Iowa road trip: Davenport

I've been lucky to do quite a bit of traveling the last couple weeks for work to places I've never seen before in the state.  Last week, I found myself in downtown Davenport, along the Mississippi River.

Across the street from the conference center, an old theater has been restored into a community college.

Just a few blocks away, I discovered the River Music Museum.  There was a coffee shop and restaurant on the first floor and a few historic displays on the second floor of this beautiful building.

To be honest, the museum was a little empty.  There weren't many items on display.  But I made sure to take pictures of the Jimmy Hendrix display for my husband, who is a huge fan.  The display featured a "wah-wah" pedal the Hendrix may have left behind at a performance in Davenport.

Fun but strange fact:  My husband used to "woo" me back in college by showing off how his guitar sounded when he used the wah-wah pedal.  He's such a rock star!

Before I left, I wanted to see if I could find any barges floating down the Mississippi River.  But I didn't get there at the right time.

Wish I could have stayed longer, but it was a long drive home.  Beautiful day for a road trip, though.

Iowa Road Trip: Bridges of Madison County

I recently traveled through Winterset in Madison County, Iowa, to meet with a young farm family.  On my way back to the office, I couldn't resist following the road signs to one of the famous Bridges of Madison County.

No, I didn't find Clint Eastwood and his broken down pick-up truck waiting for me by the bridge.  But I did find a nice little roadside park and several tourists taking a detour from their cross-country travels to see the covered bridges for themselves.

It was super hot outside (90+ degrees), and I was dressed in jeans and a cardigan sweater (yes, I dress to stay warm in office air-conditioning), so I didn't dawdle too long to take pictures.

I was thrilled to see a small patch of wildflowers growing next to the park's gazebo.

One last look at that beautiful historic bridge.

Now back to the office.  I've got pages to edit, stories to write, deadlines to meet!

Garden bounty

Hello everyone!  Sorry I've been sporadic with the blogging lately.  We've been having trouble with our Internet connection.  I haven't been able to follow my favorite blogs, and I'm definitely going through blog-world withdrawal.  Hopefully, our Internet company will get its bugs fixed soon.

Anywho, the weather has been crazy here in central Iowa.  It's been rainy, rainy, rainy.  But it's also been hot, humid and sticky.  It's a strange combination -- almost like we're living in the Amazon instead of in the corn fields of Iowa.

The cucumbers I planted from seed back in early June are growing like mad.  I've never grown cucumbers before, and now I'm hooked on them.  It's so much fun to watch the vine crawl up the trelis.  And I can't believe how many cucumbers I've gotten from just four seeds. 

These are "Mrs. Pickler" cucumbers from Earl May, an Iowa garden center. (If this picutre looks hazy, it's not your imagination.  It's so humid outside, my camera lens fogs up.)

Here's a really odd shaped pickle I found.  It's huge because I didn't find it early amid all the vines.

I also found a little space in my garden to plant a fall crop of lettuce in mid-July.  My hubby really likes the Buttercrisp lettuce, so I stopped by the local Earl May to buy a packet of seeds.  I also found another quick-growing variety to plant.  Earl May in Clive (or is it West Des Moines?) had a really good selection of fall vegetable seeds, including radishes, turnips, carrots and beets, if you're still looking to grow a few veggies yet this growing season.

I've been picking my container-grown peppers and tomatoes before they are ripe, before the bugs and the wet weather do them in.

The Iowa-grown sweet corn is also at its peak.  I'm trying to stop by the local sweet corn stand at least once a week to freeze as much sweet corn as I can for the winter.  I especially love sweet corn at Thanksgiving time.

And one last funny note:  My neighbor's cat has been camping out underneath one of pine trees every night, waiting for big, juicy locust to drop from the branches.  The neighbor says locusts are like dessert for cats.  Strange, yes.  But still adorable.  I love that our yard is a welcoming place for all cats and bugs alike.