July 13 - Milwaukee to Coralville (Iowa City), IA
It was a beautiful day today even though I awoke at 4:00 AM. It seems I always wake early the day we are about to embark on another journey. After another wonderful stay with both families and friends, we were ready to head home. Both of us decided we would take the same route as we took coming to Wisconsin but there were some places we wanted to see so we are taking our time going home.
After eating breakfast at Wendy’s house, we left around 6:30 AM heading to Herbert Hoover’s Library and final resting place which is in West Branch, Iowa where he was born. One thing we noticed while driving through Illinois - the lack of rest stops or even any place to use a rest room. After driving about three hours, we luckily saw a McDonalds and stopped to use the facilities and get gas. About 15 miles later, we came to the largest truck stop in the world so we had to stop. Unfortunately, we weren’t ready to eat yet because they had a huge buffet for something like $6.99. The store is enormous and they sell everything you might ever want including a portable microwave. They even have a dentist if you need one. If you are ever on Highway 80, this is a must stop.
Then we went to Hoover’s Library and were pleasantly surprised at how interesting it was. It is in a beautiful setting, built around his boyhood home. Hoover’s parents died and shortly thereafter he was sent to an uncle’s house in Oregon by himself at the ripe old age of 10. Just the other day, we were talking about how much courage it must have taken people to come here from other countries. One of my aunts came alone from England at the age of 18 on a ship to meet her brothers. I can’t imagine sending a child the age of Stephanie on a train alone with some food and clothes in the late 1800s.
Hoover managed to get himself into Stanford and graduate as a mining engineer. He made a fortune, traveled all over the world and did some wonderful humanitarian acts. In my head, I just think of him as the president during the Depression. However, as I read about all he did to help people after World War I, the laws he put into effect while Secretary of Commerce, I realized that he was much more than what I even taught in my history classes. It is true that he made mistakes when handling the economy but, much like Obama, he inherited a nation headed for financial ruin. It happened while he was President but it seems that the wheels were turning under Coolidge’s reign. He also had great difficulty getting Congress to do some of the things he wanted. Does that sound familiar? After leaving office, he again did many humanitarian acts and lived to be 90. He seemed to spend the last part of his life as a respected elder statesman but he is actually remembered as the President during the Great Depression.
We spent over 2 ½ hours there in the Library, walking around looking at the buildings on the land and going to the gravesites. We left and drove the short way to our hotel, the Fairfield Inn in Coralville which is a suburb of Iowa City. I was able to cash in some Marriott points and we got this room free tonight. I think we will also have a free room tomorrow night in Lincoln. Our room is quite nice. By this time we were really hungry so I found that there was a Culvers and I wanted my last frozen custard. We drove to the restaurant and ate a sandwich after which I had a cookie dough custard cone. We decided that Kopps is definitely better and every Culvers we were at before were better than this one. But I liked it anyway. We drove around and looked at the University of Iowa and the old capitol building. When we came back, there were chocolate chip cookies and lemonade in the lobby. We have been relaxing and watching TV. I didn’t have enough energy to put on my swimming suit. They have a nice pool and whirlpool but not for me today.
Tomorrow we will start out with our free breakfast and then on to the Amana Colonies. The weather has been beautiful and the ride was uneventful.
After eating breakfast at Wendy’s house, we left around 6:30 AM heading to Herbert Hoover’s Library and final resting place which is in West Branch, Iowa where he was born. One thing we noticed while driving through Illinois - the lack of rest stops or even any place to use a rest room. After driving about three hours, we luckily saw a McDonalds and stopped to use the facilities and get gas. About 15 miles later, we came to the largest truck stop in the world so we had to stop. Unfortunately, we weren’t ready to eat yet because they had a huge buffet for something like $6.99. The store is enormous and they sell everything you might ever want including a portable microwave. They even have a dentist if you need one. If you are ever on Highway 80, this is a must stop.
Then we went to Hoover’s Library and were pleasantly surprised at how interesting it was. It is in a beautiful setting, built around his boyhood home. Hoover’s parents died and shortly thereafter he was sent to an uncle’s house in Oregon by himself at the ripe old age of 10. Just the other day, we were talking about how much courage it must have taken people to come here from other countries. One of my aunts came alone from England at the age of 18 on a ship to meet her brothers. I can’t imagine sending a child the age of Stephanie on a train alone with some food and clothes in the late 1800s.
Hoover managed to get himself into Stanford and graduate as a mining engineer. He made a fortune, traveled all over the world and did some wonderful humanitarian acts. In my head, I just think of him as the president during the Depression. However, as I read about all he did to help people after World War I, the laws he put into effect while Secretary of Commerce, I realized that he was much more than what I even taught in my history classes. It is true that he made mistakes when handling the economy but, much like Obama, he inherited a nation headed for financial ruin. It happened while he was President but it seems that the wheels were turning under Coolidge’s reign. He also had great difficulty getting Congress to do some of the things he wanted. Does that sound familiar? After leaving office, he again did many humanitarian acts and lived to be 90. He seemed to spend the last part of his life as a respected elder statesman but he is actually remembered as the President during the Great Depression.
We spent over 2 ½ hours there in the Library, walking around looking at the buildings on the land and going to the gravesites. We left and drove the short way to our hotel, the Fairfield Inn in Coralville which is a suburb of Iowa City. I was able to cash in some Marriott points and we got this room free tonight. I think we will also have a free room tomorrow night in Lincoln. Our room is quite nice. By this time we were really hungry so I found that there was a Culvers and I wanted my last frozen custard. We drove to the restaurant and ate a sandwich after which I had a cookie dough custard cone. We decided that Kopps is definitely better and every Culvers we were at before were better than this one. But I liked it anyway. We drove around and looked at the University of Iowa and the old capitol building. When we came back, there were chocolate chip cookies and lemonade in the lobby. We have been relaxing and watching TV. I didn’t have enough energy to put on my swimming suit. They have a nice pool and whirlpool but not for me today.
Tomorrow we will start out with our free breakfast and then on to the Amana Colonies. The weather has been beautiful and the ride was uneventful.