Is this heaven? It's Iowa.

While many people would groan at the thought of driving across Iowa twice in a weekend, I actually looked forward to it. Iowa is flattish, in parts, but mostly gently rolling hills. The word 'pastoral' sprang to mind at every turn of the highway. You see, it's in driving through the state that you get a better feeling of what America is all about. The miles and miles of corn and soybean fields, growing to feed our families, feed our livestock, feed our world. Iowa is a state of many wonders. We found this out in the handouts they gave us at a rest stop along the way (along with a map and a key ring that says "Iowa is life changing"). The state bird is the goldfinch. State tree: the mighty oak. State flower: wild rose. Famous people from Iowa: Dean Ketelsen, John Wayne, James Van Allen (oddly he wasn't on the list they gave us), Mamie Eisenhower, Bob Feller, Herbert Hoover, Grant Wood, Bix Biederbeck, the list goes on! What it doesn't tell you on the list is that this is the heartland of America. This is where you can buy ethanol for you car, this is where your food is coming from. Iowans are hardworking, honest, people. They work honest, they play honest, and they love honest - straight from the heart. Traveling from the Mississippi to the Missouri and back again I was reminded of this, as I saw each farm along the way. The corn rustling in the wind; the soybeans gently waving; the Black-eyed Susan's watching us roll past on the highway - all saying 'this is Iowa'. In the movie, "The Field of Dreams", Ray's father answers back to the title of this entry with "Iowa? I could have sworn this was heaven." I don't think he was far off the mark.