Trip to Iowa 2014, Part 1

Hello all, from the Heart (so I'm told) of the Mid-West.  I am in the middle of a 10 day long trip to a little town in Iowa - invited by a friend to accompany her and her 2 1/2 year old daughter on a road trip to visit family.  I'm not occupied employment right now, so how could I pass up the opportunity to spend some time in a part of the country that I've not even driven through before?  Visiting new places, near or far or virtually, is always inspiring to me, so I said yes and the adventure began!

All packed up and ready to go.  Neither of us were sure we could fit all of our own gear, plus the stuff for the kiddo and food in the car, but somehow we managed.  Left Nashville around 8:30 or 9pm, and didn't reach our hotel in Paducah KY until nearly midnight.  The next day we drove from 8am to 8:30pm, stopping nearly every hour for potty breaks...none of us could get in sync with the others!  Here are a few pictures from the drive:

A storm started coming in when we were just South of the IA state line in MO.  Look at those cool washboard clouds!

Here's another view of the storm, just a few more miles down the road.

Just before sunset in IA.  I just love how silvery the clouds get at this time of day.

When the sun finally set, we had this amazing color show.  Ok, I know the picture is incredibly blurry, but just look at the colors.  I want to make this necklace!

Well, we finally, arrived and after a weekend of visiting family members (all with multiple kids), we've spent the last two days lounging and recuperating.  I did get out into the yard and take a few pictures of my friend's mom's garden plants:

This awesome morning glory has blossoms in variegated blue and white with a teeny bit of blue...on the same plant.

Don't ask me what this plant is...it's just soft, silvery and pretty!

Dinner plate sized Hibiscus in a color I haven't seen before.

We also went to Ledges State Park - you can read more about this local attraction here!  It was so nice to get out with the kids, wade in the water, and see how the water has carved the stone over the eons.  I think we're going back next weekend so I'll make an effort to get some more interesting pics than these:

I hope you're looking forward to parts 2 (the rest of the trip) and 3 (all the beady goodness I've scored) sometime next week after I get back to TN.  Thanks for looking!