Iowa and Minnesota Travels

After we left Dave's ceremony Mom and I headed to Iowa for the main event of the trip.

Not that we aren't proud of Dave,

but there was a baby waiting to be born and we wanted to be there.

So we headed up the road and were very happy to see this sign.

Then we stopped at an Iowa Welcome Center.

And found this family waiting for us.

On another part of the trip we got to see how the landscape is changing in some areas.

This is what the horizon used to look like.

Corn or soybeans for miles spotted with homestead.

Or maybe like this closeup.

An old barn with a quilt pattern on the haymow door.

I read an article a year or so ago about the 4-H club painting these for people who were willing to display.

They are a welcome surprise to look for along the highway.

Now there is a new structure along side those old barns.

The windmill. 

There are a lot of them in some areas.

On Monday my nephew Reece Allen was born.

And his big brother Garrett was very excited about it. 

Somehow I don't have but a couple good pictures of Garrett,
but I did "borrow" one of the brothers.

Photo by their Mom.

After Reece was born Mom and I made a quick trip up to Minnesota to take care of some property paperwork.

After the courthouse we tried to go out to the farm.

We got within 5 miles and had to turn back.

Mom and I had forgotten how bad those gravel roads can be when it has been raining.

And they have had plenty of rain in the days prior to our trip.

Slippery, deep, and not a good place to spend time.

We did make it to Hardwick though.

Things in town have changed,

but the old sign is still there showing the way.

That McDonalds sign is new.

THEN...

The return trip took us to Sioux Center for a stop at Casey's bakery.

Hey! The new mom had put in an order for Rusk buns.

We couldn't let her down!

We also couldn't leave behind the Almond patties, Windmill cookies, or Crimp bread.

Very tasty.

THEN...

We then drove over to Orange City and visited with my Aunt Rose and Uncle Harold.

We had coffee and almond patties along with some good conversation.

THEN...

We drove over to Sheldon to visit Aunt Marlene.

We had dinner and good conversation there too.

THEN...

We drove back to spend the rest of the week with the boys and their parents.

After all this driving we went back to the house and spent the next few days back and forth to the hospital since Reece had to stay for a few days after he entered the world the hard way.

His big brother is tough like that too.

Should be fun in that house!

I am looking forward to the stories.

We did make one other stop on our trip though.

Can any of the relatives tell me where/what this is?

I will put it on Facebook too for more input.

That was our trip.