Northern Loop Adventure

Northern Loop Adventure

Leading up to the 4th of July Holiday, we headed out on another Iowa (ok, near Iowa) adventure.

Our first stop was the Iowa Aviation Museum in Greenfield, IA. Roberta Nichols was very friendly and really knew a lot about the aircraft on display and the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame. I didn’t see James Herman Banning on the list, so I nominated him.

On the way out of town, we stopped at The Rock for some pictures.

We headed west on Interstate 80, then north on Interstate 29, and took a little diversion on the Loess Hills Scenic Byway. Back on I29, we saw the Sergeant Floyd Monument from the Interstate, but didn’t stop.

We did stop at the Corn Palace. From there, it was a longer drive to the BadLands Loop which ends at Wall Drug. We didn’t need ice water, so we didn’t go in.

Next, we visited a drive-thru-zoo and found out that seeing it in person really makes Mount Rushmore come alive. We didn’t stay for the fireworks because we wanted to visit the Wisconsin Dells on our way back home so we could ride the Ducks.

Anxious to get home, we saw but didn’t visit, the House on the Rock.

It was as much fun as our last adventure.

Grass Wheel

Grass Wheel

Many of us are so busy being good little hamsters that we never have face time with green space. A group of students from Dalhousie School of Architecture – David Gallaugher, Kevin James, and Jacob Jebailey – decided to remedy this problem with a street-ready grass-lined wheel.

This project reminds us of Rebar’s PARK(ing), which turned metered parking spaces into temporary parks. Both concepts point out not only on our lack of interesting green space, but also our lack of time to enjoy them. We’re huge fans of urban intervention as a means of shaking up normalcy and calling for a change.

Eastern Iowa Adventure

Fenelon Place Elevator

Is this Heaven? No, it’s Iowa.

Friday evening we drove to the Mississippi River and stayed overnight in Clinton.

We spent all day Saturday visiting eastern Iowa attractions.

We started out at the Cable Car in Dubuque.

Then we were off to the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville. They built it, we came to see it (eighteen years later).

Next, we headed south to the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa and saw a lot of interesting Old Motorcycles.

Still heading south, we got to the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site with about two hours remaining before it closed for the day.