The Land of Corn

I'm a little late posting this since it was a month ago, but I had such a nice trip to Iowa this year. It was eventful but very relaxing (for the most part haha). Rusty's Dad and our friend James were going to pick us up from the Airport. Rusty was returning from Georgia after being at a Leadership Camp, the same day I was arriving. We coordinated our flights and were supposed to land within 10 minutes of each other (around 9 P.M.).

I flew from Utah to Tennessee (where the humidity was horrible) and during my layover I got a text from Rusty saying his flight was delayed and he wouldn't even be off the ground by the time I land in Iowa. By the time I had landed (and could turn my phone back on) I had texts from him about multiple delays. To make a long story short, the weather was horrible and  his flight finally came in around 2 A.M. He spent 10 hours at that airport and 2 of them sitting on the tarmac. We clapped when they finally landed. 

Justin & Lacey

The 3 of us (Rusty, James and I) slept at least until noon the next day. James was there the for the duration of my trip with the exception of the last couple days. I had a great time hanging out with friends I've known for years. We spent time with Justin & Lacey  and their 2 little ones often.

The 5 of us went downtown to the sky bridge and enjoyed the view of over the Mississippi. It had been raining a lot lately and the banks of the river were sand bagged. It was extremely full compared to last summer when I visited. After we walked around downtown a bit we all went out to eat.

We went swimming at friend's houses a few times which was so nice giving the heat and humidity. We also saw a couple movies, Inception and Dinner for Scmucks, which were both great. We went to the Putnam Museum also and took flowers to Tyler's grave. There were a couple very impressive thunder storms while I was there. Sadly, there weren't as many fireflies as last year due to all the storms.

Rusty had a follow up appointment with  a bone specialist while I was there,  after finding out he had broke a small bone in his hand (before going to his leadership camp). Initially he was told to wear a brace but after further examination he got put in a cast. He wasn't able to drill with his rifle for about 6 six weeks though and that made him crazy.

Karmen & I

Rusty's Mom, Karmen, has been wanting to take me to a favorite shop of hers. It's like an Antique store/indoor swap meet. They had some great things there. I bought an old jar of buttons for Ashleigh and some honey sticks from a local company as a souvenir for my brother & Sierra.

Of my Iowa friends,4 of us had Birthdays in July so we had BBQ to celebrate them all. We had hamburgers, hot dogs bratwurst and veggie kabobs on the grill. All week we were worried about getting rained out, but the weather ended up being great. After dinner we visited by the fire pit and roasted marshmallows for smores.Later we sang "happy birthday" and had cake (that Karmen made us). It was a fun evening.

On my last day Rusty and I took a water taxi across the Mississippi and had fun a the John Dear commons (a local attraction) We bought a couple souvenirs for my family there. Then got back on the taxi to ride on the Mississippi back to where we had parked and visited an architectural park there. Later that night we walked to the fair grounds. We enjoyed a show and the fair food. It was a fun night but a bitter sweet knowing I would be leaving in the morning.

I missed my kids but we talked everyday and just like last year sent each other pictures everyday too. I had a great time. Till next year, Iowa friends.