Cedar Falls July-2022

Cedar Falls was our destination for today. We planned a full day of activities.

Our first stop was Iowa Falls to get some breakfast. It was right on the way. We got a good look again at the Iowa River that runs through the middle of town. It looked shallow with a few dams-not our style for paddling. We decided on The Red Rooster Grill for breakfast. We had a great meal and chatted with some of the locals. If you are looking for a small restaurant with a hometown feel, this is the place. Just be aware the hours are 6:00-1:00 PM and they only take cash.

We still had over an hour drive to Cedar Falls, so we did the only logical thing-we once again went to Coffee Attic & Book Cellar just down the street in Iowa Falls.

As we pulled into Cedar Falls, we did a very tourist thing: we went to the Cedar Falls Visitors Center. It’s actually a pretty nice place. The staff was very helpful with suggestions of places to visit. We got the requisite tour map and headed into town.

There are several small lakes in the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area, plus the Cedar River. We chose to head to George Wyth State Park. It’s technically in Waterloo but who’s keeping track? The George Wyth Lake had fairly easy access so we chose it first. We paddled around the shoreline of the lake in about 40 minutes. We then thought about heading over to the adjacent Brinker Lake but looking at the time opted to go to the next activity on the list.

The Big Lake Loop Bike trail was the next stop. We parked in a lot on the edge of the downtown area and set out on the trail. The trail meandered north until we looped around Big Woods Lake. We circled around and returned to the car, then looped south for a mile or so before returning to the van. The big Lake Loop was a very nice trail, well maintained and well traveled (10 miles). We did not have time to go on the Cedar Valley Lakes Trail (11 Miles)-we’ll save that for next time.

Once back to the van, realized that we were very close to a Hurts Donut Shop. Well we couldn’t pass that up so walked over and took a look. Huge donuts and pastries! I bought a ridiculously large apple fritter and Mary ordered a filled bismark. We didn’t finish either one so we got a carry-out container the size of a small pizza box.

We had to check out some pickleball courts. We found some courts at Orchard Hills Park. Really nice courts. And the town has an active club, the Cedar Falls Pickleball Club.

We played for a short time until Mary scraped her knee on the new high-traction surface. Without a bandage, we didn’t want to ruin the new surface, so we packed it in.

Then a quick search of coffee shops came up with Side Car Coffee. We had a good cup of coffee. Side Car is locally owned and has four locations in the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area. Check them out!

We circled back to the Cedar Falls Welcome Center and picked up a hat and a coffee mug-a sign we’d had a good time. After all, nobody buys a souvenir if they didn’t have fun.

We headed south just a few miles to visit my old ‘home town’ of Hudson IA. I lived there while I was in the first and second grade. Although the town has obviously grown over the last 60 years, there were still some familiar landmarks. The water tower in the city park, Randalls Grocery store, and the grade school was right where I remembered it being. However, the church I attended was 100′ farther north than I recalled. Turns out they built a new building sometime in the 1970s. We drove around a little while then headed west back towards home.

Once again, we went to Pickles Pub in Kamrar, IA for supper. We ordered a loaded pizza and couldn’t finish half of it. Click on the link to read our experiences at the restaurant.