Welcome to Iowa City!

What a gorgeous day we had!  We took off from Mobile into clear blue sky- all the thunderstorms were behind us, and headed north, over Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri to Iowa City, over farmland, forest, over incredibly green Ozarks, and on up west of St. Louis. Meandering rivers and lakes gave way to precise midwestern one-mile square section-lined fields. The mighty muddy Mississippi crisscrossed our path, and in places, it was obvious that these people had had a LOT of rain lately. Off to the west, thunderclouds billowed, and the AnywhereMap showed brightly colored areas to be avoided. Hoping to beat the east-bound storms looming on our western horizon, we pressed on past our planned second fuel stop, another 45 minutes or so. It worked-- we got only the barest bit of a shower, and absolutely glassy smooth the entire trip. Arriving in Iowa City, we found ourselves unexpected... apparently no marshalling, no ride from the west-40-acres, no registration, ... but a warm welcome from our Mama Bird, and a ride to the Taj ma Sheraton for the night. Ahhh. Early dinner more than compensated for no breakfast and no lunch, and now it's on to go prepare for tomorrow's check-in formalities. This is beginning to feel alarmingly real! :-D 

Iowa City is a nice place. Don't know what I expected, but the beautiful pedestrian mall right in the middle of town, just outside our hotel door, with several hundred people, mostly local, from infants to elderly, enjoying a warm summer Thursday evening, was a delight. There must be a dozen restaurants, most with tables outside, big gourmet grocery/deli, gift shops, clothing stores, craft galleries- there was no sitting in a hotel room for us! Friday nights feature free concerts, and apparently the plan is to arrive early to find a place to sit..