpg?fit=452%2C301&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1730,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/american-road-trip-1-porcupine-mtns-to-north-dakota\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":3},"title":"American Road Trip 1 : Porcupine Mtns to North Dakota","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2009 Jul 26","format":false,"excerpt":"Day Three: Porcupine Mountains to Chippewa Nat'l Forest Early morning is probably the best time to visit the three falls along the river here. Again, eerily, no one is on these trails\u2014outside of the occasional wooden post suggesting a marker, I can easily imagine these as they have always been.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/072609_0500_AmericanRoa2.jpg?fit=377%2C257&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1728,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/american-road-trip-1-grass-lake-to-the-porcupines\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":4},"title":"American Road Trip 1: Grass Lake to the Porcupines","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2009 Jul 24","format":false,"excerpt":"Day One: Grass Lake to Hiawatha Driving north through Michigan's lower peninsula is largely routine for too many of us trolls (what the Yoopers call residents of the lower state). The occasional construction zone, the intermittent shower which grays out the windshield, the Winnebago which won't do more than 45\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/072609_0500_AmericanRoa1.jpg?fit=323%2C217&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1706,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/american-road-trip-2-indiana-and-illinois\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":5},"title":"American Road Trip 2: Indiana and Illinois","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2012 Jul 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Nothing necessarily insightful about these next few posts, but more an account of some of the highlights of my second American Road Trip. 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