The LAST WEEK.....

Well, Jeanette and I are tired.....it is hard NOT to travel over 4,500 miles on a motorcycle - through wind and heat and bumpy roads.....with the daily packing and unpacking, etc.  and not feel tired. But, we are having a trip of a lifetime....


It is also hard not to reflect - now that we are going into the last week of our travels.... I will share more about the overall "feelings" about the trip later.... we are finally getting some easy days over this last weekend.... and it is great to relax.

The Iowa State Capitol building....apparently, 
the dome is made from taxpayer money - and college tuition 
(okay, I am kidding about that - being a guy who works 
with government construction and buildings quite a bit - 
it is good to see some architectural interest in some of our 
government buildings. The building was actually built 
between 1871 and 1886.)

We had a great day Thursday touring the area around Des Moines, Iowa. Des Moines is named for the Des Moines River that runs through the town 

The Des Moines River in downtown Des Moines

Any rate, we got to be shown around. Downtown is being/has been renovated and it has quite a few beautiful buildings and (of course) some interesting characters...

Look closely and you will see a guitar player 
in the walkway above the streest of Des Moines...

This is the "old library" which has been renovated 
and is now a "World Food Bank" building. 
They also re-landscaped the place.....and added....

a cool fountain....

...and some picture-esque statues.
I think this one is a "salute" to the Iowa farmer. 
But this building can now be rented out for weddings and 
conferences....so it is a good use of an older building.

The city also has bikes you can "rent" and tour downtown (although, like any city, you are taking your life into your hands if you ride a bike on the streets....) But I thought this was a cool thing to do. The bikes can be rented from one location and returned to a different location anywhere downtown. 

Rental bikes in downtown Des Moines

We also toured one of the public parks - this particular public park has a lot of "artwork" - which of course - gave me the opportunity to be amazed at what is called "art" today.....(each of the "art works" has a little plaque telling what it called.....it does not say what the artist "charged the city"....which I would have like to have seen...) but any rate, don't take this as I am not an art lover....I think the park is a cool (free) place to walk around and look....but that won't stop me from making interesting observations....

This one is simply known as "the jacket" - 
I was tempted to photoshop my head a few feet higher...

This was called "Dancing" - but is obviously a veiled 
call for a battle.....
as the "statues" are kicking and hitting each other...
(so you can see "art" is in the eye of the beholder)

This one is called "the White Ghost"

This is called "make a stupid caption with me in it and 
you will have a VERY long ride home!"

This was called "Rabbit Thinker"

This is called "Who Has The Higher IQ??"

This originally was titled "Back Of A Snowman" - 
but when we "added" the middle round piece and 
have re-titled it - 
"Short Round Objects That Serve No Purpose...."

Jeanette with her cousin, Tomi Sue. I am not sure what the caption 
on this sculpture is - but I am sure it has something to do with black widows......

And finally, this one is entitled 
"What Wade's Brain Looks Like After 
4 Weeks On Vacation...."

We then finished up our day with a trip to the Machine Shed Restaurant- which is a great farm-style eating place..with big portions and low prices.....and out front were tractors and other things...

Riding one of the various tractors outside of the Machine Shed

Wade...leaving the restaurant....
notice how the pig and I are the same color 
(and we are both stuffed!!)

So we left Des Moines on Friday morning - and did a 275 mile trip up to Minneapolis - where we are currently staying with Jeanette's brother, Mike and his wonderful wife, Karen.  

If you look closely, near both cities, we went 
"off the freeway" to avoid traffic...but going up Hwy 35 
was almost like traveling country roads - as there was so little traffic.

We are going to take it easy this weekend - hang out with Mike's family and maybe see some sights in Minneapolis and area.....
FYI - we have now done something significant in 47 of the 48 contiguous states (BTW, there is no spell checker - so I hope I spelled "contiguous" correctly...) - but that will change Monday when I will blog to you (Lord willing) from Crandon, Wisconsin. Once we do something significant there, we will have done something (both of us, together) in all 48 states....
Until then, thank you for sharing our adventures....
Wade and Jeanette
GNTNYCGTB LY <3