Day 8: Cedar Rapids to Des Moines

So yesterday was short on pictures, but today I am heavily loaded down with them. The bulk of the pictures might have to wait until Omaha, because my internet connection here is not so hot.

We left Cedar Rapids in the late morning and took back roads through more very Midwestern countryside. We drove through the Amana Colonies, but they were a bit off the road, so we couldn't really see them. The Amana Colonies sort of confuse me; they are another religious community that some confuse with the Amish, but in 1932 they gave up their old-timey ways and their communal style so I'm not sure how different they are from everyone else anymore. I think they still speak a German dialect, though. According to the pamphlet I read in Kolona, they are a Lutheran sect that believes in mystical, individual communications with God. Or something like that; I could have that completely wrong. It sounded vaguely Quakerly.

We also drove through Grinnell and past the college there, but there wasn't a whole lot to take pictures of.

Outside of Des Moines we stopped in Prairie City, which is home to a wildlife refuge where they are restoring the original tall grass prairie that preceded all of the agriculture. My mom had been here a year ago, last time she was in Iowa, and wanted to stop again.

Coming through Prairie City, I saw this sign for gas at $2.66/galloon. We were at half a tank, so I figured at that price I would have to fill up. I also took this picture, because I wasn't convinced that I would see gas this cheap again (I saw gas for $3.58 in Chicago, by the way, to show the range of prices). It turned out that about 500 meters up the road gas was priced $2.65, and outside of Des Moines it was $2.62.

But none of those gas stations were as cool as this one. At first we couldn't figure out how to pay; we didn't think there was a credit card reader, and the only store, as you can see, was actually across the road from the gas station. We ended up finding a credit card machine, though, so we just used that.

More photos from the gas station: the grain silos and the water tower in Prairie City, two key landmarks in any rural Midwestern town.

The wildlife refuge itself was nice, although we were a bit pressed for time and were only able to go on a short walk. We also drove through the portion where the bison and elk were supposed to be, but didn't see any. The whole thing is not so different from the Niobrara Wildlife Refuge

Long grass prairie on a cloudy day.

This hawk was circling around us for a while, at one point coming very close to us. These were the best pictures I could get, though.

The real goal today was the Iowa State Fair, which was quite an experience. I'm going to leave that for a separate entry while I'll put up once I get to Omaha.

The State Fair was actually east of Des Moines itself, so we didn't see Des Moines until after we left the Fair for the evening. I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed. Des Moines reminds me a lot of Hartford: it is a decently sized regional city, and it looks like a city. And yet on a Saturday afternoon it is unbelievably empty: no traffic, no pedestrians. It seemed a bit like a ghost town. Of course, I hardly got a look around; my chief activity is Des Moines has been lounging in the hotel hot tub.

Des Moines, as seen from the 25th floor of the Marriott.