"You can take the girl out of Iowa, but you cannot take the Iowa out of the girl."
It's so true.
We spent 2.5 weeks in Iowa with my parents. It was a long 2 year wait to be with them in person once again. Believe me when I say, it was a TOTAL JOY to be with them!!
It was also a joy to be among the cornfields of Iowa again, too. I grew up surrounded by fields of corn. I have missed these carpets of green.
Do you feel the urge to run down a row like I do?
And, do you attentively watch the stalks growing as the days/weeks go by? I do. Its just incredible to watch corn grow in Iowa. This is what it looked like after just a couple of weeks. Amazing growth!
But, our time was full of lots more than just watching corn grow.
Like trying on all of Grandpa's Navy uniforms and the various hats on the wall in the basement (like the big, big sombrero!).
Pounding nails in Grandpa's shop.
Driving Grandpa & Grandma's lawnmower.
Riding horses...
Brushing horses...
Loving on the cats...
Fishing...
We spent hours with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends in various places all over Iowa. We did puzzles. We did art projects with Grandma. We got to check out books (in ENGLISH!) from the public library. We even got to see the neighbor's new driveway being poured!
The time went by way too quickly.
It's funny to me. I live in Paris, France. Yet, this little town in Iowa is home to me in a way no other place in the world could ever be. I find it to be a beautiful place. It doesn't have the attractions that bring millions of people each year, but it's still nothing to sneeze at. My Mom is an artist, and her paintings are full of the beauty of this place. I just love it!!!
The Drake Restaurant, which faces the Mississippi.
The mighty Mississippi River.
I've always thought these big wood breaker things are super cool looking.
Did you know there are only two "Snake Alley Roads" in the USA?
One is in San Francisco.
One is in Burlington, Iowa. :-)
On the way down!
Looking up from the bottom.
It's hard to get a good photo of it, so I found this on the Internet.
They have annual races on this road - going up, on bikes. Fun, huh! I still marvel at how anyone can claim that Iowa is flat!
Yes, I really do like Iowa. I never could understand people who went out of their way to go back to their childhood homes...until now. Home is home, and that never changes. And I'm very thankful for my roots in good ol' Iowa!
As for adjusting to the USA. Well, people warned us that we should stay out of Walmart for a while because it would be just way too overwhelming.
We didn't obey.
We were at Walmart within 24 hours of arriving in the USA and it was NO PROBLEM at all! All of this (Walmart, big grocery stores, malls, stores full of sales, tons of things to choose from and on and on it goes) seems totally normal to us.
The adjustment has been a breeze. Makes me wonder how we will do going back to Paris?
But, I will not spend even a second worrying about that. For now, we are going to enjoy every second in our home country. It's so good to be home!
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