I-35 Rest Area 39

Stop at a rest area once, shame on you. Stop at the same rest area twice, shame on me. Stop at the same rest area every single time you drive on I-​35, shame on us all. Why can’t I quit you I-​35 Rest Area 39? I’ve tried to avoid you but something about crossing into Iowa from Minnesota or anticipating an imminent border cross from Iowa to Minnesota sets my bladder to shrieking. It’s like you read my mind. Just when I think, «I could probably pee,» your sign appears. «Modern Rest Area– 5 miles.» Well Christ, you know I can’t resist modernity! Every time I imagine what sparkling bastion of progress awaits me as I take the exit for Modern Rest Area only to discover it’s you again, I-​35 Rest Area 39. The same red barn motif, the same vending machines, the same view of the casino across the way. Like Kevin Costner before you, your Iowa is truly a Field Of Dreams. You have built it, I have come.
Now when I drive down I-​35 I keep my eyes peeled for a newer, better place to stop. A Post-​Modern Rest Area.

Driving through Iowa is like working in an empty cube with nothing on the walls. Super boring, not much to look at, and every now and then you get up to go to the bathroom just to spice things up.
That being said, this place is the spice of Iowa (black pepper), at least for those just passing through. When they built this thing they could have just built a boring old building, but they decided to make a giant barn instead and I applaud their effort.
Restrooms are clean enough, there’s a lawn for pets, and it has modern amenities (vending machines, etc.).
This place is great for a restroom pitstop that doesn’t make you feel obligated to buy something.

The Northwood Rest Area, located just off I-​35 at mile marker 214, is just south of the Minnesota border. It is a large rest area that services both north and southbound traffic on I-​35.
The rest area has a theme, it celebrates Iowa’s farming heritage and the main building was built to resemble a large, red barn. Mason City is not too far away, the home town of Meredith Wilson, best known for The Music Man, and a display honors «River City» along with the flim-​flam man we’ve all come to love. The area is surrounded by picnic tables, some are sheltered.
The area is ADA compliant and has rest room facilities. It also has phone, TDD, a weather monitor, vending, WiFi, an RV dump station.
There is a welcome center that is staffed year round (during normal business hours, of course) on a mezzanine. The mezzanine also hosts a coffee shop and seating that overlooks the main floor.
Whether you are just arriving in Iowa from Minnesota or you are about to leave Iowa from the south, this is a comfortable place to stop, relax and refresh before getting back out on the Interstate.