Can you say, “Field of Dreams” people?!? Well, we can. And we saw. And we filmed. And we took photos. Dyersville, Iowa – thank you! As for the rest of the state, Des Moines and Pike Peak State Park were pretty great as well. All in all, besides the nutzo weather, Iowa was pretty great!
Memory #1 – Des Moines
We left Missouri and made our way back west and a bit north to Des Moines. West Des Moines that is. And apparently, West Des Moines is basically Nebraska. It is so blerg to pass through the place you are trying to visit on your way to the campground. Especially when the campground is another half hour away. Knowing you have to drive back. And then back again. And then get up the next morning to put more miles on the road to get to the next place.
Add to that the fact that I somehow reserved 2 campgrounds for the same night and the one we did not stay at still charged us for the night. Sigh. But hey, beats having to spend 2 plus hours a day on the road for work ANYDAY!
The Des Moines area was very nice. Clean. Pretty. Not very congested. It was a really nice place. The Capitol was under construction, but it was still pretty amazing. The huge dome in the center of the building and 4 smaller domes in each corner made this place pretty majestic. And the great weather was a plus – that didn’t last long!
Memory # 2 – Crazy Weather
Our drive out of Des Moines towards McGregor, Iowa and Pikes Peak State Park was a bit of an adventure. We were crusing along through the cornfields, when, at seemingly the same time, Kari and I looked up and then at each other. There were some seriously gnarly clouds staring right back at us. Kari quickly pulled out her phone to check the weather report and we realized that we were headed right into a pretty ugly storm?!?! 50 mile per hour winds?!? Blowing rain and lightning. Really?!?!
Fortunately, we cruised right through without much trouble. Note to self – check the weather BEFORE you leave… But hey, the sunsets in the park were fantastic!
Memory #3 – Pike Peak State Park
This campground was pretty nice for a state park. But, with all the rain they had been getting, all the camp sites were nice and soggy. And apparently, this is another popular destination because even though I tried to reserve a spot weeks in advance, we could not find a spot that would take us through the weekend. The camp host seemed like he was put out that I had a question about the sites when we pulled in – mainly because none of them were very big. We BARELY got Gipzee’s big butt backed into a site. But, we did.
And the campground really was a nice place. Tons of tall trees. Beautiful, lush green forest all around. Quite a few hiking trails to explore. Much like Indian Caves State Park in Nebraska, we really didn’t expect to find a place like this in Iowa.
Memory #4 – FIELD OF DREAMS!!!
We were really trying to keep our eye on the weather, looking for a break that would make our visit to Dyersville, Iowa less soggy. We had thought we found one so we made the drive south from our campground. As you get closer and closer, you get this giddy feeling like if you look hard enough, you just might see Shoeless Joe Jackson. Of course, we didn’t. But a few turns and there it was! The field. The house. The bleachers. Everything.
We pretend pitched and hit. We ran the bases. We sat on the bleachers. We TOTALLY geeked out. Rain or no rain, we enjoyed every minute of our visit to Field of Dreams!
Memory #5 – Hiking Pikes Peak State Park
We took a little hike through the woods near our camp site. There were amazing views of the Mississippi River and well as a couple neat little water falls. And Iowa’s version of Weeping Rock was pretty neat as well. Did I mention the bugs?!?
Pike Peak State Park was truly a beautiful place. We loved being there and exploring a bit of what it had to offer. We wish the weather would have cooperated a bit more, but it was still wonderful despite the rain.
The Wrap
While the weather and our reservations did not cooperate, Iowa was a great adventure. Tons of corn as expected. But tons of unexpected beauty along the Mississippi River as well. Did we mention the FIeld of Dreams?!?! We had to cut this visit a bit short though. We left on Friday instead of Monday to escape the weather only to find that we just missed a tornado in Minnesota! Can we get a break here?!?