Fraser Calling

 Took a little spin down to the town of Fraser on Sunday, just to see the sights. This is a true river town if there ever was one. I can barely imagine how it would have been to show up in Fraser back in its hay day. A skinny guy on a bike? Amid the river folks, the coal miners, the hillbillys and valley dwellers? At one time this was a very busy place. There were more black people here, per capita, then anywhere else west of the Mississippi. Mostly a coal mining town, but paddlewheel river boats did travel the river between Des Moines and Ft. Dodge, and so the crew and passengers would be varied and wild I'm sure. Not sure it's the best calling card ever, but a B Level road that is also a dead end, as one of the ways into town, is probably a good indicator? that trouble can be found. The natural spring at the edge of town has saved me several times on some hot summer rides. People come from miles around to fill containers with this water. There is nothing left to indicate that it ever existed, but there was also a huge, coal fired power plant down there too. The smoke stack was probably 200 feet tall! Lots of history down in that neck of the woods! Do yourself a favor and go to YouTube, search "Dwindling Giant Fraser Iowa" and watch the whole thing. Fascinating to say the least.

This road was formerly a rail road line, leaving a little village called Incline.

This stretch of blacktop was featured in the 1996 movie "Twister" A tanker truck drops out of the tornado here. There is a farm right behind this spot that was also featured, and not to mention "TWISTER HILL!"

It says, "Freshness never expires"