Day 101 - Iowa's 10.1

Yesterday we enjoyed Kansas City a bit more before making our way
north into Iowa. We hit Des Moines for lupper (late lunch/early
supper) and checked out Drake University. Not sure how to explain the
college selection criteria of the teenage mind. But they unanimously
crossed Drake off their lists.

From Des Moines we headed east to Cedar Rapids to spend the night. We have an morning appointment at nearby Coe College. Only our daughter has any interest in vetting out Coe further, this is her 2nd visit. It is also Iowa's last chance to get any tuition dollars from our clan. Iowa, who out there has lived in, visited or just driven through Iowa?

Being from Illinois I've had my share of opportunities to visit. Here is a list of the 10.1 interesting tidbits I've picked up from my time in Iowa...
1 - According to the brochure Iowa became the first state to have more than 10% of its total generated electricity come from wind power. Hmm, and they call Chicago the 'windy city'.

2 - I have been told by several Iowan's that "Iowa" is the only state name that begins with two vowels. Does Vanna White know this?

3 - Des Moines is home to the reigning National Texting Champion. OMG

4 - Corn, One-Fifth of the worlds corn is produced in Iowa. It's true, says the waitress proudly at the Des Moines Machine Shed restaurant.

5 - Make the mistake of telling an Iowan that Iowa is land-locked and chances are you too will be promptly corrected that Iowa is the only state whose east and west borders are completely bordered by water,
albeit rivers.

6 - The current world record deer (white tail) was taken in Iowa, by a 15 year old. Being an avid hunter, I am so jealous.

7 - A joke I told a buddy from Iowa once, "Why did the Hawkeye cross the road?.... He didn't. He backed into it, the same way Iowa got into its last college bowl game".

8 - A joke that same buddy told me in return, "How do you get a University of Iowa graduate off your porch?..... Pay him for the pizza.

9 - John Wayne is from Iowa. In the early 90s while at a bar in Ames I mentioned that to the bar tender who obviously knew this. Being a bar tender he engaged the lame out-of-towner, me, and added, "When the
Duke heard he had six months to live, he moved to Minnesota, where it seems like a decade". My initial reply, "Really"! Yeah, not one of my genius moments.

10 - At the Amana Colonies, a German religious commune since the 1800's, there is an elderly gift shop clerk that likes to joke she used to make the Amana ovens. When you show her interest in the notion
she adds that she has recently moved up to refrigerator assembly. Jay Leno would steal that if he heard it.

10.1 - My all time favorite Iowa story... Again in the 90s while driving at 80+ mph I passed a pick-up truck going a slow 60-something. As I went by I caught enough of a glimpse to be certain what I had seen; a couple in the uncovered pick-up bed 'enjoying' the ride. Oh, the best part, the pick-ups bumper sticker read, "Iowa, Home of the Brave"! Yeah, I guess you could call those two brave.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!