ROCK ISLAND TO SHELBY, IOWA

 9/7
For spacious skies, for fruited plains and amber waves of corn, corn, and more corn. IOWA!! You might think that driving along with cornfields on either side as far as you can see, for mile after mile after mile might be boring, but far from it. Forget genetically altered for a moment and envision our highway as it rises and falls with the rolling hills. ( Iowa is NOT flat!) On both sides of the road lie undulating rows of corn, glinting antique gold in the sun. Sometime they march in straight rows, sometimes they roll with the hills. Sometimes they're interrupted by a serpentine swath of emerald, a path cut by the mowers and then grown green. Sometimes they lie with dark bands of terracing stepping up to the horizon, a way to keep erosion away .Occasionally a stream will snake its way across the field, lush cottonwoods clinging to the banks. Oh, and sometimes the fields will be broken by other fields of bright gold , which we think is soybean. The side of the road is lit with thick patches of goldenrod and a heliopsis of some sort. Absolutely glorious!

   The other sight that delighted us-- maybe not others- was the many wind farms we saw along the way. We don't find them an eyesore, we find them graceful and elegant. I saw a pair of windmills that I could swear from my perspective was dancing-- arms spread and wheeling in joyful play with each other. ( Photo from Bill.)
  It's been windy in Iowa, and driving is always challenging. We were glad to finally decide to stop at a small not-too-attractive RV park /combination motel. Just a parking lot, really, with hookups. Hot, dusty, and right off the highway. Sometimes you just can't be choosers!!