Enjoying Iowa!

Iowa was the first state that we were able to travel to while studying about it. My Grandma lives in Iowa as well as many friends and it was time to make a trip down there to visit so we went. Ken had business classes to attend in the cities so we dropped him off on the way but my sister Keren came with me to keep us company and help me drive. We had a good time and we had fun learning.

First some facts:

• Iowa became a state on December 28, 1846 becoming the 29th state.
• The capital is Des Moines.
• The state flower is the Wild Rose.
• The state bird is the American (or Eastern) Goldfinch.
• The state tree is the Oak.Iowa is a state with rich farmland. More than nine out of every ten acres in Iowa are used for agriculture. Iowa has long, warm (may I say hot and humid) summer days, lots of rain and winters that preserve plant nutrients which makes Iowa croplands the envy of other states. Iowa produces more corn, soybeans, hogs and eggs than any other state.As we were traveling we kept our eye out for roadside corn stands. We were able to find one very close to Grandma's and they were a good deal too. This was our first corn on the cob of the summer as I had been waiting to buy local corn. This place was a self serve stand. I am always impressed to see trusting people.
  

We had fun seeing all the wind turbines as we were driving through Northern Iowa. Aaron thought they were the most memorable thing to learn about in Iowa.

We drove by the hospital in Ottumwa, IA as Mara wanted to see where she was born. Ken and I went to Bible college in Ottumwa and we married and had Mara while we were still there.

I also had fun visiting the florist shop where I used to work. It was fun to see some old friends there and at church.

The kids had fun playing on the hay bales near Grandmas. Her house is in the middle of a bunch of fields.

Iowa makes me think of fruit too. Grandma has apple and peach trees that produce wonderfully. She used to bring us a bunch of cherries too!
We were blessed that is wasn't terribly hot and sticky while we were there. We really enjoyed spending time outside. It isn't always comfortable weather however, I remember being very largely pregnant with Mara and it being 114 degrees and very humid and no air conditioning in our apartment! On the other end of the scale winters our cool. We enjoyed some good snow storms and quite a few ice storms. The ice storms were what this MN girl had to get used too.

At a gift shop in an Iowa welcome center Megan admired a stuffed pig and cow, animals that there are a lot of in Iowa.

There is a lot more I could say about Iowa but it is getting late.