The Mighty Mississippi

Yesterday was another gorgeous day. Bright sunshine, beautiful blue sky. Gotta love it. Filled up the car with fuel and my mug with half cinnamon coffee/half pecan caramel cappuccino and headed to Scott county. Not a bad drive and the first and only place on my list was Davenport. It is part of the Quad city area and borders the mighty Mississippi River.

First stop was Central High school which must be in a pretty prestigious area of town. The area surrounding it was filled with stunning Victorian homes converted to fraternity and sorority houses.


An interior view:
The school itself, according to the office secretary, is over 100 years old. Since then it has had some renovations and additions. It seriously looked like it belonged on a college campus.

Surrounding houses and neighborhood church.


This next picie is of someone who invited me to take his picture. So I obliged his wishes.


Another little stunning beauty:


Found these on a jaunt to the downtown riverfront area.

Looks like there is no mad rush of people anxious to pull their money, I did, however see a dump truck close by one of the banks. Thankfully it was not overflowing with cash.

And finally the Mighty Mississippi:

Adio

Diamonds In The Rough

Gonna play catch up and bring this up to date. The week of 2 February was uneventful other than it was darned cold. Pointed the car in the direction of Johnson county last week, drinking my cuppa while looking for some little gems to share.

I pulled into a little town called Lone Tree, and sure to its name, there stood one lone tree.


Wasn't too much going on but I did catch this message. Apparently there was a Fish Fry, but the day was questionable. Wonder if anyone at the media center had anything to do with this?


Found this little gem on the way out of town. Maybe the message was "don't come back now, ya hear?"


The end of that week took me to another river town. Those are my favorite cause the gems in those towns are usually the best. Just a sampling from the town of Elkader.

I've always loved churches and have found plenty of beautiful ones in my travels. This one in particular really caught my attention. Not just for the beautiful architecture but also the setting.

And if you are ever in the need for a place to rest your weary head, this looks like a nice place to do so.


Moving along towards the great Mississippi River is a little town called Guttenburg. It also has its little gems and beauties.



Ahh.....here it is; the view of the Mississippi.





10 February was an absolutely brilliant day. Blue and beautiful. I loaded up my cuppa with a new flavor to celebrate this spring like day; white chocolate caramel. Yum-mee. I love to be out on days like this. No coat, just my red sweater and blue jeans. Felt good, even wore my new red boots to match.

Headed west towards Hamilton county in pursuit of gems. Little did I know there was a diamond in the rough waiting for me.

First stop is Blairsburg and at first glance you don't see to much. Looks like a sleepy little cow town with a one building main street.



Before this little sleepy town gets labeled as Nowhere USA, check out what they've got going on in their backyard.


A field full of windmills. They are all probably your millionaire next door. Good for them!!!






Found this little beauty in Webster City. Isn't it just gorgeous? My diamond in the rough.
Classic lines. Bet there are some real stories to go along with that car.

Its mate is sitting in London. My fave picie. A real gem.


Found some other semi precious stones along the downtown area. Maybe if I am lucky I'll have time for a quick bite of lunch or maybe even a movie.



Looks like I am out of time. As ole Willie is fond of saying, "back on the road again."




Next stop along my journey is a blast from the past. A step back in to time. Fort Dodge. And sure enough, there is a fort that is now a museum. Guess there isn't much reason to have an active fort in this town.



Found an old time street museum so I got out of my car and took a little tour.







But there was more to this fort town then just a walk through of an old western style street front. I found some more gems in the downtown area.



Funny little story to end the day in this town. I pulled up to a convenience store to refill my coffee mug and grab a snack. Walked in and overheard a conversation between a customer and the clerk. He was telling her that since a young guy he knew just passed away he was going to seize the moment. As I was leaving the store I saw him get into this car. How could you not seize the moment driving a little jelly bean car like this!!





This was how I seized the moment when I got home that evening. Check out this pie!!

Carpe Diem!

Sometimes you get what you wish for.

Tuesday morning started out to be a very grayish day. No sunshine, no contrast, just blah. Pointed my car in the direction of Story county to finish up some previous business. First stop, can you guess? Yup....half coffee with half pumpkin spice cappuccino. That always gets me jived for the day. As always, I am looking for that gem that even the gray day can't cover. Found this little gem in Kelley, IA. For those of you too young to remember, this particular item is a phone booth. Would have been fun to see how much it cost to make a call.


Notice the simplicity between the above phone booth and this smashing one which was taken during a trip to London last year.

For more information on this little used and antiquated device: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_booth


Next stop put me in the friendly little town of Gilbert, IA, that had a nice whimsical store on the Left Bank of main street. Love the periwinkle blue trim against the old red brick.



After leaving Gilbert, I pointed the car in the direction of Ames, IA, which some of you may know is not a small town but is home to the Cyclones of the Iowa State University, direct rivals of the Hawkeyes (U of I). Only reason I know this is you just can't help to know it if you live in IA. Fierce fans. Lots of discussions among the guys in my spinning class.

No pictures of Ames, but I will leave you with a mental image instead. I entered into the high school in Ames and was greeted with very well dressed and behaved students. I was impressed. The school itself was very nice and modern and inside I could hear overtures of Beethoven playing through the loudspeakers. Class act.

Ciao

Thursday morning rolled around and, after consulting with my boss, it looks like Muscatine is on the agenda. Fiddled around with some email and snail mail and off I go into the great blue yonder. Armed with coffee/cappuccino, a few healthy snacks and a new audio book, I set out for the long drive. This audio book was just the ticket though. It was Sandra Brown "Play Dirty".

So where does the wishes come into play? Well, I'll get to that. As I entered the town my first reaction was total disappointment. I knew Muscatine was situation on the river, but my first view was strip malls, Walgreen's and Applebee's. I plugged a few addresses into my GPS and started out to the high school and a few gyms, and physical therapy clinics.

Since it had gotten long past lunch hour I pulled into a HyVee and grabbed a deli sandwich, and by that time I was long past hungry. Did I make a good choice?

It was delicious, all that pungent ripe blue cheese and roasted peppers. But once again, I let my stomach rule my head. Ut oh, my container of breath mints are all out. Will I never learn? How am I supposed to check in with customers smelling like I had just visited the local fromage shop.


What to do? Well for years and years I've been told how important it is to carry an emergency kit in your car. Bingo. I've listened well. Tucked into my glove compartment is my emergency kit.

Probably won't do me any good if I have a flat tire, but hey, at least my breath will be fresh when someone stops to help.


After visiting with prospective customers all day I am ready to go find those gems. I was given directions to the historical section by one of the receptionists at a physical therapy clinic. All I really needed to do though was point my car in the direction of the great Mississippi. Here are some shots taken along the river.



Looks like this boat got stuck in the ice:


And then some architectural beauties:





So what about wishes coming true you ask? Now for the rest of the story. I happened down a street that really caught my attention. A little background; I've recently taken up knitting. I used to do this when I was a young girl, but gave it up after I developed an interest in boys. Dropped those needles like a hot potato. Several years later I decided that all those beautiful yarns were just screaming at me to touch them. So I did and fell in love all over again. I still like boys but figure there can be room for two interests in my life.


Oh wow, I must admit I got a little bit excited when I saw this place. So I snapped a few pictures of the side building so I wouldn't forget where it was. How could I? Next door was a sweet shop featuring all sorts of yum-yums and Hill's paint store.


I walked inside to drool over the yarns and found myself in a middle of a charming group of women sitting around a table knitting and visiting together. I was immediately filled with longing to be a part of the group. Very friendly and inviting. I browsed around but bought nothing as I already have one project going on and still new to the craft.

I went home and thought some more about how I wished I could be in a group of knitters in my local area. So I did a Google search and almost came up empty. But finally found an article in our local paper that talked about a new shop that opened up in Cedar Falls, IA. http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/12/20/features/lifestyles//10860495.txt
Imagine how excited I was to read that it was the very same shop opening up in my area. "The Crazy Girl Yarn Shop". Looking forward to stopping by and getting to know other knitters. Nice that wishes can come true.

Au Revoir