Iowa Girl on the Go

Ames was abuzz yesterday with its Lucky Star Market, a seasonal “pop-up” market at Prairie Moon Winery, featuring nearly 40 creative crafters, artists, and collectors.

The event was promoted as sort of a “live Etsy” in which you can touch the items and meet their creators.

The event was open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and when I showed up at about 9:45, the parking lot was full and the place was packed, mostly with women shopping in groups. It was a lively, fun atmosphere despite the 5-degree morning.

Vendors offered hand-lettered signs, handcrafted pillows, scarves, jewelry, holiday ornaments, hand-made books, illustrated notecards, and a wide variety of vintage and repurposed items. It reminded me quite a bit of Market Day in downtown Des Moines.

I recognized two of the vendors: J.B. Knacker, a vintage shop in Gilbert that I wrote about back in 2011, and Lisa Orgler Designs. Lisa is on staff at Iowa State and she’s done some artwork for VISIONS magazine. I adore her illustrations, which she offers on note cards, postcards, and matted for framing (see the display above).

People seemed to be buying – Christmas is less than three weeks away, after all – so I hope the event was financially successful. (My shopping is already finished, more or less, so I admit that didn’t really do my part. All I bought was a burlap bird ornament for a tree I do not have. Sad, really.)

Future Lucky Star Markets are being planned for spring and fall 2014. You can follow the progress on Facebook.

This weekend seems to be the official holiday kick-off in central Iowa.  On Thursday night, Valley Junction celebrated Jingle in the Junction, and on Friday night East Village offered its Holiday Promenade. Both events featured horse-drawn rides, holiday lights, and visits with Santa. Downtown Ames celebrated a similar event on Friday.

I attended none of these. My excuses were many, mostly family commitments and distain for really wretched weather.

But Saturday morning my daughters, Katie and Lauren, and I headed for Des Moines to spend the weekend together and get a jump on the holidays by shopping and eating too much. We started out at the Winter Farmers’ Market at Capital Square (top). We bought our usual: cheese, bread, popcorn, dip and cheeseball mixes, pastries, and nuts. (“Farmers market” is a bit of a misnomer, but they did have a few vendors with produce, eggs, and meat.) We tasted fresh salsa, salivated over cinnamon rolls, and talked ourselves out of buying the vintage wool mittens above. I did buy a cute Christmas bracelet, though.

Having eaten our fill of breakfast pastries, we headed for Jordan Creek Mall. I promised to buy coats as pre-Christmas gifts for both girls, and I was looking forward to seeing the new Crate & Barrel pop-up store. We were successful at finding coats at Younkers; we browsed Crate & Barrel (kind of small and crowded, but fun) and Pottery Barn Kids (I love that store); and bought a few things at Forever 21 and Dry Goods. The mall is definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

By now it’s mid-afternoon and we’re hungry. So we head back downtown. Our destination: Zombie Burger in the East Village. This may be the most incredibly popular Des Moines restaurant that I’ve never been to. Three reasons: I’m not crazy about waiting for a table (and the place is always crazy-busy), I don’t like zombies, and I don’t eat burgers. But a quick peek at the menu online put my mind at ease that I wouldn’t go hungry, with lots of non-meat appetizers and sides – plus, any burger can be made with a veggie patty instead of meat.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, we figured we’d have the place to ourselves, but we still had a 45-minute wait. This is one popular place. We killed time reading the silly, zombie-pun-filled menu and taking pictures of the zombie art. Oh, and people-watching. It’s an interesting clientele.

When we finally got a table in the dining room, we ordered a basket of fries with dipping sauce and three zombie burgers: a “28 Days Later” veggie burger with blue cheese and caramelized onions, “Dawn of the Dead” with bacon and a fried egg, and the “Raygun” with Monterey jack cheese and guacamole but minus the fried jalapenos. And I got a shake with coffee and vanilla ice cream.

The menu is filled with odd-ball combinations like the “Trailer Trash Zombie” burger — with American cheese, fried pickle, chicken fried bacon, cheese curds, and ranch — the “Walking Ched” with a deep-fried macaroni-and-cheese bun, and the “They’re Coming the Get You Barbara” with two grilled cheese sandwiches as the bun. (Yuck.) The unique “brain-freeze” shakes come with or without booze, and some are topped with sugary breakfast cereals. The whole thing is a bit odd, but fun. (And I do appreciate the creativity.)

Stuffed, we did some shopping in East Village, poking around in Porchlight Antiques and Found Things. We would have shopped longer, but we were tired of walking outside in the cold so we checked into our hotel, the historic Hotel Fort Des Moines. At 10^th and Walnut, this is a great location, with Centro, Exile Brewing, Americana, Proof, the Gaslamp, the sculpture garden, etc. all within easy walking distance. Unfortunately, the temperature was hovering around 12 degrees and we were thoroughly cold. We rarely get to spend “girl time” together, so we didn’t mind hanging out in the room for awhile, just talking and laughing and sipping a little cocktail we’d brought along (I like to plan ahead).

Later, we ventured downstairs to Django, the French restaurant connected to the hotel (but a destination in itself). We were not terribly hungry from our earlier zombie meal, but we wanted a little something. We sat in the cozy dark-wood bar area and ordered two appetizers (a cheese plate and crab cakes) and more cocktails. It’s fun to have daughters old enough to share drinks with.

We slept well enough that night, even though the hotel reminded both girls of the Overlook Hotel from “The Shining” (“REDRUM!!!!!”)

This morning we had trouble deciding where to go for Sunday brunch. Would it be Americana Restaurant at 13^th and Locust? Centro? Back to Django?

We opted for Centro at 10^th and Locust, just a block from our hotel. The menu was perfect: mostly egg dishes, with yummy sides and South Union bread. I ordered the wild mushroom omelet with Centro potatoes and great coffee. Lauren had stuffed French toast, and Katie went for the fried egg sandwich. And then we ate off each other’s plates. It was a great ending to a fun weekend.

Iowa can be justifiably proud to be the home state of the late Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the World Food Prize. Borlaug’s legacy lives on in the annual international Borlaug Dialogue, laureate awards, youth programs, and much more — all held in Iowa.

The World Food Prize Foundation is physically located downtown Des Moines in the former Des Moines Public Library (following a recent $29.8 million facelift). The wonderfully restored building is open to the public for free tours on most Tuesdays and Saturdays. (Click here for specifics.) The facility is filled with educational exhibits and artwork paying tribute not just to Borlaug but to the World Food Prize Laureates and Iowa’s agricultural and humanitarian pioneers focused on the fight against global hunger.

If you haven’t visited before, now would be a great time to go. Beginning today, visitors can view the photography of Howard G. Buffett in an exhibition titled “40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World.” The exhibit features color photographs from all over the globe in categories such as portraits, agriculture, water, and social conflict. The photographs are a truly incredible body of work.

Buffett has photographed people — farmers in particular — in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, India, China, Bangladesh, Sudan, Ghana, Nepal, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Romania, and many other countries.

The photographer explains the show’s title in the foreword of the exhibit guide: “Each of us has about 40 chances to accomplish our goals in life. I learned this first as a farmer because all farmers can expect to have about 40 growing seasons… Then I realized that this applies not just to agriculture, but to all of us, because we all have about 40 productive years in our careers to do the best job we can and create the change we want to see. For me, that change means ending hunger.”

Among Buffett’s images are a young girl picking cotton, women balancing loads of produce atop their heads, beautiful children in varying stages of health, families living in poverty, people of all ages toiling in fields, gun-toting militia, mothers and their children begging on the street, an Afghan farmer plowing the hard earth with oxen.

“I have met many individuals who struggle on a daily basis…and yet, many of these individuals remain determined to press onwards in life — hopeful that things will get better,” Buffett writes. “The memories etched in my mind are both troubling and encouraging, but they make up the experiences that drive me forward.”

Next month, special holiday open houses will be held at the building on Dec. 14 and 21 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The photo exhibit will be open, tours given, and entertainment provided by the Grace Church Ensemble.

The World Food Prize Hall of Laureates is located at 100 Locust Street.

From central Iowa, there’s really no easy way to get to Decorah. But you should go anyway, because it’s worth it.

Your choices, depending on how much time you prefer to spend off the beaten path, are to go north on I-35 and then across northern Iowa; go up I-35 for a bit, across Hwy. 20 and then zig-zag north; or some variation. I choose to get off the interstate at Mason City, following Highways 18 to 218 to 9. Like I said: No easy way to get there.

But heading east on Hwy. 9, after a couple of hours of driving through rather average Iowa farmland (and smelling the confinement animal facilities), just outside of Decorah, the landscape suddenly changes in a most remarkable way. The relatively flat farmland gives way to rolling hills worthy of a Grant Wood painting. And then you’re in Decorah.

Decorah is one of the very best small towns in Iowa. I only wish it were closer.

I arrived Saturday afternoon at about 3 o’clock and went directly to the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum (above) – just to double check that it truly would be open on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. (It was, but for some reason it seemed unlikely, so I wanted to check it out.) Confirming that fact, I spent the afternoon strolling through the downtown shops on Water Street, many of which were not going to be open the next day.

I quickly found myself in a dressing room at a store called Margaret’s – a much cooler shop than the name or the storefront would imply. The helpful salesperson and I chatted for quite awhile as she helped me find clothes to try on; we laughed like old friends, and the end result was that I bought a very cute little dress to wear with tights and boots this winter. The prices were amazing, and she even threw in free advice on where to eat dinner tonight.

From there, I went to Milkhouse Candles & Gifts, where again I found myself in the checkout line — this time with a handful of gifts. I actually played with a porcupine finger puppet and briefly considered purchasing it before my sanity snapped back. So now I’m not just window shopping as I’d planned but BUYING STUFF…and I’m on a roll. I stopped in the Kitchen Place, Agora Arts (above), Dragonfly Books, Happiness Is, Marilyn’s Hallmark, Wendy’s on Water, and a few other shops. Everyone was delightfully helpful and friendly. I even joked with two women in an antiques shop about hair styles for “mature” women.

I bought several more things, and it became obvious that I needed to go back to my car before I started knocking over breakables with my many bags. By now it was 5 o’clock anyway, and the stores were beginning to close. I scoped out my dinner location and left downtown to go check into the Super 8.

Yes, I stayed at the Super 8. Not my first choice, I will tell you. I wanted to stay at the Hotel Winneshiek (above), right downtown at 104 E. Water Street. But it was booked. And no wonder – it was recently restored to its turn-of-the-century charm, with a three-story atrium, marble fireplace, and crystal chandelier. I could have parked my car and never left downtown. But that was not to be.

The Decorah tourism site  lists just four other hotels/motels. I considered Country Inn & Suites, but a room there was going for $155, which seemed pretty steep to me. So I opted for Super 8 out on the highway (810 Hwy 9) just east of downtown – for $75 with my AAA card. It turned out to be just fine.

By this time I was hungry, so as soon as I got settled in my room I headed back downtown for dinner. The dining options in Decorah seem boundless for a town of just 8,000 residents: Albert’s Restaurant at the Hotel Winneshiek, Ede’s and the Angry Pickle, McCaffrey’s Dolce Vita Italian restaurant, a sports bar, La Rana Bistro, pizza, barbecue, Mexican restaurants, plus several coffee shops and the Oneota Community Food Coop. I opted for a place called Rubaiyat, a charming bar and restaurant with exposed brick and a nice selection of art on the walls. I was there during happy hour, so I received $1 off my glass of red wine and a reduced price on my house-made chips and chipotle aioli appetizer. They also had a very good selection of beer on tap and a great-looking menu. But after the appetizer, I was pretty much full, so I went directly to dessert. The dessert tray looked yummy…I ordered a crème brulee (above) and was definitely not disappointed. I should mention that the service was excellent, and I never felt slighted for being a single diner who wasn’t ordering a full meal. I tipped my waitress well.

The next morning I went out to my car about 8 o’clock and discovered that it was 27 degrees and my car was covered with frost. (Hmmm…I wonder if that would happen at home if I left my car out of the garage? Probably. I am spoiled.) I was relieved to see that I had an ice scraper in the back seat.

I’ve stayed at way too many motels lately that offer “free” breakfast. Most of the time the food is truly awful. I checked out and walked right past the waffle-maker and bad coffee and went downtown to have a proper morning meal.

I figured that Albert’s Restaurant at the Hotel Winneshiek would have a good breakfast, and I was not disappointed. I ordered cardamom swirl French toast with lingonberry butter and real maple syrup. Yum! They also had good coffee and great service – and a really nice atmosphere: rich cherry wood booths; modern gray tables, walls, and carpet; and black chairs. The breakfast menu also offered a prosciutto and oyster mushroom benedict, a smoked turkey breakfast burrito, caramel rolls, scones, house-made granola, and more.

My tummy full, I headed down the street to the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Mueseum (502 W. Water St.) . This museum was my main reason for visiting Decorah this weekend. I was drawn to two very different special exhibits currently on display: The Sami Reindeer People of Alaska (through Nov. 10) and The World of Jan Brett (through Jan. 5).

The Sami reindeer exhibit was small, focusing on photographs (see one above) and a few items. But the story it told was remarkable — Sami families came from Norway in the 1890s to teach reindeer husbandry to native peoples in Alaska. But like so many other stories, this one had a sad ending. In 1937, the Sami reindeer people of Alaska were basically forced to give up their traditional way of life. They were paid $3 for each reindeer; many returned to Norway, while others who remained in Alaska were forced to take other jobs. It’s heartbreaking. I have a very soft spot in my heart for the Samis since I visited one of their reindeer farms in Norway many years ago.

I also dearly love the children’s author and illustrator Jan Brett. When my daughters were young, we read and reread Brett’s Annie and the Wild Animals, The Wild Christmas Reindeer, and several other of her books, all set in cold, snowy Scandinavia.  Her illustrations are detailed and quite amazing, so I was thrilled to see some of her original book illustrations on display at the Vesterheim. It turns out that Brett has branched out a lot since my kids were little – she has at least a dozen more books, many of which are set in far-flung parts of the world, like China (above) and Africa. I wanted to buy ALL of the books at the museum shop, but as I don’t have little girls to read to any longer, I avoided the temptation. The Brett exhibit also includes her sketchbooks and a play area for children.

In addition to these special exhibits, there’s a display featuring four artists from Duluth, Minn., and a number of ongoing exhibits: a Norwegian home, the immigrant experience (“Crossing the Atlantic,” “Home in America”), beautifully painted wooden furniture and accessories (rosemaling), folk costumes, a real ship called TradeWind, lovely textiles, spinning and weaving, woolen garments, and more.

My next stop on my Decorah adventure was the Trout Run Trail. I’ve been reading about this 11-mile loop bicycle trail since it first opened in September 2012. The trail includes “public art, bluff vistas, riverside views, and challenging switchbacks” according to an article in the Des Moines Register published when the trail was dedicated. I don’t bike, and I knew I didn’t have time to walk the entire 11 miles (OK, who am I kidding? It would have killed me, even if I did have time) so I walked what I thought might be a good couple of miles: the southeast section from Trout Run Park to the Decorah Fish Hatchery.

On this section alone I saw two works of art – Bounnak Thammavong’s metal archway near the park (see top of blog post) and Dean Schwarz’s ceramic tile mosaic at the fish hatchery (above) – the famed Decorah eagles’ nest (six feet wide and 750 pounds, but, alas, no eagle sightings), farmland, wooded areas, bridges, prairie grass, and folks fishing in the river. It was really quite a wonderful trail – and a great day to be outside.

I worked up a bit of an appetite, so I headed back downtown to Java John’s for a cup of coffee and a muffin, only to be disappointed to find it closed (what kind of a coffee shop closes at noon on Sunday?) I bought coffee instead at the very cool Oneota Co-op. This place rivals a small Whole Foods Market or the New Pioneer Co-op in Iowa City. Again, this town only has a population of 8,000 – amazing. Anyway, the coffee was great; I was tempted by the wonderful produce, but instead I bought a couple of cookies for the road.

Before I left town I drove north on Hwy. 52 to the visitor center at Seed Savers Heritage Farm. I’ve heard so much about this place – a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds – that I was really happy to see that it was open on a Sunday in late October. The Lillian Goldman Visitors Center includes a gift shop and garden center (open March through December). The adjacent Diane’s Display Garden was mostly kaput given the recent frost, but according to the website the garden is “an edible landscape, mixing flowers, herbs, prairie grass, and vegetables.” There’s also a children’s garden and some heritage farm animal breeds, including cattle and pigs. I only saw poultry, but the ducks were pretty awesome, and poultry is my favorite anyway.

It was time to go home, but I could have done so much more in Decorah: visited the Luther College campus, done a wine tasting at Winneshiek Wildberry Winery, or taken an historic architecture tour. I drove home a different way: south on Hwy 52 to Hwy. 24 (with an unscheduled detour on some roads I can’t remember) to Hwy. 63 to Hwy 20 and back to the interstate. Keeps it interesting.

I know I promised in my last post that I would start doing more stories about things to do in Iowa, but I had the opportunity last weekend to visit one of my favorite places in the whole world, and it just happens to be in Minnesota. So sue me.

It’s been two years since my husband, Dave, and I have traveled together for something other than my work or a family-related event. So when I saw on Facebook last Thursday that the Cascade Lodge had a last-minute weekend cancellation on one of its cabins, I nabbed it. Weekend cabins on the North Shore are practically impossible to book in the fall; when I used to travel up there to hike the Superior Hiking Trail every fall, I generally booked my cabin by early summer.

I’ve been going to the North Shore regularly since the fall of 2000. I’ve been up there now about 20 times, mostly by myself. I used to go there to hike, but over the years my intentions are less about serious hiking and more about just being there – enjoying the drive, the food, the scenery, and hiking short, easy trails.

I know I’ve blogged about the North Shore before, but I honestly can’t get enough of it. Driving up there last Saturday just made me smile. It’s so beautiful and so, I don’t know, familiar. I’ve stayed in several places along Hwy. 61 (the road that hugs Lake Superior from Duluth to Canada), from Cove Point Lodge on the southern end to East Bay Suites in Grand Marais toward the northern end. None compares to Cascade Lodge, the place with which I’m borderline obsessed. It’s not fancy, but the cabins are spacious and they smell like wood smoke and I love them. On this trip we stayed in Log Cabin 11, a charming cabin with a fireplace and a front porch that stretched from one end of the cabin to the other.

On our drive north, we stopped at Gooseberry Falls (above). This is a very popular state park for two reasons: It’s easily accessible, and it has waterfalls. Gooseberry is not my favorite place because it’s so popular – I prefer the remote, out-of-the-way areas that you have to really work to find (i.e., drive down gravel roads, find the tiny, unpaved lots, and hike a few miles). But Dave likes waterfalls, and I will admit that Gooseberry is pretty (especially the trees this time of year), so we spent about an hour there.

After that we drove straight through to Cascade Lodge, passing by the Split Rock Lighthouse scenic overlook (another popular spot) and the Caribou wayside where I normally stop to take a quick hike. But we’d gotten a late start, and it was already starting to get dark.

After hauling our stuff into the Cabin 11 (above) and taking in the loveliness that is Cascade Lodge, we headed to Grand Marais http://grandmarais.com/ (about 9 miles north) for some Sven and Ole’s pizza. This pizza is one of the best reasons to go to the North Shore if you don’t like to hike. I always order the Vild Vun (Sven and Ole’s is Norwegian if you hadn’t noticed, and they have a lot of fun with the dialect), which is a pizza with wild rice, green pepper, mushrooms, and onions. It also has Canadian bacon on it, but I order it without.

This is an amazing pizza. I always try to eat upstairs in the Pickled Herring bar, which has a much better (and much more north-woodsy) atmosphere than the dining room downstairs. I usually manage to be there when some little league team is eating there or something. Last Saturday there was no baseball team, but I’ve never seen the place so crowded. It was nuts. Luckily we found a table upstairs and ignored the frenzy. Sven and Ole’s has a web presence (“velcome to the vebsite”), but unfortunately no online menu at the moment. (Not that you need one – just order the wild rice pizza. It’s the best.)

After a couple of beers and that amazing pizza, Dave and I went back to the cabin and attempted to build a fire. We spent the rest of the night siting on the couch, reading. I cannot think of a better way to spend a chilly fall night.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the restaurant at Cascade Lodge. This is another reason to love this area. Breakfast here is fast, cheap, and delicious. I ordered two eggs with hash browns, toast, and coffee.

That was the perfect fuel for a morning of light hiking. We hiked the Mt. Oberg loop, a very accessible hike on the Superior Hiking Trail that offers spectacular views of Lake Superior and inland lakes and forests (above). (To access the parking lot, take Onion River Road at the 87.5 mile post.) We were unfortunately about a week to 10 days too late to see the peak color (the first weekend in October is generally the best) but it was still beautiful. Afterwards we stopped at a coffee shop in Lutsen for a latte, which we consumed on the patio. The weather was spectacular.

Our next short hike was at Cascade River State Park (the entrance is around mile marker 101, just north of the lodge). I’ve hiked this trail from the road before, and it’s a killer. Today we took the easy way and drove up into the park and took a short trail to see the upper falls (right). The Cascades are spectacular, and there are a number of great viewpoints and ways to see them depending on your fitness level.

By now we were hungry again, so we stopped in downtown Grand Marais at the Pie Place Café. I was hoping for soup but ended up ordering a maple/wild rice/cranberry salad concoction that was absolutely delicious. And I still had room for a piece of maple pecan pie with ice cream.

With that in my belly, it was time for more hiking. We drove a short distance north of Grand Marais to Cook Co. Rd. 58 (mile post 114-ish) for a glorious hike through a birch forest (above) that eventually gave way to a pine forest (below). We stopped when the trail got too steep and headed back to the car. We drove north a few more miles and hiked along the Kadunce River, but it was disappointing and we were ready for a beer.

We headed back to Grand Marais to my other favorite restaurant, the Gunflint Tavern.

The Gunflint Tavern is an amazing place, with craft beers on tap, an eclectic menu that includes plenty of vegetarian options, and live music. The restaurant (open all year) recently expanded, so the bar and dining room are both larger, plus a second bar called The Raven adds even more tables and drink options.

I ordered the vegetarian black bean chili; Dave got a stacked enchilada, and we both drank a couple of Alaskan Ambers. It was way too early to call it a night, but we were tired so we went back to the cabin and built another fire. Ahhhhh.

The next morning we had one last meal on the north shore – breakfast again at the Cascade Lodge restaurant. This time we ordered pancakes. Mine had blueberries. So delicious!

Here are few parting shots of the North Shore:

I promise: This is the last out-of-state blog post I’ll be writing for a long time. My multi-state travels are over. I also promise promise promise that starting next week I’ll be doing more Iowa travel and stories.

On this last trip, I traveled with photographer Jim Heemstra to Colorado, Utah, Colorado again, and Wyoming. We put 3,500 miles on the ol’ rental car in nine days and ate our weight in great Mexican food.

Colorado

We started out in Denver, but we really didn’t have much time for sight-seeing. We walked around in the downtown area and LoDo, both worthy destinations. The photo above is of the Big Blue Bear (“I See What You Mean” by Lawrence Argent), a 40-foot sculpture at the Colorado Convention Center.

Leaving Denver, we headed to Steamboat Springs for the night. The drive was eventful: Pouring rain, snow as we drove out of the Eisenhower Tunnel, two-lane mountain roads, more heavy rain, and dense fog over Rabbit Ears Pass. Oh, and we also saw a moose.

By the time we got to Steamboat it was dark, still raining, and all we wanted to do was get something to eat and drink. The next morning we walked along the Rotary Park boardwalk through wetlands and fall-colored grasses (above). And then we headed to Utah.

Utah

Our first stop in Utah was the awesome state sign. And then Dinosaur National Monument. (I’d link to the site, but the National Park Service website is currently not in operation.) Dinosaur’s an interesting place, with Badlands-like rock formations and a Quarry Visitor Center that showcases dinosaur fossils first found in 1909.

From there we continued to Salt Lake City, listening to the soundtrack to the Broadway musical “Book of Mormon” all the way. Salt Lake City is built around the 35-acre Temple Square. The temple (below) reminded me a little bit of Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World. Downtown SLC seems nice, and the city is surrounded by mountains and ski resorts. We drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains, and it felt remote and almost Alaska-like.

I liked Utah a lot, and the highlight was the area surrounding Moab. We arrived there late morning, just in time to order breakfast at a funky café called Peace Tree. I ate huevos rancheros and they knocked my socks off.

We had a little time to kill before we had to work, so we drove into Arches National Park and spent a couple of hours there. After our meeting, we went back to see the park’s natural arches and other landforms in evening light. Arches is a real showplace, with its iconic Delicate Arch, Landscape Arch, and Windows. I liked the area called Fiery Furnace (above).

The next morning we did an early photo shoot in Dead Horse Point State Park (above). When we arrived, the sun was just breaking through, and the photo opportunities were endless. We were actually photographing a landscape photographer so he took us to the best vantage points with the best light. Dead Horse Point is famous, by the way, as the location for the last scene in the film Thelma & Louise.

Colorado again

From Moab, we drove back through Denver and up to Fort Collins. Our destination was actually Rocky Mountain National Park, and we went there the next day. However, the Colorado rain and subsequent flooding caused a number of roads to be closed. A drive that normally takes about an hour from Fort Collins took us three and a half, down through Denver and back up two-lane mountain roads to the park entrance near Estes Park.

But what a beautiful drive! We had rain, mist, fall color, low-hanging clouds…it was great. We learned at the gate entrance that Trail Ridge Road was closed but we were able to go as far as Bear Lake. We visited the Lily Lake area (above) and Moraine Park. The fall color was unbelievable.

When we got to Bear Lake, it was snowing! Not just a little bit – it was snowing hard as you can see in the photo above. It was sort of awesome. We took lots of pictures and met other people (most of them just as underdressed for the weather as I was) who were visiting the park from the Midwest.

But the best part: We saw dozens of elk in the park in full “rut” (mating season). We heard (and saw) the bull elks bugling. Some of them put on quite a show for us. The males were bugling and strutting their stuff for the females everywhere we went.

Afterward, we went into Estes Park and drank coffee and ate a big breakfast for lunch – before driving four hours back to Fort Collins because we hit Denver right at rush hour. A few days after we visited the park, it closed again because of the government shutdown. So between the floods and snow and stupidity, we were extremely lucky to be able to experience Rocky Mountain NP that day.

Wyoming

Our last stop was Cheyenne, Wyo., with its huge Frontier Days rodeo festival (“The Daddy of ‘em All”) and outdoor western sculpture. We didn’t spend much time there because mostly we were working. And a week after we left, they were forecast to get eight inches of snow. So, again, our timing was impeccable.

And now I’m back home and happy to be back in Iowa for the foreseeable future.

Here’s a great idea: Let’s hike up the highest hill in Kansas on the hottest day of the year.

That was my sarcastic thought the weekend of Sept. 7 when it was 103 degrees in Manhattan, Kan. Photographer Jim Heemstra and I were meeting with Iowa State alumni, and the idea was to photograph them in the nearby Konza Prairie.

I thought it was way too hot to do a photo shoot outside, especially with hiking involved. But we did it anyway. And even though it was extremely hot, there was a nice breeze, so we all lived to tell about it.

The Konza Prairie is actually a pretty incredible place. Located in the majestic Flint Hills about six miles south of Manhattan, the Konza Prairie Biological Station is an 8,600-acre tallgrass prairie preserve owned by the Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University.

We hiked a portion of the Konza Prairie nature trail. If you think Kansas is flat, you’ll be surprised by how steep this trail is at times. We started out in a forested (think: shady) area and crossed two slightly scary footbridges before heading up, up, up through the (very sunny) tallgrass prairie. We hiked as far as the first overlook, and we could literally see for miles.

The full nature trail loop is 2.6 miles long, and self-guided tour brochures are available at the trailhead. Two additional trails are available: the 4.7-mile Kings Creek Loop and the 6.1-mile Godwin Hill Loop.

A $2.00 trail fee is suggested.

I just returned from a two-week trip to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, part of my 50-state project for VISIONS magazine that I’m doing with photographer Jim Heemstra.

It was a big, exhausting trip: Eleven alumni, four very large states, three national parks, one ocean, several wildfires, four flights to get there and back, and 3,000 miles on the rental car. We’ve now traveled to 44 of the 50 states.

With the completion of this trip, our flying days are over, and I couldn’t be happier about that. Although we managed to get through this entire project without any flight cancellations or even delays (can you believe that?!) I still find flying stressful, uncomfortable, and basically just a pain in the ass. I’m happy to have it behind us.

WASHINGTON

We flew into Seattle but had very little time there for anything but work. While we were scouting for photo locations for one of our Iowa State alumni, we did visit some touristy spots: Kerry Park (for the best view of the Seattle skyline, above), Pike Place Market, and the original Starbucks. Oh, and we got a friendly $53 parking ticket for parking in what I still contend was a legal parking spot near the market.

We had lunch at Specialty’s, a counter-service restaurant so high-tech that I could not figure out how to order my food at the computer and had to be helped by a human being at the counter.

The coolest part of our visit was seeing where our alumni work. We were allowed incredible access to a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and we visited one of the many buildings in the Amazon.com complex.

That night, I went up to the rooftop of my hotel, the Mediterranean Inn, and watched the sun set over the Seattle skyline. This would be the first of many glorious sunsets I’d see in the great Northwest.

After a full day in Seattle, we drove north early the next morning to the town of Edmonds, where we boarded a ferry (car and all) to cross Puget Sound to the small community of Kingston. That “commute” is probably old hat to people who live up there, but I thought it was really, really fun.

After an hour’s drive, we were in Sequim, the lavender capital of North America.  Seriously – they have actual lavender farms there. Purple flowers as far as the eye can see. The whole place smells good. And I found a restaurant there that served blueberry pancakes – my favorite breakfast.

We went with an alumni couple to Olympic National Park, but since the goal was to get great photos of them I don’t feel as though I really had a chance to see much of the park.

Afterwards, we had dinner at a cute Italian restaurant in nearby Port Angeles. And then we stayed at a motel on the outskirts of town that can only be described as the Bates Motel, complete with creepy proprietor and squawking birds. But I survived, and it was actually very clean and comfortable and even had free wi-fi.

OREGON

Our travels from Washington to Oregon can only be described as Day 1 of many Dramamine Days. The route (Hwy. 101) was beautiful, but very curvy and hilly. This became a pattern on this trip, so I was glad that I packed my pills or I would have been carsick from the get-go.

En route to our first Oregon appointment, we were drawn in by a brown National Park sign along the road. Though the park itself is many miles away, the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument visitor center was right off Interstate 5, so we took a quick detour to check it out. I specifically remember the volcano eruption in May 1980 – because it happened one week before I got married, and Dave and I had an ash cloud over our wedding reception. The eruption was a horrible tragedy, but the science behind the event is so fascinating that I got sucked into a ranger talk for almost half an hour. I could have stayed longer, and it would have been interesting to take a closer look at the volcano.

But these are not leisurely trips. We picked up a young grad at the Nike campus in Beaverton and headed to the Oregon coast. Jim wanted to photograph her on one of the most picturesque beaches in along the Pacific coast: Cannon Beach.

I have a bit of a water phobia since I don’t know how to swim, but I was brave and waded through the ankle-deep water to the “best” photo location AND slogged back through the above-knee-deep water later, after the tide began to come in. (I shudder to think what I would have done if we’d waited much longer.)

It also rained rather hard on us toward the end of the shoot, so we were wet from the ocean, wet from the rain, and covered with sand by the time we struggled back to paved ground. It was sort of cold, too, so we found a neighborhood coffee shop where we all dried off, warmed up, drank lattes – and Jim cleaned the sand and water off of his cameras.

Our headquarters for the next two nights was the Park Lane Suites in Portland. Sometimes I fail miserably when I make lodging reservations over the Internet, but this place was spacious, comfortable, and in a very nice neighborhood. We ate, drank, and shopped for yummy groceries, all without getting into the car.

The next morning, after a fun breakfast with some friends of mine who now live in Portland, we visited a Japanese garden with an alum. It turns out that Portland is home to what is widely considered the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan. It was really great, though I don’t have anything to compare it to. For lunch, we ate dim sum at an authentic Chinese restaurant in Portland’s Chinatown area.

We were told by the locals that we should stop by Voodoo Doughnuts, which we did. The line was out the door and down the street. Neither Jim nor I cared about actually eating a donut so we just looked at the ones that people were bringing out of the store in signature hot-pink boxes. They were topped with Cap’n Crunch, Froot Loops, M&Ms, and all sorts of odd things. I looked on the company website, and apparently you can get donuts in the shape of both male and female body parts, donuts topped with Tang or cayenne pepper, and slightly more normal donuts like French cruellers and blueberry cake.

IDAHO

The next day, we packed up and left Portland for points east, and basically spent the entire day in the car. But before you feel sorry for me, consider this: The first part of the route was along the Historic Columbia River Highway. Have you been on this highway? If not, do yourself a favor and take this drive. We took it from Corbett to Dodson, and it was spectacular. (I was lucky enough to see this road once before, in the fall, and the foliage was gorgeous.) We stopped at Shepperd’s Dell, with its historic bridge, lovely vista, and waterfall. We stopped again briefly at the Wahkeena Falls. And then, of course, we stopped at Multnomah Falls, one of the most scenic areas in all of the Northwest. It was raining lightly, and we were lucky to be there without a hundred thousand tourists. Jim photographed me on the iconic bridge holding my green umbrella. A classic. (You can check it out on my Facebook page.)

After that, it was pretty much drive, drive, drive … over a mountain range and through the high desert … eating lunch in the car… taking lots of Dramamine. (I could be this company’s spokesperson.) This fun, fun day ended by doing laundry in Boise, Idaho, a city with 100-degree heat and smoke-filled air. But at least I had clean clothes at the halfway point.

Very early the next morning we met with an alum named Carter Niemeyer. Carter is one of the first people I had my eye on to feature in this 50-state project, so I was really thrilled to finally be able to meet him face-to-face (or face-to-chest, as he is more than a foot taller than me). He’s one of the country’s foremost wolf specialists. He’s worked primarily in Montana and Idaho, and he helped capture the wolves that were famously introduced to Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the 1990s. He took us more than an hour north of Boise to wolf country – he actually HOWLED for us! – and this experience made me grateful that I went into journalism and decided to go to work for a university magazine. This is the good stuff.

We spent the rest of the day (when I wasn’t holed up in my air-conditioned hotel room fighting off a mild illness) scouting locations for our next photo shoot.

Boise, it turns out, has lots of cool places to do photo shoots: city parks, foothills, a reservoir, the Boise River Greenbelt, the state capitol building.

We also stopped by for a quick tour of the Old Idaho State Penitentiary, but it paled in comparison to the Eastern States Penitentiary we toured in Philadelphia, and it was HOT. So, meh.

The next day, after our work was completed in Boise, we drove to McCall, Idaho, a terrific place with a lovely lake and the fantastic Ponderosa State Park, above. (Our Super 8 out on the highway had views of neither, but hey, we did get to rub shoulders with the people there for the big gem and mineral show.) We walked along the public beach, drove up into the state park with its stunning views and marshy hikes, enjoyed a lakeside dinner, and watched the sun set over the water with a pack of tourists all eating ice cream cones.

MONTANA

Another full-day drive, this time to Kalispell, Mont.

Like the day we left Portland, the drive north from McCall was just spectacular, with mountains and the white-water rapids of the Payette River intermixed with pastoral scenes of grazing cows and bales of hay.

We stopped for lunch at the surprisingly wonderful Lochsa Lodge on the Idaho/Montana border. I ordered a huckleberry float, something I’d never seen before on any menu. This was my first introduction to huckleberries, but it would not be the last, as this fruit is a popular local delicacy in western Montana.

And then, on Hwy. 12 in Montana, we had a close encounter with the Lolo Creek Complex wildfire, which scared me to death because it was SO CLOSE. (Officials closed the road just hours after we drove through.) But we made it OK, turned north at Missoula, and left the fire behind.

Our destination for the day was Kalispell, but we stopped several times en route to scout for photo locations along Flathead Lake – a very big, very blue lake surrounded by scenic small towns and half a dozen state parks.

The next day, after a morning appointment, we had quite a bit of time to kill before our late-afternoon appointment, so we ate a very slow sandwich very fast in Bigfork, Mont. (long story), bought some delicious Flathead cherries from a roadside stand, scouted more locations, shared a piece of peach pie a la mode at a weird restaurant, and chilled out watching people swim and play at Lakeside’s Volunteer Park.

That evening, we went with veterinarian Sandy Anderson and her husband, Clint, to Glacier National Park, where Jim photographed Sandy just as the sun was beginning to set. It was picture-perfect.

We had more time the next day to explore Glacier. We took some short hikes, had a picnic (with the rest of the cherries), and drove the length of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, an engineering landmark completed in 1932.

Dave and I have driven this road before, but it was no less spectacular the second time around. Apparently it takes 10 weeks to plow this road in the spring, because up to 80 feet of snow can fall at Logan Pass, the highest point on the road.

At the eastern end of the road we stopped for lunch at the Park Café in St. Mary, where I had possibly the best piece of pecan pie a la mode ever. (Sandy and Clint told us the night before that they often drive the 3-plus hours to the Park Café just for the pie.)

On our last full day in the Northwest, we drove back to Seattle: through western Montana, across the “neck” of Idaho, and across the width of Washington. We did have time to take a side trip to Mount Rainier National Park – a real treat because I’d never been there before. We saw more wildfires in the distance, but the park itself was unscathed.

I’m home now, missing the lower humidity, picturesque beauty, and abundant coffee huts of the Northwest. But glad to be back in Iowa. And happy to check four more states off my list.

So, I’ve lived in Story County 16 years and have never so much as stepped foot on the Story County Fairgrounds in Nevada.

I’m not a big fair person. I grew up in Missouri and remember going to the Missouri State Fair exactly twice, once as a kid and once as a chaperone for a group of disabled youth when I was in high school. Neither visit was particularly pleasant, though the latter was memorable for being peed on while riding the scrambler with Pansy Petry.

I’ve lived in a number of counties in the Midwest but never attended a county fair. I figure, it’s about time.

I learned — from some source I can’t recall — that the Story County Fair would run July 20-24. I was out of town the weekend of July 20-21, the prime time to attend the fair. So that’s one strike against me. I tried to find a schedule of events but the Story County Fair website is impenetrable and apparently targeted only toward fair participants, not fairgoers. That’s one strike against them.

I finally found a schedule by opening a section titled “Fair and Pre-Fair” in the giant “Fair Book” that includes rules, contests, and all manner of livestock competition including something called “herdsmanship.” The whole apparently hinges on 4-H.

Since I obviously work full time and would miss all the daytime fun, I decided that the schedule looked fairly decent on Tuesday night. That’s when I went.

The fairgrounds are easy to find, and the parking is decent. There’s no cost to enter the fair. There’s also no beer tent, which was a disappointment to my husband, Dave. Also, there was no food on a stick.

What there IS at the Story County Fair is livestock. Cows and calfs, sheep, chickens, rabbits, pigs, and the like. We visited the rabbit/poultry barn, filled with adorableness — and also it was very clean and non-smelly. We moved on to the swine barn, also clean, considering it was filled with large hogs (see photo at top for a prime example). I was disappointed that there were no baby pigs. We walked through the cattle barn and the sheep barn. We briefly watched a competition in the pavilion with other people’s kids showing calves. I quickly grew bored.

By this time we were really hungry, so we went to one of two large food stands where you sort of belly-up to the kitchen and order from a laminated menu that includes lamb burgers, loose meat burgers, corn dogs (oops…those might be on sticks), chili cheese fries, and nachos. Not much healthy or vegetarian food to choose from. I got an order of french fries ($2.00) and a free cup of water. After I finished off the fries, I ate a piece of homemade peach pie with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, all for $3.50. Yummy, and reasonably priced.

We wandered around a bit more after that and watched a drill team performance at the horse arena.

Activities that went on over the weekend and during the daytime hours included a rabbit-hopping show, a photography silent auction, small pet judging, a cat fun show, a petting zoo, parade, queen coronation, celebrity milk-off, a dog show, and something called a “goat milk out.”

All in all, it was a family-friendly, inexpensive way to spend a summer evening. It was safe, clean, and small enough that you could take your preschoolers and not worry about them getting away from you. and I’m guessing they’d love the animals.

I think if I had preschoolers I’d be inclined to go back next year.

When 10,000 cyclists ride en masse through Iowa’s small towns and big cities next week, everything changes. Tiny towns with no more than a few businesses and a grain elevator will be pushed to the limit with an explosion of pork chop vendors, pie-peddling church ladies, port-a-potties, beer gardens, and bikes, bikes, bikes.

I wondered what it would be like to drive the RAGBRAI route – this year through Iowa’s midsection – BEFORE the bikes come. So yesterday I drove the Council-Bluffs-to-Harlan section (Day 1) and a bit of the Day 2 Harlan-to-Perry route. (The actual bike event begins on Sunday, July 22.)

Here is what I found:

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA

I started my exploration of Council Bluffs on the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, a footbridge that connects Omaha, Neb., to Council Bluffs, Iowa. It’s a short walk across the modern, S-curved, cable-stayed bridge, the first to connect two states.

Council Bluffs is crawling with Lewis & Clark attractions. I visited the Western Historic Trails Center (3434 Richard Downing Ave.) and the Lewis & Clark Monument & Scenic Overlook. Council Bluffs is on the Lewis & Clark National Historical Trail, managed by the National Park Service; in fact, the National Trail headquarters is right across the river in Omaha. I found the monument and scenic overlook in northern Council Bluffs well worth the out-of-the-way drive.

Other historical attractions in Council Bluffs include the Golden Spike Monument, Historic General Dodge House, squirrel cage jail, Kanesville Tabernacle, Bayliss Park, and more.

How all those bicycles are going to get through Council Bluffs I don’t know. But they will leave the city via county road G8L and travel through some of the most beautiful farmland in Iowa – maybe in the entire country. The west-central portion of the state is, of course, part of the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway and it is just spectacularly beautiful right now, with tall, green corn as far as the eye can see.

UNDERWOOD, IOWA

Traveling northeast along G8L, the first town the cyclists will encounter is Underwood. At first glance, Underwood is just, well, really small (population 917 as of the 2010 census). But the wide streets will undoubtedly hold all of those bikes just fine. And at least two people are ready for them.

Underwood Bar & Grill’s owner John Brunow, and chef Mike Gonzales are RAGBRAI virgins – that is, they’ve never experienced the spectacle before. But they’re jazzed about it. They’ve ordered cases of Budweiser and will also be preparing Bloody Marys made with Hair of the Dawg drink mix. In fact, John said, Underwood Bar & Grill is an OFFICIAL “Dawg Stop” on the RAGBRAI route, and his establishment will be the only place cyclists will be able to find a beer in Underwood. Of course, it could be 7 a.m. when the riders come through…

NEOLA, IOWA

Next up is the town of Neola, with its welcoming sign and well-kept baseball field. The town of 850 boasts Coon’s Corner bar, a U.S. post office, the newly renovated Phoenix theater and Don’s Fuel, all on Main Street. Don’s Fuel has a heck of a nice black-and-white mural on its wall, and I stopped there to buy some water.

The woman who took my money was decidedly less excited about RAGBRAI than the guys in Underwood.

“I’m not looking forward to it,” she growled. “I’ve been here before.”

MINDEN, IOWA

Turning east on G18 and traveling to Minden, I encountered the first of what would be many road crews, spiffing up the pavement and shoulders in preparation for thousands of bicycle tires. The RAGBRAI roads along this section are in great shape; many appear to have been recently paved and striped.

I passed by the Breezy Hill vineyard – undoubtedly a fun place for riders to stop next Sunday – and headed into Minden, home to 599 people at the last census. Like Neola, Minden had a very nice welcome sign. And just beyond the Minden Volunteer Fire Department building was the Minden City Hall, with a sign announcing a RAGBRAI volunteer meeting Friday night at 7 p.m.

SHELBY, IOWA

I think I’ve probably been on more state and county highways in Iowa than most Iowa natives, and I’ve probably visited more small towns. I really love seeing the civic pride and history that some of these small towns have. Shelby is a good example. Although the town’s population is just 641, it has the look and feel of a much larger town, probably due to its close proximity to Interstate 80.

Driving north on M16, just before you reach Shelby, there’s a huge Menard’s distribution center. Then, crossing over I-80, you come to the Shelby welcome sign and Agri-Symbol Park (AKA the park with a 76-foot-tall-ear-of-corn statue). It’s made of metal, and it’s definitely not the highlight of the park, if you ask me. There are lovely, well-tended flowerbeds, a gazebo, and benches surrounded by a tidy white fence. I met a volunteer there weeding one of the flowerbeds. She said each bed is maintained by a different individual, couple, or group. The results are impressive. And colorful bicycles decorate the entrance and gardens.

Nearby are the Cornstalk Café and the Corn Crib Restaurant, on opposite sides of the highway. I’m starting to sense a theme here.

This community has clearly pulled together to welcome the RAGBRAI riders. Beyond the park, there is a sign across the highway (“Shelby: When you’re here, you’re home”) with dozens of painted bicycles forming a welcoming arch for the cyclists to pass beneath. Colorful bikes are also fastened to the main street light poles.

I would love to see this place on Sunday afternoon.

Shelby is also home to a Rock Island stone arch, one of the nation’s four 30-foot culvert bridges.

HARLAN, IOWA

Traveling north on M16 through Tennant, Iowa, the route takes a right turn onto Hwy. 44 into Harlan, the tour’s first overnight town. I think the riders will be pleased with the route so far – it really showcases the state’s beautiful farmland and small towns – though its hills might be challenging to some if the weather stays this hot and humid.

So Harlan will be the last town of the first day, but for me, traveling on four wheels, it’s time for lunch.

Harlan is by far the largest town on the route so far. It’s the county seat of Shelby County, and its population is listed at 5,106 as of the census. The thing that strikes you about Harlan, besides the awesome courthouse, is the really wonderful town square. It’s a really thriving downtown, with shops and restaurants and businesses – even a great movie theater.

Someone loves this town, you can tell. Nearly all the downtown businesses are in impeccable shape, painted in historical colors, with plaques on most businesses explaining the building’s history. Many are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Very nice!

I ate lunch at the Sandwich Bowl. Well, I actually ate ice cream at the Sandwich Bowl. But there were plenty of options for sandwiches and other lunch fare. I just wanted ice cream.

The Big House Sports Bar (below) was already welcoming RAGBRAI riders and promoting its beer garden with live music.

What a great place to spend the first night.

THE DANISH VILLAGES

Still heading east on Hwy. 44 (part of Iowa’s Western Skies Scenic Byway), I arrived in Kimballton, one of two small towns in this area promoting their Danish heritage. Kimballton (population 322) is the smaller of the two. Its primary attraction is its Hans Christian Andersen Little Mermaid fountain, a replica of the famous statue that stands in the Copenhagen harbor. Beyond that, the town is well maintained with plenty of American and Danish flags fluttering on every flagpole, plus there’s a charming mural on the side of one of the main street’s brick buildings.

A couple of miles south of Kimballton is Elk Horn, the larger of the two Danish villages. You could spend the better part of the day here. I took a look at the authentic 1848 Danish windmill imported from Denmark and walked up and down the main street. But I didn’t visit the Danish Immigrant Museum, which would clearly take a commitment of more time than I had (I’ll go back another day).

Other attractions in Elk Horn are the visitor center museum; Family History & Genealogy Center (“Danish roots, American branches”); Bedstemor’s Hus, a Danish grandmother’s house operated by the Immigrant Museum; and a General Store Museum. There’s also a Danish-American restaurant and other Danish-themed businesses and artwork on the main street. The town is cute as a button.

I wish I could say I completed the Day 2 route, but alas, I ran out of time and had to hit I-80 to drive the rest of the way home. But I know that the 10,000 cyclists who ride the first part of the RAGBRAI route next week are gonna absolutely love it.