Day 2: “Is this Heaven? No. It’s Iowa.”

 It seems that people rarely talk about Iowa. It’s a state that’s just there, just making up the face of that ‘state guy’ we all know from elementary school. When you think about it, Ohio loves corn, Iowa loves corn, she’s like the mid-morewestern version of Ohio.

     Anyways, Iowa was absolutely pleasant. The day was sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky, the temperature was perfect. We had to drive on many country roads this day, and it was so enjoyable just seeing the large country fields and all of the green grass. I could easily sit on one of those farmhouse front porches and live out my retirement there. Our destination for the day was located in one of these picturesque fields in Dyserville, Iowa.  If you have not already guessed, Mom and I were going to see the filming location for the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, starring the one and only Kevin Costner.

The infamous baseball field; they built it and we came. In case you are wondering, this picture was taken in early summer, so the corn was just beginning to come up.

 While at the farm, we were able to see and walk on the baseball field that has housed countless of games, we saw the infamous field that Shoeless Joe Jackson and the other players walk out of, we saw the original bleachers used in the movie, and of course the farmhouse! Mom and I chose to do a tour of the inside of the house, which I recommend if you’re a fan of the movie. Inside, you are able to see nearly everything and our tour guide had many wonderful stories and fun facts about the house and property and the movie as well. We even had the opportunity to meet one of the Lansing family members; the farm has been in their family since 1906.

The bleachers used in the movie are still sitting out by the field

You know, sometimes people stop and smell the roses, but I recommend that you stop and see the corn.

Speaking of corn, we briefly stopped to look at the Corn Palace on our way from Iowa into South Dakota.

Remember how I said you should try driving across an entire state in one day? If you choose to do this, under no circumstances should you do this with South Dakota. It was flat, brown, and desolate. There were no power lines, no light poles, no houses, buildings, restaurants, nothing. We would easily go 45 minutes before seeing anything except expansive land and even then, as quickly as the gas stations and couple buildings appeared, they would disappear just as so.

  We quickly became paranoid about running out of gas, so we filled our tank almost every single time we saw a station. Down ⅙ a tank? Doesn’t matter, fill ‘er up. A majority of the time, we would pass freeway exits that had nothing at them- and I do mean nothing. And on top of all of this, we saw practically no other vehicles, on our side of the freeway or the other! It was odd, at least for us Ohio people. I’m not sure if this is a common thing out west, but it made me feel like I was in the twilight zone or that we found the new Bermuda Triangle. Additionally, the one vehicle we did see the most of was probably people riding their bicycles, which, also made no sense to me how these people could ride their bikes in the middle of no where.

As we continued driving, since we literally had no other choice, I began imagining what it must have been like for the Native American people and the first pioneers in their covered wagons, discovering this land for the first time. Were they impressed on the size? Terrified of the random valleys in the middle of those darn plains? I like to think that it all started like this:

Scene: First Thanksgiving
White Settler Dude: Yeah man, whenever this weather clears up some, we hope to cover these wagons and head to the wild west. Any recommendations where we should go? Quickest way to the west coast?
Native American: *still doesn’t know how he feels about these people* Umm yeah just hop east and swing up north some.
Great plains out there. You’ll either love it or die trying.
W.S.D.: Um, excuse me, wait what?
N.A.: *awkwardly chuckles and smiles like the white dude said something funny, continues eating*

(Let’s just say, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there is a park called the Badlands and that it is in South Dakota).

     We eventually, after the sun set, finally saw some lights in the distance; we had finally reached civilization again and I’d be lying if I said a tear of joy was not shed. Our hotel for that evening was quite unique. Unbeknownst to us, it was attached to an indoor water park, so it was not just your typical Hampton Inn. The room was nice though and we ordered pizza straight to our door, so the night went as well as anyone could have hoped. Also, we quickly found that whenever you spend an entire day driving in a car, you will gladly welcome any type of hotel, so long as it has a comfy bed.

Note: I apologize if you are from South Dakota or have a great love for that state. Don’t get me wrong, we explored much of the southwest region and it is gorgeous, but the rest of southern South Dakota needs a good landscaper and maybe a Five Guys.