Week 48: Shenandoah, Iowa

It is time for a few words about Iowa, although I am actually with ten miles of the northern Missouri border by now, several miles past Shenandoah, the last town in Iowa. The whole trip through Iowa is only 72 miles, or less than two weeks.

A small bit of forward-looking information: the first town I will pass in Missouri is called Westboro, but it is not the home of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church. I checked; the church is in Topeka, Kansas. Good thing, because I might have had to avoid the town, even virtually, if those jackasses were in it.

A few things about Iowa:

The biggest commodity produced in Iowa is corn. After that comes hogs and soybeans.

The top attraction in Iowa, per the Internet, is the state capitol building. Number 5 is a water park. Number 11 is the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library. Number 13, my favorite, is a recreation of Herbert Hoover's childhood neighborhood.  I don't want to be dismissive of the middle of the country, and I thought Nebraska seemed interesting enough, but the list of things to do in Iowa is pretty uninspiring.

On the good side, the Field of Dreams is in Iowa, and there is a place called Okoboji that looks interesting. And that state capitol might actually be worth a visit.