"Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa!"

The main reason for our visit to the Midwest was to go to Iowa. The majority of the people I met in Berlin either came from Iowa or had some connection to Iowa, so it became quite a joke amongst all of us. Michelle and I both felt the need to experience Iowa firsthand, so what better tour guide than Karisti, a native Iowan. The first stop in an Iowa adventure was the Field of Dreams. The minute Karisti told Michelle and I that she would take us there, we couldn't stop talking about it. The words "heaven" and "Iowa" became the most used in our conversations.

The Field of Dreams didn't disappoint at all. It was beautiful!! It looks exactly like it did in the movie, of course, and just has this great feeling to it. There were some visiting families who were throwing around a ball and running the bases, but other than that we had the place to ourselves. The house is gorgeous from outside - definitely my dream house - though in my dream it would be looking out over a lake instead of corn fields. Michelle and I both acted out the scene in the movie where they come out of the corn fields and utter the famous words: "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa." It was incredibly fun and I am so thankful to Karisti for driving a few hours out of our way to take us there. I think I need to watch the movie again sometime soon...

Michelle and I were determined to get our picture taken with something that said "Iowa", so here we are on the steps of the old statehouse, which is now the main building on the campus of the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Karisti went to U of I for grad school, so it was fun to have her show us around the campus and the town. While we were there, there was a tornado warning, a first for both Michelle and I, being East Coast girls. The sirens went off and we took cover first in a store and then in a cafe, which had the bonus of food, a TV, and a bathroom. The tornadoes didn't end up coming through Iowa City, but they were nearby, so it wouldn't have been a good idea for us to get on the highway and drive back to Cedar Rapids. We watched the news coverage until the warning was over, then headed back. It was a very exciting afternoon!

So, the moral of the story is that Iowa is wonderful! I'm so glad I had a chance to see where Karisti is from and experience Iowa firsthand, after hearing so much about it. It was great to see Karisti's parents and just spend some time at her house. It was a fabulous trip from beginning to end!