Day 14

 This is a sorry state of affairs, to the right is our dinner.. the Holiday Inn Express that we are at has limited parking as they are redoing their parking lot, and we don't want to leave as we don't want to loose our parking space and have to hike from the WalMart parking a couple fields away... it is a really good excuse, but still....  we have eaten mostly junk today, i did not even have lunch as Rylie wanted McDonalds and i just can't eat that, what should have taken us 3 hours to drive, took 7 as i wanted to experience the countryside and had two stops i wanted to make. AND we shopped at my favorite store Scheeles, in Iowa city and then the Iowa 80 Truck Stop.. needed to find stickers for her sticker book for that truck stop (finally had to ask someone) and an Iowa one and Hawkeye one, all took time..  and then i am so tired and do not want to go to the pool, we did not get a motel until about 7pm which is late, which was very disappointing for the young one and she could not understand why she just couldnt go down there by herself... well, NO

The Freedom Rock in Adair county on 25..

This guy paints a new one every year and now i guess he is going to do one in each county, this was the 1st.  Carol took me here on my 1st trip to Iowa in 2007 i think it was.. he repainted this one with different scenes and memorials every year..

Also went to the family cemetery in Wick, Iowa

This star means Grand Army of the Republic and that he was in the Union Army during the Civil War, which is way cool to know..

These are all relatives in one form of another, my Grandfather John Scott Wallace, these are his relatives.. there were about 6 stones with multiple names on them.. some so old you could barely read them

Wick is south of Des Moines off 92 and is just a little community north of St Mary's... some of the houses my grandfather built when they lived there, but, of course, no knowledge which ones..

And it was fun to drive by all of those farms and corn fields by the hundreds.... there is much less traffic but then u can't go 80mph either.

We left a day early as i still want to go to mt rushmore and afraid of not getting motel close to the site and want to take my time and not rush but still be able to get back by the 23rd for her middle school orientation..  want to make this a memorable trip of good things and not just all the things i said 'no' to.

Take Care All and God Bless

p.s. and a big THANK YOU to my Iowa family and Patty for being a gracious hostess for letting us stay there at her house (for the extended period) and escorting us hither and yon. LOVE you all.