Iowa

Corn. That is all.

I actually had a great time in Iowa. I got to visit a friend that I haven’t seen in a long time. And I finally got to meet the man that stole her heart. And I approve. Not that it matters.

The thing I liked about driving through Iowa (other than the scenery of endless corn) was the billboards. They were placed in the fields, a good 200 yards or so away from the road.

Once at my friend, Kelly’s, we started talking about what to do. I mentioned going on a hike. It turned out to be a beautiful hike, but a very humid one. And me being the thinker, wore jeans. I guess I was excited to go, too excited. It was a lovely humid hike through the woods though. A good change of scenery from the corn.

I had the most delicious Taco in Ankeny. A place called Tasty Taco. I can tell you that the name is in no way deceiving. Now that I think about it, the place we had dinner was quite good too. The Machine Shed. An old barn in Des Moines turned into a restaurant. Our waiter looked like he just out off the farm. And the chicken pot pie was delish! Good food, good people, what else would you need? The only think I feel like I should have done in Iowa is try the corn. Maybe next time.

Driving out of Iowa was more of the same. There were a lot of windmills along the way. Never will I call them eyesores again. The windmill farms had a sort of charm about them. Seeing a blade on back of a truck really put into perspective just how big they really are. Just beautiful.

Attempting to get out of Iowa quickly (don’t know why because South Dakota is just more of the same), a museum sign caught my eye that I wanted to see. I figured it would be a nice break. Filled up on gas… oh yeah, gas. I feel cheated. I drove into the gas station thinking that it was an awesome deal. $3.65/gallon for Plus. Woo! No, not “Woo!” Apparently, the regular was ten cents more. This is because it did not contain ethanol in it. If I got the same gas mileage out of ethanol, I’d be all for it. But I don’t. And I’ll be anyone it took more energy and petroleum to produce this ethanol than I would be spending in my car. Anyway…

I asked the lady behind the counter how to get to the museum. It was flooded, so the museum was closed. Seeing the disappointed look on my face, she suggested driving in that direction anyway to see the floods, and if there was time, to check out the 1800’s museum by the visitor’s center heading in the other direction.

The floods were a sight to see. It amazed me how certain parts of the country are fighting for water and here they were running from it. How sometimes rain can be a curse instead of a blessing. Little stuff that put things into perspective for me.

The 1800’s museum at the visitor center was awesome. Maybe I just love old things and would like to see what life would have been like back then. Perhaps simpler in ways, and more complex in others. Things I ponder as I drive into the sunset.

07/24/11-07/25/11