Craft family tour of Iowa (and Omaha)...
About 12 days ago the family and I piled into our swagger wagon bulging with golf clubs, swim suits, coolers and suitcases and hit the road for a vacation like never before. Well, plenty of families have taken extended road trips but not us. No sir, I fear the 15 minute commute to the grocery store so a round trip of Iowa with a jaunt in Omaha made me a wee bit apprehensive. It's not that I'm afraid of driving, I fear the uncontrollable outbursts from children strapped into car seats. But, my friends, I am overjoyed to share that it was a fabulous trip...including the car rides. (Psst...this is a very long post but there is a prize at the end for everyone who reads the entire entry.)
First up: Lawton, Iowa
Lawton is my birthplace and home to many relatives. While staying with my grandparents we visited cattle, climbed a few trees, rolled down a grassy hill or two, watched a ball game and ate like kings. We left exhausted but ready for our next adventure.
Destination #2: Omaha
While Omaha was only about 2 hours away we decided to break up the short trip with a couple of stops. First visit was to Onawa, Iowa to see the country's widest Main Street. It features four driving lanes in the center with two outside lanes flanked with four rows of parking. Onawa is also home to the infamous ice cream treat, Eskimo Pie. A little side story: When I was a small girl I was told that consumption of an Eskimo Pie leads to severe and immediate bowel problems. I have never once touched an Eskimo Pie in my lifetime. I'm fairly certain whomever told me this story was just trying to avoid having to actually purchase one for me but I have been afraid of them ever since.
So rather than indulging on Eskimo Pie in their hometown of Onawa, we instead stopped at Dairy Queen where no one had any bowel problems.
Upon exiting Onawa we saw this unusual scene:
It seems a little silly to erect a basketball hoop inside a danger zone but who am I to judge.
So our journey continued and the girls were amazingly well behaved. We didn't turn the DVD player on once this whole time.
Of course the beautiful scenery helped pass the time. Here are the Loess Hills of Iowa as seen from the car window.
It's where children and grandpas are transformed into bizarre creatures from the sea.
And where wee ones can tempt fate by putting their hands into mouths of alligators. (Okay, so it was a fake gator. You got me.)
We rode fake rhinos.
And sat on fake apes.
But I promise you we did find the real animals eventually.
(Love CJ's face here!)
Corralling four adults and two children in a busy zoo on a hot and humid day proved to be somewhat challenging. Matt and I were certain every zoo visitor and employee knew CJ's name by the end of the day as we called for her to "come back", "wait for us", "don't tempt the lions"! You know, the usual kid stuff.
The Omaha Zoo really is a great place. Most of us loved the aquarium the best with it's jelly fish, sharks, sea horses and sting rays. Kate was also fond of the tarantula.
We discovered CJ in a rain forest makes a wild CJ even wilder.
But she still looked cute risking life and limb.
After thoroughly exhausting ourselves at the zoo, the next day Matt and I escaped the kids for a trip to my version of a candy store; the Olympic Swim Trials.
(Natalie Coughlin is in way better shape than me.)
Our seats for the morning session were nestled in the heart of the action. We were able to see the swimmers enter the arena, start from the blocks, be interviewed by reporters and wander their way backstage. I'm not gonna lie, this former college swimmer got a little teary eyed.
Ryan Lochte
Amanda Beard, a role model for me since I was a young swimmer
A blurry Michael Phelps
Missy Franklin
Janet Evans!
And who is that man with the height and wing span of Michael Phelps? Why, it is my husband.
Perhaps he should have been a swimmer too.
After prelims I had a very serious debate with Natalie Coughlin about stroke technique.
She thought I was pretty funny.
Between sessions we visited the Old Market in Omaha. We ate a lot and sweated even more. I found this awesome sign at a gift store and seriously debated bringing it home with me.
The night session of swimming was harder to get tickets for so our seats weren't as awesome as the morning session but still worth every penny.
The next two shots are Ryan Lochte on the left and Michael Phelps on the right for the 200 meter free semi-finals. The first picture shows them right before they are to take their mark. And the second photo shows Lochte totally beating Phelps off the blocks. Lochte won by a very small margin in this race and his start could have been the whole reason why. I was beyond excited when I captured this on film.
So while my dreams of actually swimming in the Olympics were never achieved, I at least had a chance to watch Olympian race amazing times in the pool. It was something I'll never forget.
Final Destination: Clear Lake
Clear Lake is a long haul from Omaha, Nebraska. I am a fairly efficient person. I like to get from point A to point B as directly as possible. My loving husband on the other hand prefers back roads. So while our long trip to Clear Lake was slightly longer than it could have been Matt got to take in the scenery of small town living, co-ops and highway diners. We saw the hometown of Andy Williams, a giant statue of Pocahontas in Pocahontas and some other semi-interesting things. Thankfully the girls were really good...and sleepy.
We stopped at one of those small town diners, Clonks or Clunks or Cronks or something like. (I'm going to catch heat for not remembering that name, aren't I Matt?) The restaurant made the Des Moines Register's top 100 things to eat before you die. It was a pretty, darn good place to eat and now I can cross this one off my list. But a funny little story before I move on. So we were chowing down on our breakfast when a man in a cowboy hat walks in. CJ looks over and announces, "Look, a cowboy!" Everyone in the restaurant chuckled, including the man in the hat, and then CJ looks him dead in the eye and yells, "Yeehah, dude!" At that point everyone lost it. I think a little pancake even came out of my nose.
After many hours in the swagger wagon we finally arrived in Clear Lake where we always have a blast with extended family and I never take as many pictures as I plan. I did however get some great beach shots of the girls and the other little kids who were with us.
After grilling out, staying up way too late, swimming, beaching, chatting and laughing our four nights in Clear Lake came to an end. We snapped our annual exhausted, family picture in the courtyard and made our way home. We took a three hour nap in our own beds and two days later we're still doing laundry. It was a vacation to remember.
Oh yeah, and I fibbed about there being a prize at the end of this blog post but I will say congratulations on reading it the whole way through. Bravo.
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