Day 6: IA to IL

My mom likes to use the word "gaudy" in describing the architectural stylings of the Iowa State Capitol building. I'll just say it featured bulbous green towers with gold trimming, the largest middle tower looking like it was literally covered in gold foil. We spent time walking around the complex, at first trying to find an entrance that was not marked "Staff Only," then giving up and instead spending time taking pictures in front of the various statues/fountains on the grounds. At the fountain, my dad suddenly said, "look there's a squirrel!" I was thinking "where?" Then I looked in the fountain and saw a dead squirrel floating face down in the water. It was simultaneously sad, gross, and interesting. We imagined the squirrel was running around the edge of the fountain, perhaps playing with another squirrel when it slipped and fell in. After that it would never have been able to climb out on the fountain's sloped walls... Unfortunate design or the perfect squirrel death trap? Then as we walked away from the building, I saw a bird smashed flat as a pancake on the driveway. There were a lot of dead animals on this trip. Roadkill raccoon, much mangled deer on the side of the road. One was strewn about the highway so that parts of its body were in one place, then later down the road we saw its head.

Later we went to the Des Moines Art Center designed by famous architects Eliel Saarinen (who taught at Cranbrook), I.M. Pei, and Richard Meier. Saw some pretty cool stuff, including some Cindy Sherman photos.

Then we began the five hour drive to Chicago.
I was excited when we went the wrong way and had to get off the main hwy to turn around and I was able to take this picture of a corn field! Hah! It was oddly exciting because I've never been up close to a real corn field before. I kept imagining Clark Kent would suddenly fly up out of the corn...



Somewhere along the road I spotted this RV...