More Iowa Moments

I know you all are dying to know about Iowa.
I mean, come on, isn't it one of the most popular destinations for traveling Americans?
Well, I'm here as a firsthand witness to tell you that it should be.
Why? Because it is a true American city-- full of surprises, funny stories and a small town feeling.
Some examples:

Our first night at the hotel, we pulled our suitcases to the doorway at the La Quinta Inn to discover that we were not alone in our discovery of Davenport, Iowa. We were preempted by the dog show that was apparently going on the next day... Our greeters were 4 poodles with ponytails.

Another shared Midwest experience-- traffic in Chicago.
One wrong turn after a delicious pizza meal and it took us an hour to go 7 miles. Then once we were finally on the right highway, it was 20 miles an hour all the way outside the city limits. A less than 3 hour trip took us 5.5 :) But at least we were full on stuffed deepest dish Chicago pizza.

Did I tell you that we visited a children's paradise? We also got a private ride on a locomotive... at least a gas powered one. And it goes FAST. I probably would have done it ten times. Not kidding.
It was on the property of Travis' aunt's parents home. They have a castle, a bus with a slide, a pond, swings, dogs, a summer cottage ...and did I mention the train??
Apparently that same family has a summer home called Lansing that overlooks the Mississippi River and houses 25... another stop on the future cross country trip with children.

The best local food, since I know some of you want to know, was the kettlecorn. We didn't venture too far into local culture, because we feasted on delicious kabobs at the relatives one night and another we hit up Applebee's. We did Starbucks, but Iowa was not lacking in coffee culture. There were several unique coffee bars and shops along mainstreets-- we ate at one in downtown Davenport that had a very good homemade Potato and Leek Soup and flavored coffee with live music. Who can turn that down? I just wished we could have nosed around longer in Iowa. Guess that means I'll have to go back. Who would have known the adventures that marrying a Shank would lead me on?