On to Iowa

The nasty temperatures have returned to the "normal 80s" for now. I suffered some form of heat stroke yesterday and spent the night chugging water and Gatorade - doing as little as possible.

The next state to travel through this weekend is the wonderful state of Iowa. There is an unwritten rule about Iowa that I think most of us live by - you can only make fun of Iowa if you lived there. If you make fun of it just because you think you're cool, it's not funny and we get really defensive. At least that's me anyways....

Iowa was the 29th state admitted to the Union, it's the 26th largest state by area, and 30th largest state by population. The name Iowa is from the Native American Iowa tribe. You can probably see them at the Mesquakie Bingo and Casino in Tama. Is that place open again? The Capital is Des Moines, largest city is Des Moines - there are 99 counties in Iowa.... each one listed on a license plate from that state. The east border of Iowa is the Mississippi River and the West border of Iowa is the Missouri River... most of it. There's a small chunk North of Sewer Chitty that isn't river. Despite what my mother says.... Iowa is flat and boring to look at when you drive through it. That's my opinion but I doubt I'd have trouble finding people to agree with me. Most of the states this week won't be much better.

Joliet and Marquette are believed to be the first Europeans to visit Iowa. They described it as "flat and boring to paddle a canoe through". Hmmm..... Iowa also had a higher percentage of soldiers serve in the US Civil war per capita than any other state in the Union. Iowa has a discount on ethanol gasoline so we make sure we fill up before we leave the state and go into the overpriced Illinois on our way East. Iowa also has the 3rd largest wind power economy, after California and Texas... interesting.

Iowa is 92.6% white - mostly of Northern European origin - heavy on the Germans. Females made up almost 51% of the population (YEAH!!). Iowa is 50% Protestant, 23% Roman Catholic, and the rest "other".

More Facts:

• Iowa holds the first presidential caucus every 4 years.
• Des Moines has more people in the Metro area (522,000+) than the entire state of Wyoming!
• Iowa historically places in the top 5 for state rankings on the ACT and SAT scores.
  
• There are three main Universities in Iowa.... Iowa State University in Ames (THE CYCLONES), Northern Iowa University in Cedar Falls (The Panthers) and The University of Iowa in Iowa City (The Squawkeyes).
  
• Most of the people I know have lived in Iowa, or make fun of me for being from Iowa
• I was not born in Iowa
• There are no Major League Professional Sports Teams in Iowa to note.
• Famous people from Iowa include Johnny Carson, Tom Arnold, Buffalo Bill (not the dude from Silence of the Lambs), Herbert Hoover, Ashton Kutcher, Donna Reed, Grant Wood, the Wright Brothers, Elijah Wood, John Wayne....
• Wheeler is from Davenport.... he wanted me to give props to D-port!

State Nickname: The Cyclone State (it's my blog)
State Bird: Eastern Goldfinch
State Flower: Wild Rose
State Tree: The Mighty Oak
State Rock: Geode
State Insect: Honey Bee

From Minnesota, we drive down Highway 63 to Waterloo area, with a sneaky bypass to I-380. Take that to Marion to the home of Mom and Pops. Friday morning we take yet another sneaky bypass to I-80 east of Iowa City and drive East till we get to Illinois.

Song of the Day - The Interstate 80 Iowa song!!! It is pretty accurate and pretty funny. Apologies to Wyatt that I know was hoping that the song of the day would be Bryan Adams and Summer of '69.

Video of the Day - Many movies were filmed in Iowa believe it or not... ones that you've probably seen even! Field of Dreams of course, Bridges of Madison County (no, I've never seen it.. but been in a wedding in Madison County), Twister, Michael, Children of the Corn, The Puppet Masters, Starman, Terms of Endearment. There ya go - I'm sure you've all seen at least one of those.

Webpage of the Day - Still one of my favorite articles about Iowa.... Something not right with this image.