In Transit To Iowa

Time restraints keep me from reporting on the vast array of "very important" items going on in the country and world. What about John Boehner? And he thought he was king. Hah! Lizzie and I trekked across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and half of Iowa yesterday. It's impossible to count how many times I've made the drive.
Crossing the Mississippi River into the Hawkeye State is scenic. At that point it's the only place the river runs east to west. Check out a map of Iowa and you'll see what I mean. I immediately thought about upriver Dubuque receiving 14 inches of rain the previous night.
We passed the north side of Davenport on I-80 then stopped to gas up(why is that phrase "gas up" used since the gas goes down? Maybe it's because the fuel level goes up)in Iowa City. From there it's nothing but rolling hills of corn, soybeans and pasture dotted with crazing cows. We passed Grinnell. My friend went to college there. His entire family of brothers attended. It(Grinnell College) is called 'the Harvard of the Midwest". Normal folks used to call it "Moscow West". Shortly thereafter we drve past Newton. It used to be the home of Maytag until it shut down. They were in our conference when I was in high school, as was Grinnell. I always think of the games we played when I pass the communities. I also remember the players. Newton had excellent teams. They were Iowa state basketball champions my junior and senior years. I think we played 'em close in games but can't remember. Has it been almost fifty years?
We drove past Adventureland. It's a theme park a few miles east of Des Moines. It opened around forty years ago and the owners were selling shares of stock for a dollar. I was going to buy some but George Washington's were in short supply in our home in those days.
We stopped in Ankeny for the night. I wondered about the population of Ankeny. In 1964 we played them in baseball. It was like taking on a Little League team. They had 90 kids in the high school. Not any more. They'd eat us for breakfast then spit us out. Ol' Boone stays the same. Ankeny must have thirty, forty thousand people, minimum.
Today, we'll go to the nursing home to see Mom. I hope she remembers us. Then it's off for Minneapolis, find an inexpensive motel****and hunker down until we head out to the lake.

****I have motel tips. Never, under any circumstances pay full price. Always dicker. The later you enter a motel in the evening the better chance you have of acquiring a cheaper room. Check out the parking lot. Fewer cars mean cheaper price. Motels are a business. They need to fill the rooms. Ask for a room handicapped accessible. For some reason they are a few dollars cheaper. Ask to see the room before signing anything. A reputable chain will have no problem with this. I mean, who wants to sleep with your spouse and bugs? About the only hotel chains, to my knowledge, that will not reduce prices are Holiday Inns and Hampton Inns.