GADT Day 3 - Rainy Days and Tuesdays

The day started out with the promise of rain showers all day and delivered on that promise before we could even finish our breakfast. We headed west across Iowa under gray skies and drove through alternately light and heavy showers all morning long. Rather than stop for lunch, mom wanted to stop somewhere to get some fruit and maybe a heavier jacket than the one she'd brought with her.

We were able to accomplish both when I found a Super Target near Des Moines, IA. We don't have these in Maryland yet, so it was interesting just to see Target's answer to the Wal-Mart all in one stores. We got some bananas, dried fruit, and yogurt drinks before heading over to the other side of the store to look at jackets. Someone needs to explain to the garment workers in Vietnam that XXL is supposed to be larger than XL not smaller. In spite of the sizing confusion, mom found herself a very nice jacket that fit and was even on sale.

I spent most of the day playing with the GPS on the Prius, finding new ways to display the maps and POIs that I hadn't had time to figure out before. Meanwhile mom studied her map book. There just wasn't much to see outside the windows except rain and corn. One thing I did notice is that the 21st century is coming to the corn belt as witnessed by free wifi at all the rest stops in Iowa. Now who would have guessed that?

The western border of Iowa is defined by a series of hills that were once wind blown sand dunes in the last ice age. Now known as the Loess Hills, they extend from Sioux City, IA down to St. Joesph, MO. They rise over sixty feet above the otherwise flat prairie, are about fifteen miles wide and run for over two hundred miles. Coming from the east the hills begin gradually, but along the western edge they drop off dramatically. As we were driving over this final hill we spotted a sign for a scenic overlook and decided to check it out.

By this time the rain clouds had been replaced by blue skies with thousands of puffy little clouds. The overlook consisted of a small concrete building and a tall wooden tower. I managed to climb all but the last level of the tower before the high winds spooked me, but the view was still amazing. You could easily see twenty miles in any direction and the scenery was awe inspiring.

When I finally caved into mom's insistent cries for me to come down, we walked over to the small building to use the facilities. While we were standing there a man in a dark sweatshirt came out and gave me a pamphlet about the Loess Hills. He seemed to be a fountain of facts about them too. We talked with him for twenty minutes before we realized that under the sweatshirt he was wearing a uniform and that he was in fact the caretaker for the park. Bernie Lee is one of two men who come up to the overlook every day and tend to visitor's needs.

We told him where we were coming from and where we were going to. He told us more about the Loess Hills and the valley beyond. He told us about the birds that used to nest at the top of the tower and how they ran them off only to have the birds replaced by wasps. (I was then glad I didn't go all the way to the top level!) At one point he went to his car and gave us an autographed copy of his wife's book.

"Tales of Tails" is a small book of true anecdotes about people's pets and other animals they've met. Compiled by AnnJeanette Lee, the book is filled with charming illustrations by Eldon Riesgaard and no single story is more than a few pages long. Mom started reading a few of the stories aloud in the car and we were entertained by them for hours. I would recommend the book to anyone with small children, but grown-ups will certainly enjoy it too.

We ended our journey today in Mitchell, SD, home of the world's one and only Corn Palace. I have no real idea what this is, but mom's been wanting to find out for five years ever since she and a friend came here only to find the place closed. We also got here too late to see the Palace today as well, but decided to spend the night and go find out what it's all about first thing in the morning.

Day 3 mileage: 532