Am I really as neurotic as I feel?

A brief intro to Iowa

Roma and Norman want to know about Iowa, so I'm going to post a series of blogs about the lovely hidden gem of a state.

We'll start with geography for tonight.

Yes, Iowa is flat...in places.  Most of the northwest and north central parts are very flat.  You can see for over 10 miles on a clear day up there...the water tower in the next town over looks pretty small, but you can see it.  The more northeast you get, the hillier it is.

Northeast is a bit hillier.  The very northeast corner, up by Decorah and Dubuque, has very steep roads...steep enough that there are the steep incline signs along the road in some spots.  I think there are some 6% grades.  I haven't spent a lot of time up there, but the area is beautiful.  Bald eagles soar and cliffs look over the Mighty Mississippi.  This area was untouched by the glacier during the last ice age; hence the steep roads.

Southeastern and southwestern have more rolling hills.  Some steep ones, but most of the hills are more like gentle roller coasters.  I love driving along a highway or country road (not interstate) and watch the hills roll by, filled with barns, crops, cattle.  It seems simple, although the farmers definitely do not have simple jobs.

South central is generally flatter than the rest of the southern half of the state, but not as flat as the northern parts.

The Loess (pronounded luss) Hills follow along the western edge of Iowa.  They are beautiful, and western Iowa and China are home to the largest collections of loess soil in the world (Argentina and Hungary also have large loess deposits).  Here is a link that explains the Loess Hills much better than I could.

There are caves on the east side.  Many of them are by Maquoketa, on the east side (sort of in the nose part of the gnome that is the Mississippi River). 

The countryside is beautiful.  We don't have ocean waves pounding the beach.  We don't have fine sandy beaches.  But the rolling hills are a lush green in the summer...several shades of green, actually.  The leaves in the fall rival New England's, particularly along the "east coast" on the Mississippi.  I love, love, love visiting other places and seeing new terrains, buildings, countrysides, everything.  But driving through Iowa's countryside always feels right to me (although ask me again next winter when we get a foot of snow ).  I could move to the opposite side of the world, but Iowa will always be home.

Posted by: greeneyes at 21:53 | link | comments (2)

The trip was awesome.  All of it.  Iowa won another national championship (in traditional kickass fashion, no less), we had awesome seats, found the best Irish pub/restaurant (and best Guinness) outside of Ireland, we didn't fight, and just had a fantastic time.  I'm kind of sad it's all over.

Posted by: greeneyes at 17:07 | link | comments (6)
travel, sports

Must...calm...down...

The boy and I leave tomorrow for St. Louis and the NCAA wrestling tournament.  I've been to a couple of these, though it was several years ago, and it's a blast (especially when Iowa wins).  It's our first road trip together, which is huge, and I'm so excited I want to type all of this in one word in order to convey just how excited I am.  But, in order to make your reading a little easier, I've refrained.  A friend of mine and a friend of his are also going.  I've found a few restaurants (a couple Irish pubs, a creperie, a dueling pianos place) that we can go to.  We may even get to go on a horse-drawn carriage ride.

Weeeeee!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: greeneyes at 13:06 | link | comments (4)
travel, sports

I didn't believe them

I never did believe anybody who said "when you know, you know."  Scoffed at them, really.  Said "Psssht. Whatev."  Unless the people in question had been together for at least 6 months, if not a year.  Then maybe they could know.

I think I know.

I knew right away there was something there.  I wouldn't admit it to anybody (including myself), because I knew as soon as I let him in a little bit, as soon as that wall started to crumble, as soon as my heart opened up, that would be it.  Aaaannd guess who was right.

His family is great.  His mom hugged me as we parted ways.  My parents like him.  Forget what I said about no tingles...this, whatever this is, laughs in the face of "just" tingles.

We have a big road trip next week.  I'm driving.  He knows I expect a lot out of my co-captain, and he's up for the challenge.  I figure if we can make it through a road trip, I'll be a lot more sure about things.

Like I told J and A the other day, as we were discussing this today via e-mail..."Holy crap."

:-)

Posted by: greeneyes at 20:55 | link | comments

In the footsteps of Jackal

Sort of.  I started an Imagekind account a while back and have some of my photos up there.  Some from Italy, Vancouver, Hawaii, and a couple other places.  The address has my real name, so I won't be posting the link, but if you'd like to take a gander, send me a message and I'll give you the link.


In other news, the winter has taken a serious toll on roads around here, and I had a close encounter with one such "toll."  It was a pothole that could swallow a Fiat, but since my car's a little bigger than that, it just blew out the tire and bent the rim.  I'm sure the city is anxiously awaiting my pleasant letter.  When I took my car to the car place the next morning, I slipped on the ice and now I have a softball trying to come out of my leg.

In happier news, The Boy met my parents and nephew Sunday morning, and all went well.  They approve.  I told my friend K afterwards that I was really nervous before the meeting, and she said "Why?  After @$%# (the last one), who was a parental nightmare, anybody would be an improvement!"  She's right, like she generally is.  They all got along and conversed...my dad even asked him questions.  Huge difference from the parental nightmare.  So that's exciting.

B and I are planning the summer voyage (could be the best trip ever, could be the trip from hell, could be both)...a 5,000 mile road trip across the western US.  We will visit at least 6 national parks.  I'm so excited.  And I really hope gas prices aren't much higher than they are right now.

Posted by: greeneyes at 10:44 | link | comments (5)