Because driving through IOWA deserves its own blog post….

Driving through western Illinois and Iowa was quite the experience. We saw many things including President Ulysses S. Grant’s home in Galena, IL. Just outside of Galena we saw a hilarious advertisement for a local store. The store name was “Poopsies” and just above the directions was the saying “Where the hell did you find that?” haha We also entered into a town by the name of Lena. Lena is a great town with large signs saying, “Welcome to Lena,” and “Visit Lena ” (we followed the sign but couldn’t find you Lena, where were you? Haha (for non-family readers, Lena is Ryan’s wife). There really isn’t too much to western Illinois and Iowa. There are rolling hills and incredible views. As Ryan and I came over one of the ridges we could see for miles. My favorite quote of the evening was “Wow Ryan, look at that view.” Without hesitation Ryan responded, “Whoa, man that’s a lot of corn!” We then attempted to name all of the foods and products that are made out of corn….After about four hours of driving we reached our break point, Dyersville, IA. I have to credit Meredith Cooney with mentioning this to me my freshman year of college, but Dyersville, IA is the home of the Field of Dreams. Yes, the actual farm and field where Kevin Kosner filmed his movie. We drove along the exact road that you see at the end with all of the cars lining up to visit the farm (guaranteed all of those cars were the locals). As you approach the farm you see the small white house and then just to the left is the field. We arrived at the farm around 8pm as the sun was setting. It was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful sites I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing. However, we arrived only to see closed gates and their hours of operation, but that wasn’t going to stop us! We quickly hopped the gate and got onto the field. Appropriately, they leave a few gloves and baseballs on the field at all times, in case shoeless Joe wants to play catch. I got behind the plate, and viewed the field from the catcher’s position. I miss baseball, but just like Archie Graham it’s my turn to be a doctor. After being on the infield, it was time to get out into the outfield. Ryan and I each took turns walking into the corn. It’s actually a pretty eerie experience, especially at dusk. An interesting note, while the infield is a 90ft diamond, the outfield is very short-maybe 275. As we left the field Ryan said the following, “Dyersville, these people are in “Dyer” need of something to do.” Yahaha After that it was 4 ½ hours to Sioux City, IA where we spent the night along the Missouri (or the Mizzzurrruhh as Ryan calls it) River. Thanks for the hotel mom!