On Saturday I woke up early and prepared for our trip to Des Moines, Iowa. I had to clean out the vehicle, pack, and reorganize. After I got most of the work done, I woke the boys and everyone got a shower and got dressed. The boys had been asking to go to Dunkin' Doughnuts every day since we had been in Chicago. Cara and I couldn't understand what they thought was so special about the place. Cara had taken David and Matt there last year when I too Joe to Wrigley Field. Anyway, I decided to take them before we left town. Joe and I both received a free coffee coupon at the Cubs game we attended. We each got a doughnut and shared the two coffees. There was a long wait. Combining that wait with the slow traffic on the interstate in Chicago, it seemed like we would never get out of town, despite the early hour that I awakened to pack.
I also had a problem getting gas on the southside of Chicago. The pump wouldn't come on, the attendant had trouble understanding me, and the price was outrageous. I bought $5 worth of gas at over $3.50 per gallon, but they also charged my credit card an extra dollar. I didn't hang around to argue. We just got out of Dodge.
On the way to Iowa we stopped in Marseilles, IL and Ottawa, IL, which are my Mom and Dad's old stomping grounds. I enjoyed driving through those towns and passing on a little of my heritage to the boys. Joe made a comment about how many people were outside working in their yards and doing things compared to Alabama. He said that they made Alabama people look lazy. We saw people out mowing and trimming their yards, having yard sales, stores had outdoor sales, the parks were full of families playing together, and the local emergency responders were collecting donations at the main intersection in town. I almost pulled a real good one. I was getting money out to donate to the responders and I thought the car in front of me had pulled out. I almost wrecked with him when I was about to pull up to drop my donation in the bucket. I actually touched his bumper, but not enough to do anything to either of us, except cause me some embarrassment.
Driving through Ottawa I was able to show the boys the house that I grew up in on Marion Lane as well as McKinley School, where I attended first grade.
We drove on to Iowa, where we saw corn, then some more corn, followed by corn, and a little more corn. We saw some real interesting cumulus clouds and rainshafts because the visibility was so good; much better than we are accustomed to in Alabama. We went through a brief but intense rain storm that ended as abruptly as it begun.
We all liked the hotel in Des Moines. We checked in around 4, got our stuff into the room, then walked to Principal Park from the hotel. We were able to see the end of an Iowa high school baseball tournament game before the AAA Iowa Cubs played the Memphis Redbirds. We were all given free baseballs as we entered the park, which the boys got autographed by Cubs pitcher Jerome Williams before the game. We also stopped by the gift shop. I got an Iowa Cubs tee shirt, David got an Iowa Cubs can hugger, Joe got a green Red Sox cap, and Matt got Iowa Cubs wristbands. Jerome Williams, while signing autographs for the boys, was joking with Matt that he wanted his wristbands.
The game was great. It was a pitching duel that lasted a little less than two hours. Cubs starter Rich Hill struck out 14 batters in 7 and one third innings. The game lasted a few minutes less than two hours, which I think is the shortest nine inning game I can remember seeing in a very long time. I think I saw Greg Maddux pitch a shutout for the Braves against the Cubs back in the mid 1990's that lasted less than two hours. After the game, they handed out loaves of bread. We got our bread and walked back to the hotel. The boys swam in the indoor pool of the hotel for about an hour. We then headed up to the room, got ready for bed, told stories, said prayers, and got some much needed sleep.
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