Since everyone was beginning their back to school routines, I decided to take a solo road trip to Iowa to visit family. I should have posted along the way but I didn't so this might get long. Tuesday, August 4, I left Round Rock and drove as far as Wichita, Kansas. Here are the sights from day 1-Keeper of the Plains and a couple sculptures.
Day 2 I stopped in Emporia, Kansas at the Memorial for Fallen Educators. On the walls, the names of educators, states, and years in which they died were listed. On the ground in front of the walls were the teacher organizations from all 50 states and some other quotes.
Once I arrived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, I checked in with family and spent time catching up. One day I drove to Sioux City, Iowa to see the Trinity Heights Gardens. There are tons of religious sculptures, places for prayer or quiet contemplation, an opportunity participate in the Stations of the Cross and many more lovely places. There is a 20 foot high Mary and a Jesus that stands 30 feet high. They also had on display a life size wooden last supper. It was so cool. Here are a few of my favorites.
When I left Council Bluffs headed east to the other side of Iowa, to visit family, I stopped in Madrid to see the high trestle hike and bike bridge across the Des Moines river. Then in Des Moines, I checked out the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park and made a quick stop in Winterset to see the birthplace of John Wayne.
I stayed with my aunt and uncle a couple days and before heading to my dad's, I backtracked a bit to a sunflower field and an antique store. Along the way I also saw the American Gothic painted barn. While in the antiques store , people were talking about a bad storm headed towards us so I quickly left and got on the road. I was trying hard to keep ahead of the storm. Here is a picture of the sky behind me. As I made the last main turn towards my dad, the storm caught up with me but that story deserves it's own post. Watch for it!
One of the things I did while in eastern Iowa was visit the German American Heritage Museum in Davenport. It had lots of interesting information about the Germans who settled in Scott County, Iowa.
The night before I left to head home to Texas, we went to my favorite ice cream place.
On my drive home, I stopped in Riverside Iowa, the future birthplace of James T Kirk, and Eldon, Iowa to see the original American Gothic home.
I love road trips and every now and then I love a good solo trip. Watch for my story about the storm I tried to out run while headed to my dad's house. Coming soon!
