Day 5: Stuck in the Midwest with you
BURLINGTON, IA -- After waking up to the news on Sen Byrd's death, it was a somber breakfast in the hotel lobby. The state will move on; so did we.
We drove through Omaha and checking the lame-duck site of the College World Series, Rosenblatt Stadium, prior to tonight's championship series. Being in Tornado Alley, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that there is a radio station with the tag "Twister 93" (KTWI-Omaha).
We then got into Iowa with wind farms galore surrounding I-80 on our way to Des Moines, and ultimately to lunch in Ames, home of the Iowa State Cyclones. Legends sat atop a 7-story building one block away from the ISU campus. And being a Monday afternoon in a college town during summer -- albeit during orientation -- we had the restaurant to ourselves for most of our meal.
GPSs can be a pleasure, but other times a pain. Such it was today, as I knew that US 30 ran directly from Ames to Cedar Rapids, but Alice (our GPS) kept wanting to reroute us back down through Des Moines. It took awhile, but eventually I set her straight.
After a quick stop off for Chad at Memorial Stadium, home of the Kernels and their mascot Mr Shucks (no truth to the rumor that his initials are A.W.), we entered Hawkeye territory in Iowa City for a quick run-through.
While there, I picked up a UI Band CD that will hopefully co-exist with an ISU College of Business t-shirt. (I know what you're thinking, but when Cyclone the Cardinal is wearing a necktie, carrying a briefcase, and walking by a flip chart, that shirt is as good as bought.)
We finished the evening in Burlington, alongside the Mississippi. Our losing streak continued, as the Bees' bullpen blew a 1-1 tie and lost 3-1 to Peoria.
We drove through Omaha and checking the lame-duck site of the College World Series, Rosenblatt Stadium, prior to tonight's championship series. Being in Tornado Alley, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that there is a radio station with the tag "Twister 93" (KTWI-Omaha).
We then got into Iowa with wind farms galore surrounding I-80 on our way to Des Moines, and ultimately to lunch in Ames, home of the Iowa State Cyclones. Legends sat atop a 7-story building one block away from the ISU campus. And being a Monday afternoon in a college town during summer -- albeit during orientation -- we had the restaurant to ourselves for most of our meal.
GPSs can be a pleasure, but other times a pain. Such it was today, as I knew that US 30 ran directly from Ames to Cedar Rapids, but Alice (our GPS) kept wanting to reroute us back down through Des Moines. It took awhile, but eventually I set her straight.
After a quick stop off for Chad at Memorial Stadium, home of the Kernels and their mascot Mr Shucks (no truth to the rumor that his initials are A.W.), we entered Hawkeye territory in Iowa City for a quick run-through.
While there, I picked up a UI Band CD that will hopefully co-exist with an ISU College of Business t-shirt. (I know what you're thinking, but when Cyclone the Cardinal is wearing a necktie, carrying a briefcase, and walking by a flip chart, that shirt is as good as bought.)
We finished the evening in Burlington, alongside the Mississippi. Our losing streak continued, as the Bees' bullpen blew a 1-1 tie and lost 3-1 to Peoria.