Adventures in Iowa

Most folks probably don't think of Iowa as the place to go for adventure or vacation. We have enjoyed our visits to Iowa. We've been here twice.
Well, three times, but the first time we just drove through to get to Minnesota. And every time we go to Nebraska, but that's only a few miles.

We've had a lot of really pleasant experiences in Iowa.

The capitol is Des Moines - we have not been there yet.
They call it the Hawkeye state.
It is bordered on the north by Minnesota; on the East by Illinois and Wisconsin; on the south by Missouri; and on the west by Nebraska and South Dakota.

We stayed in Keokuk for about a week.
We got to go to a civil war reenactment.
We had never seen one before.

 

The cannons were bigger than some of thought they'd be.

 Dan: It was so cool, I want to go to more of them. There was a cannon and it was amazingly loud. Dave asked Mom if the ladies were wearing hoop skirts and one of the ladies started laughing at him.

The ladies who laughed at Dave.

I saw a Confederate prisoner shoot a Union soldier. Then he got shot. The Union wore blue and the Confederacy wore gray. The horses were freaked out by the thundering of the cannons.

Dave: My feet are bigger than President Lincoln's.

It was the Battle for Wilson's Creek. We passed that battlefield yesterday in Missouri. The ladies were wearing hoop skirts. The prisoners had to either fight against their side or stay in prison. Some of them actually fought for the opposing side. The prisoners wore bright red shirts and striped pants, in case they tried to run away. The problem was the cannon guys also had red markings. The Calvary had yellow markings, the infantry wore blue. We saw a man fall off his horse during practice. The horse started bucking. Robynne, our sister's dog, was in the camper a half mile away and she was so upset by the cannon fire that she threw up on the floor of the RV. That's how loud they are.
Now I am reading this book:

Dom: We got to see a doc, they fixed wounds mostly by amputation. My feet are not quite as big as Mr. Lincoln's. The guys all came back to life when the leader yelled, "Resurection!" They sold donuts and the cinnamon donuts were really, really good.  Dan bought a baker's dozen for us. That's 13. We saved one for Dad, the rest of us got two.

Dave: They were good, but not as good as Mom's!!!

There were no battles fought in Keokuk, IA. But there was a Union hospital there. It was easy to send the injured up the Mississippi River.
The Confederates won the Battle for Wilson's Creek.