Iowa

Iowa is beautiful. I am learning some about the history of the state. I still have lots to learn, of course. Things are very wide open here. And flat! Every once in a while, we come across some rolling hills, but for the most part, it is pretty flat.

The town we are in, Ames, is really nice! The University of Iowa is here. It was built in the 1800s! Agriculture is a huge field of study for this school. There is also a college of veterinary medicine at ISU. The school mascot is the Cyclone. I will never forget my beloved Dawgs, though. Ames is so SQUARE! Most of the streets run parallel or perpendicular to each other. Literally three lefts make a right. You are always headed directly in one of the compass directions when driving around here. Not like in the south where you are headed north, turn right one time and are suddenly headed south!

There is corn EVERYWHERE around here! I keep teasing Chris telling him to stop on the side of the road so I can run over and pick some real quick. There are stands on street corners where you can get fresh corn all week. On certain days, there are Farmer's markets where one can get all kinds of fresh vegetables. I found a couple of places that let you pick your own vegetables and fruit. I LOVE doing that! The only thing better would be having my own vegetable garden!

The weather here has been VERY unpredictable! For the most part, we have been having some mild days. However, our first two nights, we were welcomed with hail storms. We have had a couple of days every week that have been in the 90's, then thunderstorms blow through, cool it off a bit, and we have mild again. Tonight, when Chris and I walked, it was 86 degrees, but the heat index made it feel like 101! So, we have storms moving in tonight. Hopefully, we won't have to go without power for 41 hours again!