Back in Iowa for some serious exploration we were returning from Washington along US-2 until with dropping temperatures we were dropping south and then east back to Columbus, Ohio to see doctors and friends again. On this pass we stopped in both Cedar Rapids and Davenport and several gardens.
One of the really interesting attractions Lori found in the AAA book was National Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids and with my grandfather from the Czech-Polish border area it sounded great until we discovered it had been decimated by a record flood in June. We did find a really super campground at Morgan Creek County Park and explored some of the area so we could come back when the museum had reopened. Probably one of the most enjoyable was Noelridge Park an almost botanical garden that was not flooded.
Moving on to Davenport we again found a very nice county operated campground at West Lake Park and on our travels through town found these folks all geared up and ready for my favorite holiday. Really got me thinking about setting up again in Columbus, Ohio with our friends.
Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa and Rock Island and Moline in Illinois comprise the Quad Cities
area that with a few smaller towns is just one metropolis. We did not spend enough time in any one to put them on a separate page except the gardens like the Vander Veer Botanical Garden in Iowa we visited several times. These split cities play havoc with my Year-State-City organization plan but I covered the Illinois side of the river on it's own page.
Going from Lincoln, Nebraska back to I-29 in Missouri is easiest with a tiny little sojourn into the southwestern tip of Iowa. Hardly worth mentioning except to keep the records straight. Lots more about Iowa later.