Comfort Suites Ames

... at things from the WWII era and tried to see what was what in concerns to things Grandpa might have done, medals and badges he earned, and equipment he might have operated. Then it was back to the Interstate Highway. I35 North was closed to a car accident which left 4 dead and 4 injured that required rerouting. I sufficiently slept through Missouri and am now awake writing this in the last 30 miles before I need to ...

... a whole lot else of that meal unfortunately. By the way, Americans LOVE cheese. I swear they have cheese on cheese.

After lunch Amanda headed off and we had to get down to the chapel to help Nate and the groomsmen with final touches. We plugged 'Simpson College' into the GPS and off we went. We hadn't even left the car park and we were trying to overtake a mini-van in a dual lane road when it cut us off. We were a little shocked and still with little experience I hung back ...

... inside Simpson College) as well as the motel... and some stop signs!

Alicia was guiding me through the streets so when I looked comfortable Alicia being Alicia started talking a bunch and then yelled out "STOP SIGN" so I slammed on the brakes. This 'T' intersection would have been a through road for me with a stop sign for the side road in Australia so I wasn't really used to it. Alicia began chatting again and the very next intersection I ran the stop sign. She asked if I had to ...

... the others but got called over only to find them playing games in the back.

The games were interactive ones most of which didn't make much sense aside from the basketball throw and the gridiron throw (think basketball throw but you have to throw the ball through the hole rather than in a hoop). These were a lot of fun except having not thrown a ball in forever I sucked. Kym however was a surprise packet bringing out a little **** whooping for me and Mark before I ...

... little tougher than I imagined, but not horrible. We then showered and hit the road towards Des Moines. We arrived and parked downtown. After walking around for about 15 minutes, we felt like we had seen all we wanted to see, haha. It was a little bigger than Knoxvilles downtown, but it seemed like noone was smiling and there wasn't anything around except buisnesses. Maybe we were in the wrong part, but oh well. We left after grabbing a bite to eat for lunch and started towards Nebraska...

Isn't it amazing the things that amaze you?! Rest stops, of all things, rest stops become a source of joy and amazement on a road trip. Heading from Minnesota (a beloved state) to Iowa which happens to have the best rest stops we have ever seen in our lives. Beautiful architecture, clean, organised and useful facilities, free wifi and overnight parking is safe and ...

... appreciation during the concert’s second half.
Soloist Alex Boye’’s soaring falsetto cadenza at the end of “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me,” again drew whistles, calls and loud applause, as did organist Rick Elliott’s jazzy solo arrangement of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”

“Come, Come Ye Saints,” written in Iowa by William Clayton during the Mormon pioneers’ trek across the Great Plains connected well with the ...

What's not to like about a trip to scenic Maine and colorful Nova Scotia. Of course, other than the 6:00 AM flight out of Des Moines to Portland Maine! Not to fear, it was painless and after securing our rental car, provided an entire day to reach our first destination of Bar Harbor Maine. With only 10 days to see and savor each location on our agenda, we hit the road!

... drank lots of Bud Light and married their own relatives. Wrong on all accounts... well... except for the Bud Light of course. My first clue to a lack of neanderthality should have been immediately apparent. The fact is, Des Moines is derived from French, and they actually pronounce it correctly "Deh Moyne". This is more than I can say for our pretentious Bay Area keasters. We butcher more Spanish words than a Texan newscaster. How is it that Vacaville is ...