I took a day off work yesterday to head to Council Bluffs to attend the funeral of one of my wife's cousins, Orba Sue Zinger. She owned an upholstery and quilting business out that way.
Having spent my first 53 years mostly living in and traveling eastern Iowa, I had never had the occasion to drive to CB and that area of the state. It was fun seeing towns that I've since become acquainted with while working at our magazine and that posters on this board mention from time to time.
Psyclone, on our way back to Ames, I noticed the exit to Oakland and for a minute considered driving over to check out your old hometown. But when I saw it was a 21-mile trek out of my way in the wrong direction, I thought I would save the trip for another day when I had more time. I was surprised when I checked the Iowa map this morning and saw that it has a population of over 1,400. For some reason, I assumed it was smaller than that. What school district is Oakland a part of now?
I also had no preconceived notion of what Council Bluffs would be like. We didn't see much at all of the city itself, since the church we were at, St. Paul's Episcopalian, was out in the country on the far east side of CB. I mainly drove through some road and bridge construction on the east side, which made the area look pretty "junky". I have heard downtown CB has some nice historic preservation going on, though.
I did drive by Lewis Central High School on the way to the church, and took note of that since I follow Iowa high school sports closely. Also noticed a rather large institutional-looking facility across the road from Lewis Central, the name which escapes me now.
I was amazed looking west from the road we were on at how flat the land lays towards the Missouri River. Much different than the Mississippi River basin that I am more familiar with. I could see smokestacks and presumably factories which I would guess were at least 20 miles away.
Driving back home in the afternoon on I-80, I notice that we crossed "Keg Creek". I thought surely we must be near Fairviewfarmer's farm with a "crick" that goes by that name. Was I close, Fairview?
Anyway, this was Cedar4Cy's excellent adventure this January day. Shortly after we crossed Keg Creek, we got off the Interstate and wound our way north and east back to Ames on less-traveled roads. I love traveling and exploring the back roads and small towns of Iowa. That's my kind of vacation day.
Having spent my first 53 years mostly living in and traveling eastern Iowa, I had never had the occasion to drive to CB and that area of the state. It was fun seeing towns that I've since become acquainted with while working at our magazine and that posters on this board mention from time to time.
Psyclone, on our way back to Ames, I noticed the exit to Oakland and for a minute considered driving over to check out your old hometown. But when I saw it was a 21-mile trek out of my way in the wrong direction, I thought I would save the trip for another day when I had more time. I was surprised when I checked the Iowa map this morning and saw that it has a population of over 1,400. For some reason, I assumed it was smaller than that. What school district is Oakland a part of now?
I also had no preconceived notion of what Council Bluffs would be like. We didn't see much at all of the city itself, since the church we were at, St. Paul's Episcopalian, was out in the country on the far east side of CB. I mainly drove through some road and bridge construction on the east side, which made the area look pretty "junky". I have heard downtown CB has some nice historic preservation going on, though.
I did drive by Lewis Central High School on the way to the church, and took note of that since I follow Iowa high school sports closely. Also noticed a rather large institutional-looking facility across the road from Lewis Central, the name which escapes me now.
I was amazed looking west from the road we were on at how flat the land lays towards the Missouri River. Much different than the Mississippi River basin that I am more familiar with. I could see smokestacks and presumably factories which I would guess were at least 20 miles away.
Driving back home in the afternoon on I-80, I notice that we crossed "Keg Creek". I thought surely we must be near Fairviewfarmer's farm with a "crick" that goes by that name. Was I close, Fairview?
Anyway, this was Cedar4Cy's excellent adventure this January day. Shortly after we crossed Keg Creek, we got off the Interstate and wound our way north and east back to Ames on less-traveled roads. I love traveling and exploring the back roads and small towns of Iowa. That's my kind of vacation day.
