Day Sixteen: You Ought to Give Iowa a Try…

Day Sixteen: You Ought to Give Iowa a Try…

This morning we left Mitchell, South Dakota and headed south to Iowa. As we got to Iowa, the countryside began to change from the flat plains to gently rolling hills. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought I was back in upstate New York.

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We saw lots of corn and soybeans as we travelled from one side of the state to the other. We drove past Des Moines, the state capital:

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On our way across Iowa, we started making up character names when we came to an exit with two town names. Some of the interesting characters we came up with today include Emery Farmer, Salem Yankton, Davis Hurley, and Colfax Mingo!

Being the huge Star Trek dork that I am, it’s no surprise that I would know that Riverside, Iowa was the birthplace of James T. Kirk. And as it happened, we would be driving within twenty or so miles on our way across Iowa, So I begged my family and if only to shut me off, we took a detour to visit.

The first thing you notice when you enter Riverside are the banners:
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We pulled into town and found the Voyage Home Museum:

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Although they were actually close, the kind people re-opened it so we could go in. And I was like a kid in a candy store:

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It looks like someone might not be coming back from this away mission

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We travelled into town and I paid homage to the birthplace of James Tiberious Kirk:

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Riverside also hosts its own Trek convention in June and they have a number of cast members who have attended (Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, and Walter Koenig).  The convention information is here: http://trekfest.com

We hopped in the car and continued east to Davenport. But as we approached Davenport, we were also trying to outrun a storm:

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Fortunately, we made it our hotel before the storm!

Tomorrow, we leave Iowa, cross Illinois (but go nowhere near Chicago), and arrive at Bloomington, Indiana so that we can visit Indiana University.

Happy journeys!

Mike

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