…….I just can’t wait to get on the road again….. da da da daaaa daaa… something, something… I can’t remember the words, but I just can’t wait to get on the road again…….

I’m checking out for about a week.

(In order to be fair, I must admit that I am 99.9 100% sure that the sign has been poorly altered. See the seam? LOL!!)

We’re headed to Iowa today to visit my parents, sibs, nieces, and nephews… Yah, I’m the “lone wolf”, the “black sheep” who moved to Utah for school, and STAYED here.

I love Iowa… it’s choc full of cornfields, rivers, and open spaces…. as far as the eye can see. That’s the problem… as far as the eye can see. Is there something that is opposite of claustrophobic? If so, that applies to me and Iowa.

There is no end to what you see… it just goes on and on and on… (which might be ok for some folks, but I like my mountains…)

The other problem is the summer humidity. Too bad I can’t show you a photo of that. If you’ve never experienced that kind of humidity… imagine a steam sauna and no breeze…. and then add the ‘squitos… ick. In the thick of it all you may as well not bother drying off after a shower, just pull your clean clothes on and head out. And hair? HA!

I do enjoy going to Iowa to visit my folks… but I like to do it in May/early June and in the fall. Iowa is absolutely gorgeous… (Don’t get me wrong, I love Iowa, too, I just don’t think I could live there full time…. :P) There’s all kinds of neat places to go see & do: The Living History Farms, The Iowa State Fair (awesome!!), JOhn Wayne’s Birthplace, The Bridges of Madison County (ok, kinda boring), LOADS of lakes, The Amana Colonies… all sorts of neat things… and then there’s the shopping. My ‘rents live smack in the middle several cities meeting each other… and literally across the street from GOBS OF SHOPPING. And then there’s that way stinkin’ delicious CORN.. Nothing beats good Iowa sweet corn!

And they have a beautiful State Capitol building.

But then there’s Utah.

I love Utah.

I love the mountains, the lakes, the forests, the deserts. We live smack in the middle of a mountain desert area. I can drive 5 hours to Las Vegas (for the shows and rides), 6 hours to Yellowstone, 2 hours to Zion National Park, 4 hours to Arches National Park, 6 hours to the Grand Canyon, 8 hours to Denver, 8 hours to California (10 to Disneyland), etc, etc, etc. And if I could ski…… 40 minutes away from world class ski resorts….. we have the BEST SNOW ON EARTH.

I literally live at the base of the mountains. The views here are amazing. The mountains behind my home and to the south of us are incredible. We can drive 5 minutes to the mouth of the canyon for a gorgeous mountain canyon drive (Payson Canyon, Nebo Loop)….

Gotta stop at the Daley Freez first to pick up the world’s best Lime Freezes…..

Mmmmm.

I will spare you winter photos… I’m finally warming up and I am so stoked for summer!

So enjoy your week/weekend. I might pop online with a couple of photos of having fun with family…. I’m praying for decent weather…. you know, no tornados or other maladies…. lol! (Not quite tornado season, but you never know… )

Inky Smiles!

Erin

(edited):

PS.. I am not from IA… grew up an Army Brat… Dad retired from El Paso, TX and IA was just where he was when he retired from his last civilian job. Also, non of the pics were taken by me. I snagged them from the web (google images) this am when posting.

PPS… We have a beautiful (and newly remodeled & nestled up high on a mountain side) state capitol, too!