Iowa leads the nation in corn production and has done so for the past 10 years. Iowa, according to the Corn Use FAQ, produces more corn than any other country in the world (other than the United States). We’ve seen a lot of corn today. In the rare case where there wasn’t a corn field on the side of the freeway, then the farmer was growing soybeans. There aren’t any of the big sprinkler systems here, either. There must be enough natural rainfall that those systems aren’t needed as there also doesn’t seem to be any other irrigation method, either. We’ve got about 28 miles left in the State of Iowa before crossing the Missouri River into Nebraska. We’re going across the northern part of Omaha (Interstate 680) so we can stop at the Winter Quarters Visitor’s Center and Temple for a few minutes. Today is a lovely day for traveling. It isn’t very hot — we don’t even need the air conditioning on in the front seat, yet. There are some high cirrus clouds but otherwise it’s a bright, sunny day. The cornfields are actually quite pretty. Every once in a while we’ll pass a farm with a red barn whereas most of them have white barns. The freeway is very noisey — that is, the concrete on the freeway makes a lot of tire noise. We like asphalt roads much better.

I don’t think I’ve ever driven across Iowa except on I-80. The only time we’ve been off the freeway was back in 1978 when the kids and I followed the ambulance from Ft. Madison up to Iowa City when Nina was being transported to the hospital. After she got out of the hospital a few days later, we did a small amount of exploring in the immediate area around Iowa City and then drove back to Chardon, Ohio and home. Looking at the map I see a number of interesting places in Iowa that would be fun to explore. After I retire we will take a few months to travel around the country driving on roads other than the freeway. Then perhaps we’ll stop in Mamie Eisenhower’s birthplace and look around on a scenic drive through Iowa….

The campground, Colony Country Campground was very nice. It was easy to find, easy to park, and very close to a large mall, great restaurants, and the Amana Colonies area for sightseeing. We pulled out of there about 6:30 a.m. CDT and after stopping for gas and a take-out McDonalds breakfast, we were on the road at about 7. We’ll be in Winter Quarters about 11 a.m. and then will settle in for the very long drive across Nebraska. This state is actually longer than Wyoming! And, at least along the freeway, there isn’t much of redeeming value. We are kind of hoping to get to Laramie, Wyoming by the end of the day. That’s about an nine-hour drive after we leave Omaha. Another long, driving day. But, we’ll soon be leaving the corn behind.

Sunday, July 31st 2005 is almost in the past. I think that time seems to pass too quickly and lots of things that I should have done are not even started. Dang! Today was a busy Sunday. It all started about 11:30 p.m. last night when the power went out. When that happens my nasal cpap machine stops running, of course, and I wake up. Sleep is impossible until power is restored and the machine starts working again. About 1 a.m. power was finally restored and I was back to sleep only to wake up at 6:30. I deliberately didn’t set an alarm clock so that I could sleep in as late as my body would allow. 6:30 was apparently the limit. After letting Bradica (the dog) out and getting her fed, I decided to stay up. Good thing, because starting about 7:00 the telephone calls started coming in.

I first heard from Nina who has safely arrived with Daryl literally in tow in Philadelphia. Daryl is now in his new apartment and will start his new job on Tuesday. The RV is empty of Daryl’s stuff and his car is unhitched from the back of the RV. Nina will continue on to Connecticut tomorrow morning. I’m wishing I was there for this big road trip! Nina was followed by several other phone calls from family and Ward members. In between the calls, I finished preparing the Sunday School lesson that I was scheduled to teach today, the talk I was to deliver in Sacrament Meeting, and practiced the hymns for Sacrament Meeting that I would be accompanying on the organ. That’s right: I was teaching a Sunday School class, playing the organ for Sacrament meeting, and was the concluding speaker.

The Bishop had called a couple of days ago and asked if I would be willing to speak on such short notice in Sacrament Meeting. He felt that I should prepare about 10-12 minutes on the subject of missionary work. It turned out there were only two speakers for the meeting and when it was my turn, there was thirty minutes left in the meeting. Because I didn’t know in advance how much time I would have, I had prepared a lot of material and set it up in a way that I could slice big chunks out if there wasn’t much time available. I used all of my material and we ended the meeting on time. I talked about my grandfather Nathan LeRoy Smith’s mission experiences in Samoa in 1912 through 1915. After the meeting, a member of the ward came up to tell me that when he was a teenager in Preston, he had lived next door to my grandfather. We had a great conversation and we’ll continue it at a later date. We’re cousins a couple of times removed.

After church I went to Soda Springs. I had picked up some steaks yesterday and had put some cheese-potatoes in the oven before leaving for church. They were ready when I got back after church and that was the dinner I took to Soda Springs. Tomorrow is my mother’s 81st birthday. We had a very nice visit and covered a wide range of topics. I enjoy going over the Soda Springs to visit with them. That finished off the day. I’ll publish this post, take care of the dog, and will head for bed. The workday starts early tomorrow morning!

Bradica and I are keeping the house occupied while Nina travels in the eastern United States. Her trip has been quite a saga, but that’s a story for her to tell. I’ll join her in a couple of weeks and travel back home with her. Meanwhile, today was a Saturday — a fairly busy day, actually. A company picnic was scheduled for the afternoon in a nearby city park. I was assigned to pick up some deli trays and to be at the park at 11:30 am to help setup. So, I spent a little while pulling weeds out of the area by the front door and then went to the picnic. It was a good event and people had a lot of fun. I took a lot of pictures, so they’ll end up in a DVD slideshow for people at the office eventually.

After the picnic I’ve been fairly lazy. I’m quite tired but need to stay up until about 10 so I can get completely turned around and through the jetlag problem. It’s only another 50 minutes!! I have started to put up some pictures from my business trip to Belgium. I started with the Flanders Field American Cemetery. Other pictures from Kortrijk, Ieper, and the Ijzer Front Tour will follow over the next few days. All of my posted pictures are accessible by clicking on the “pictures!” link on the right.

I arrived home on Tuesday night, Nina left on Wednesday morning for a major road trip out east. That makes me a lone fellow in the house. It’s very quiet with only me and Bradica (the dog). I’m coping with jet lag as well. Nina left about 6:30 Wednesday morning, so I got up for that and then went into work. I stayed until about noon and came home for a two-hour nap. I stayed up until about 9 and then crashed. But, at 4:30 I was wide awake. Tonight my plan is to stay up until 10 and get onto a normal schedule. We’ll see how that goes!