Days Inn 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 ...

... about Australia and our American experience to date. Some time passed and everyone was seated and then the bridal party arrived. First the bridesmaids and groomsmen and then the happy couple, in through the door, arms raised and to much applause. Alicia and Nate took their seats but Alicia being Alicia worried about everyone being hungry (as well as the football starting soon) so did a quick intro and got everyone eating. After dinner there were very touching speeches by Chris ...

... re her stories and I know how much she loves stories :p After the introductions a couple of people popped over and had a chat to us which was great as we were meeting people in small doses; far easier to remember names :)

Dinner came to an end and everyone went there separate ways and we had decided on a big night on the town. I went home and slept for a bit so that was the end of that! Kym woke me up just in time for the highlight of the week (OK, maybe not), the AFL Grand Final ...

... city among a farm area. Ain't no terrorists coming here. Unless they have found a new use for corn. Anyway, we head inside and subtly join the tour that had already begun; Alicia had a nice little shuffle going and we kinda followed. The inside of the building was beautiful with many colours and materials as well as an elegance missing from many modern buildings and, well, any building from Perth really. The tour itself was very interesting though the information escapes me ...

So we left Chicago and was stuck in traffic for a little while longer and then finally started heading west. We made it about 100 miles outside of Des Moines before we stopped to sleep. We found some random campground right off of the interstate and slept there. I have never seen a place with as much dew as that place. One good thing was it was so dark and the sky was clear, so we could see alot of stars. And they were so bright! Once we woke up, we ran for the first time in a while. It was ...

... middle a gurgling stream is an enclosed bridge (as seen in the movie) stretching across. There are several of the bridges around town, we saw a few but our fav was probably at the town park where they also had a castle like structure and a big garden maze, fun! And to add to the appeal of this town it is also John Waynes birth place. They have the house he was born in ...

Long day of driving today, made it out of Chicago, through Wisconsin, across the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien (it means prairie dog in French!) and to Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa. The Native Americans many thousands of years ago built burial and ceremonial mounds, many in the shapes of bears and eagles. Many are inaccessible ...

... Google
Records and Yahoo Records will be the only labels around...and if
anybody is buying music from anything but iTunes in three years, I'll
be surprised."




"Right now I just want to be able to own all my masters,"
continues Pratt, "because the market I'm selling to can just get my
music digitally. All I have to do is Twitter about it."




Read more about ...

... to the Scottish Rites Park and Wesley Acres care centers were planned so that Choir members could give service while on their concert tour of the America’s heartland. It is unusual for the 360-voice Choir to divide its ranks for performance, but the centers could accommodate only about 40 singers at a time. “Because this is a service project, we made an exception,” said Choir general manager Scott Barrick.

For some residents, the chance to hear the Mormon ...

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!