Tag Archives: Iowa
Tour the international space station – by internet
My dad provided me with this post fodder – an internet tour of the International Space Station. It’s a brave new world.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/doN4t5NKW-k
and here’s a list of possible dates to see it over Iowa….
THE FOLLOWING ISS SIGHTINGS ARE POSSIBLE FROM MON JAN 21 TO TUE FEB 05
| SATELLITE | LOCAL | DURATION | MAX ELEV | APPROACH | DEPARTURE |
| DATE/TIME | (MIN) | (DEG) | (DEG-DIR) | (DEG-DIR) | |
| ISS | Tue Jan 22/06:41 AM | 5 | 18 | 10 above NNW | 10 above ENE |
| ISS | Wed Jan 23/05:52 AM | 2 | 15 | 15 above N | 11 above NE |
| ISS | Thu Jan 24/06:37 AM | 4 | 27 | 11 above NW | 17 above ENE |
| ISS | Fri Jan 25/05:48 AM | 3 | 20 | 20 above N | 11 above ENE |
| ISS | Sat Jan 26/05:00 AM | < 1 | 12 | 12 above NE | 11 above NE |
| ISS | Sat Jan 26/06:33 AM | 4 | 53 | 15 above NW | 33 above E |
| ISS | Sun Jan 27/05:44 AM | 2 | 33 | 32 above N | 21 above ENE |
| ISS | Mon Jan 28/04:56 AM | < 1 | 15 | 15 above ENE | 13 above ENE |
| ISS | Mon Jan 28/06:29 AM | 4 | 60 | 18 above WNW | 19 above SE |
| ISS | Tue Jan 29/05:41 AM | 2 | 73 | 73 above NE | 21 above ESE |
| ISS | Wed Jan 30/04:53 AM | < 1 | 14 | 14 above E | 14 above E |
| ISS | Wed Jan 30/06:26 AM | 4 | 23 | 18 above WSW | 11 above S |
| ISS | Thu Jan 31/05:38 AM | 2 | 29 | 29 above S | 12 above SSE |
ONLY DAYS WITH SIGHTING OPPORTUNITIES ARE LISTED
This data last updated on 21 Jan 2013 17:35:25 GMT
ISS insignia
Filed under Adventure travel
where to stay along the Mississippi in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota
One of the worst nights we’ve had was staying aboard a boat that doubles as a hotel of sorts along the Mississippi River in Dubuque Iowa. It seemed like a good idea but the quarters were cramped and strange; the boat was docked beside not only a busy road but a railroad track so it was noisy; and we were the only people aboard. Given that this boat was among the recommendations listed for where to stay along the Mississippi in a 2009 issue of a Minneapolis based mag, I’m not sure how the other recommendations will be. But here they are just in case:
– Golden Lantern Inn, Red Wing, MN
– Tritsch House B&B, Alma, WI (this is a really nice little river town!)
– Alexander Mansion, Winona, Mn.- Wilson Schoolhouse Inn, LaCrosse, WI
– The Hancock House, Dubuque
– Mont Rest, Bellevue, Ia. (long been curious about this place)
– Tatanka Bluffs, Redwood Falls, MN
– Belle Rive, Lanesboro, MN
– Oakenwald Terrace. Chatfield, MN
– Woodland Trails. Hinckley, MN
– Inn at Sacred Clay Farm, Lanesboro, MN
– Solglimit, Duluth, MN
– Blue Heron, Ely, MN
– Loon Song Bed and Breakfast, Park Rapids, MN
– A.G. Tomson House. Duluth, MN
– Covington Inn, St. Paul, MN
Watching US election results in Arequipa Peru
Well it would help if we understand Spanish. But hey, we just found CNN in English so we are all set. But there is a certain cognitive dissonance to be watching American election results in this very ancient city in Peru.. We are in an 18th century hostal in the old section of Arequipa, in a room with thick stone walls, worn wooden French doors, wrought iron grills on the windows, thick red bricks by the bathroom. our room opens up into a small stone and tile courtyard with lots of potted plants. Oh god, CNN is talking about how close the vote is in Iowa. This is nerve wracking.
Arequipa is absolutely charming. The Plaza des Armas is gorgeous with a huge white stone cathedral with snow capped mountains looming behind it and two story arched colonnades lining the rest of the square. Oh god, james carville says Obama will likely carry Florida and win the election. Back to Arequipa, the creamy white sone facades of the churches and even the banks are stunning, many opening into lovely courtyards. Then some buildings are painted in deep shades of blue, red, mustard
including la casa de melgar hostal where we are right now. We had an excellent dinner two blocks away at Zigzag, which specializes in meat and fish served sizzling on black volcanic stones. I had rack of lamb. Dirck had chunks of pork, beef and alpaca. yes alpaca. No guinea pig this time.Tomorrow we sight see…first stop the monasterio de Santa Catalina, whose thick stone walls line a long block. Cannot wait. Love this place. Reminds us at times of places in Spain and Italy yet it feels very Distinctly South American…especially Peruvian. Here are some photos of our hostal. Oh my god elizabeth warren won. I am soooooo happy!
One of top 15 architecture cities….Mason City, Iowa!
Front of the Park Inn Hotel (right) and side of the City
People from beyond Iowa tend to find it remarkable that Mason City Iowa has such a treasure trove of Prairie Style homes – by architects including Frank Lloyd Wright. But Conde Nast travel mag is in the know: It recently listed Mason City among the top 15 cities in the world of noteworthy architectural history, according to Wright on the Park, a Mason City nonprofit instrumental in restoring and reopening The Park Inn Hotel, the last remaining hotel designed by Wright. The hotel plus the Wright-designed Stockman House (both of which offer public tours) and the Rock Crest-Rock Glen residential area, where you can take a self-guided tour of the area’s historic homes including many Prairie Style homes, no doubt won Mason City the same destination nod as cities including Barcelona (presumably for Gaudi!) and Tel Aviv. Word has it the restaurant has opened at the hotel (it wasn’t opened yet when I visited about a year ago.)
Filed under architecture, Iowa
A good citizen saves my day in Salem Massachusetts
The first indication I had that my trip east was about to go horribly wrong came early this evening after I had spent much of the day wandering all over Salem, Massachusetts. My husband called to ask if I had lost my credit card. He had tried to use the card, which is in both of our names, at the grocery store in des Moines and couldn’t so he called the credit card company and was told that someone had called in to say they found it so the company cancelled it. I looked in my purse and not only was my credit card missing. My entire wallet was gone. No license, debit card, money, or…credit card. And this on the first day of a five day trip where I need to travel by train and stay in a hotel and eat out.
I had a terrible sinking feeling. Retracing my steps wouldn’t really work because there had been so many of them. I had wandered up and down those pretty narrow new England streets that I love …which does not lend itself to finding a lost wallet. But someone had called the credit card company about my card so it must have been found by someone who was honest and trying to find me. Now how could I find him. Or her?
I called the credit card company and they had a name but no phone number for my good citizen. And his name was very common. Then I thought if he had my license he could find my phone number in Iowa. But my husband found no message on our home phone. Then i remembered my phone listing is for my office phone. My husband walked into my office while my heart beat like a tomtom and there was one message and it was from my good citizen. He had left his phone number, which I called and he picked up right away. Turns out he is the dock master for the marina where I had stopped to sit on a bench and admire the view. Somehow my wallet fell out of my purse, someone found it and gave it to him…I think. We drove back to Salem from my relatives house in swampscott and we used cellphones to find each other and now I have my wallet back. The guy could not have been nicer, even apologizing for getting my credit card cancelled but if he hadn’t done that I probably wouldn’t have known until tomorrow when I was leaving that my wallet was missing because no one would have noticed the message on my office phone while I was away. I do plan to write my cellphone number on my wallet. I think that makes sense. Or maybe my email address. Live and learn. I got lucky. And this was a good reminder that there are some good people out there. I tried to give him some money but he wouldn’t take anything. He did let me shake his hand.
Filed under Massachusetts
Boot Hill, Jalisco, bella Italia…dodge city,kansas
i made a rare visit to the boot hill museum in dodge city this morning to pick up some souvenirs for a Peruvian man my son is living with in Lima. Turns out he is a big fan of westerns so figured he’d like some dodge city stuff. Not sure his wife will. I was surprised by how busy the gift shop was. I didn’t stick around for the midday gunfight. Too much of that going on in the real world these days. Tonight we returned to our favorite Mexican restaurant in dodge, tacos Jalisco, where I tried the garlic shrimp rather than my usual carne asana (we had had steak for Sunday lunch…this being Kansas). Shrimp was good and always an interesting scene, full of Hispanic families and even some african Muslims. That’s dodge these days, with lots of immigrants working in the meat packing plant. We also went last night to Bella Italia, Italian food but everyone we saw working there was mexican. Very sweet people. Food, not great. We hit the road for nine hour drive back to Iowa. Word has it Obama will be back in Iowa again this week (and I will be away again during his visit.)
Filed under Dodge City, Kansas misc
West Des Moines: Olympic gymnastics hotspot thanks to Chow, Gabby, Shawn
We met Liang Chow and his wife about 10 – 15 years ago when our daughter took lessons at his then-fledgling gymnastics studio in West Des Moines. Who knew that he would become a darling of the 2008 and now 2012 olympics but it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Who knows what really goes on between a coach and star pupil but I do know that I’d trust my kid’s fragile body and emotions with him if I had a budding gymnast on my hands. He always seemed a bit unknowable behind his omnipresent smile (a stereotype I know) but he also seemed very calm and kind and dedicated. Just what you want in a coach, I’d think. So happy for him – and his star pupils Gabby Douglas and, in 2008, Shawn Johnson (who I no doubt watched as a kid when I sat through my daughter’s gymnastics classes. She’s a year older than our daughter.) Happy too for my adopted city and state to catch a little unlikely fame. Wonder who our next Iowa-trained gymnastics superstar will be? (A few contenders can be found on http://www.chowsgym.com.)
Filed under Des Moines
now for a little self-promotion…hot off the press: The New York Times, 36 Hours: 150 Weekends
A New Yorker cartoon recently summed up the typical contents of a blog that it’s: 1/3 how to sew, knit, cook, whatever, 1/3 kvetching of one variety or another and 1/3 self-promotion. Or some such.
With this blog, I’ve tried not to do much of any of that. But hey, what’s wrong with a little self- promotion – especially when, sadly, I won’t earn anything else from the re-publication of two of my stories for the NYTimes in an upcoming 774- page coffee table travel book.
So be on the look out for The New York Times, 36 hours: 150 weekends in the USA and Canada which should be available in November I’m told and includes my stories on Oak Park (Illinois) and on Iowa’s Coast (yes, coast – along the Mississippi). They’ve been updated since they ran several years ago – but not entirely by me.
Here’s some promo material:
The 740-page book includes the Times’ top 150 travel destinations, from cities and towns to natural wonders across America. Practical recommendations for the over 600 restaurants and 450 hotels is inside with color-coded tabs and ribbons to bookmark favorite cities in each region. Nearly 1,000 photos, most of them from The New York Times archive made it in, making it small enough to throw in your suitcase but big enough to enjoy from your favorite reading chair. The new illustrations by Times illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli of Milan, Italy look fantastic, and includes easy-to-reference indexes and detailed city-by-city maps,. This will be TASCHEN America’s top title of the year.
The New York Times, 36 Hours: 150 Weekends in the USA & Canada
Hardcover, 16.8 x 24 cm (6.6 x 9.4 in.), 744 pages
EUR 29.99 | USD 39.99 | GBP 24.99 | JPY 5900.00
The best of the USA & Canada: The highly acclaimed New York Times travel feature finally available in one updated volume
Rick Perry, lamb kebobs, dairy barn ice cream et al at the Iowa State Fair
If you want to see new presidential candidate Rick Perry up close and personal, a good opportunity awaits at the Iowa State Fair today where he will be speaking at 11:15 or so at the Des Moines Register’s “soapbox” at the Iowa State Fair. The fair was blissfully free of Republican presidential candidates last night but packed with people thanks to the recent arrival of perfect summer weather – low 80s, a light breeze, flawless blue skies. Annual fairgoers are used to much hotter muggier weather – so this nice stuff was a real treat.
I’d also recommend the lamb kebob, one of several lamb entrees offered at the Iowa Sheep Industry Association’s stand, located in a relatively out-of-the-way spot amidst the livestock barns (east of the sheep barn, across the street from the always popular Big Boar who this year was a 1,700-plus pound boar named Tiny). The pork producers outpost is much closer to the action – near the midway and along the grand concourse – and much busier than the lamb folks’ operation. But I found the pork chop rather dry and unflavorful, especially compared to the juicy well-spiced lamb. As always, a chocolate ice cream cone at the Dairy Barn was the perfect treat. And I gladly skipped the newest entry to the fried food on a stick category – fried butter on a stick.
One other tip – hitch a free ride on one of the tractor-drawn open-air shuttle wagons that winds through the fair. It’s very handy when your legs are suddenly getting worn out from so much walking and a good way to people watch as the shuttle moves slowly around the fairgrounds.
Filed under Iowa, Uncategorized
TakeBetsywithyou 