In June, Madeline and the girls went to Atlanta to celebrate Grandma Mary’s 90th birthday. I was there over one of the weekends to enjoy some fun. When we returned, though, we thought we should do something for the 4th of July, which fell on a Saturday. We just took off driving west on Friday and eventually ended up in Iowa. We found all sorts of surprises in the area, and had a really fun time. We also took some photos that will always be a couple of our favorites. Alicia was 4 and Dana was 2.

Iowa—Jul 1992

7/3/92—7/5/92

We left home in the morning on Friday and drove west on Highway 20, through the hills of Northwest Illinois until we turned south and hit the Mississippi River in Savanna. We crossed the river and drove through eastern Iowa.

We stopped in Clinton, Iowa and found a hotel that let us check in really early and have some fun in their pool and hot tub for a while.

We cleaned up and went back out to a little playground area before going to dinner. At dinner, we asked the waitress where there were fireworks in Clinton the next night. She said they didn’t have fireworks, but there was a small town west of there that actually had fireworks on the 3rd.

We found the town in our Atlas, Grand Mound, and learned that its population was only a few hundred. We didn’t think there would be much of a fireworks show in such a small town, but we drove there anyway. When we neared the town, we saw a line of cars coming from every direction. We got into town and there were cars and people everywhere. Somehow, Madeline found an open piece of grass near a ballfield that she backed the 4-Runner up onto. From there, we could see the fireworks in the sky and on the ground. The show was fantastic, and Madeline took the photo to the right of us watching them. I love how Dana is all smiles, but was still holding on to the truck and me to make sure she was safe.

The next morning, we drove further south to the Quad Cities. We found Fejervary Park, which had an interesting goose, a tire swing, and some other play items. It also had a beautiful garden, and I took the photo to the left of Alicia smelling a rose. This photo has always been on of my favorites, because it symbolizes the innocence of a little girl… my little girl!

On Sunday, we went to Niabi Zoo, where we rode the train, saw zebras and tigers, and Dana asked so many questions about everything.

It was a long weekend with a bit of driving, but it turned out to be quite an unexpected adventure. We were all just itching to be able to explore the world… both far and near… to see what other surprises we may just find.