What's Cool About Iowa?
- Sharine Borslien
- Aug 2, 2021
- 4 min read
(Hint: It's not the GMO corn!)
We drove a long and winding path from the lake cottage in Wisconsin to east central Iowa. All told, I think Google maps had us turning like 88 times over a 6.5 hour drive. The longest stretch we had was 18 miles. It was pretty crazy.
We avoided all interstate highways, though, and so we got to see all the back country as we traveled almost straight south! We even went back into Minnesota for a few miles, crossing over and then roving along "The Mighty Muddy" Mississippi River. Another positive is that we never got bored, first because Google Maps lady was constantly chirping at us to get into the turn lane, turn soon, turn now, and second because the terrain was ever-changing. Also, driving on interstate roads and through larger cities, travelers are forced to look at billboards, flashing digital signs, miles of boxy buildings with even more distracting words, and millions of other vehicles. I realize now that this perpetual barrage of directives, pleas for our attention, and rapid vehicle movement is mentally exhausting and physically fatiguing.
Of course, there was some of all that on the roads we traveled, but far far less. We meandered through tiny towns and next to rivers, creeks, and ponds. And we got to see views like this:
Ludlow Township, population 585. Cute! We pulled over here on a perfectly placed, wide gravel patch next to this row of Queen Anne's Lace. Nilla got a few minutes out of her carrier to roam around inside the trailer while Ron and I ate a quick lunch of Whole Lotta Lasagna leftovers, which I had made at the cottage for family dinner the night before. The garnish is my sister's homegrown green and purple basil. Va-Va-Vegan roadshow, anyone?!?!
Ron and I arrived late afternoon at the Cedar Rapids home of our friends Kahle & Andy, who own Prairie Patch Farm, a really cool destination in Iowa. Get this: It's a llama farm on their 60-acre nature conservatory! They have 10 llamas for guests to pair up with to do hikes on the property. Here are a few llamas in the field next to the farmhouse:
On our first morning staying in the farmhouse, THIS is what I woke up to outside the patio slider in our bedroom:
I would say that's pretty cool.
Kahle gave us the driving and walking tour of Cedar Rapids. She told us about the derecho from summer 2020 and showed us signs of destruction that has yet to be recovered or completely renovated, whether in nature or man's habitats.
We walked through the New Bohemia district and went to a shop called Raygun, where I bought our first two fridge magnets for the trailer, themed around the hilarious Netflix comedy series, Schitt's Creek. We had a delicious lunch at Brewhemia, then walked across the street so I could buy a couple bags of vegan cheddar popcorn. Yes, they have non-vegan flavors (all the rest, to be clear!), and it is scrumptious popcorn.
Before returning to Prairie Patch Farm, Kahle took us to an adorable and well-stocked little wine shop called The Secret Cellar. We met the owner, Lauren, and I purchased a few new and fave wines and French bubbles in 375ml bottles. Here is the selfie we took in front of the wine wall:
We got back to the farm, settled in quickly, and ate a yummy kale salad and roasted vegetables that Kahle had prepared, to which I added leftover curry coleslaw that I'd made at the cottage before we left.
Kahle and Andy's daughter, who is going to have her sixth birthday this coming Saturday, was very excited because we were planning to make a huge bonfire AND play music that evening. Kahle encouraged Ron and me to stroll through the llama pasture while playing and singing our chosen song, "At Last," a favorite of our dear friend LaDonna (owner/chef at LaDonna's restaurant & bar in Atascadero, California). We play there every Thursday, except of course while we are traveling across the country. We asked Kahle to record it with my phone so I could edit it — which I did this morning — and upload to BooTube for all to see. Here is the link:
After that extrava-llamza, we went to our little stage area where Ron had set up our mini-PA system, microphones, and everything we needed to broadcast to our audience of three fabulous human guests plus ten llamas, three goats, three dogs, and two barn cats. And maybe we should count the innumerable birds and butterflies, and all the critters in the pond: Frogs and snapping turtles! Nilla and their indoor cat Scout may have heard the music, too. The fire raged until we decided to pack up before it was too dark to see all our equipment. We all hung out and let the bonfire flames die down, then said good-night.
Today has been unrushed and easy, just what we needed before a long day of driving on mostly interstate highways once again as we move eastward.
For those of you wondering about Nilla, she finally started roaming around later in the day yesterday, exploring the farmhouse. She napped with me on the bed in the afternoon, and we both woke up to hear and see one of the younger llamas munching his way through the green grass just outside the bedroom patio slider! Today, she was out from hiding much of the day, and I found her in a chair that Ron has frequently occupied:
I used ON1 to give the photo a dreamy look in hopes that Nilla is finally — now that we are exactly half-way through our big adventure — finally having some happy dreams.
I hope you're all having happy dreams, too, and planning wonderful experiences with beautiful people, places, and things in your not-too-distant future. As always, I'm sending you much much love, and I'll see you down the road in the next post!💖
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