Iowa 2021:
Day 2 - Geode State Park, IA

	Monday, August 23, 2021: It was a beautiful morning after an uneventful night.
	We had a leisurely breakfast of sandwiches and Diet Cokes, and were in no hurry to leave since we wanted to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures.
	We broke camp around 11:00 AM, and followed a truck pulling a trailer out of the campground. It seemed like every trailer that left was draining something as they left because every one left a similar drip-trail out of the park.
	On the drive in the day before, Tom had asked if one of the crops in the fields was soybeans. Apparently he should read the documentation.
	We passed this lovely house with its immaculate yard and dome-ish roof.
	It was very odd to see what looked like a roof spire just sitting in a parking lot. Did they have an extra one? Is someone missing one?
	Every round barn must be photographed. Every. Single. One.
	An hour after leaving camp, we were heading into Peoria, Illinois. East Peoria, to be specific.
	Our first stop was the Twistee Treat.
	Who doesn't love getting ice cream from a shop that is shaped like an ice cream cone?
	Debbie noticed that they had a Rowe AMI jukebox that was very similar to the one we used to have. It had both 45s and CDs, in a similar configuration as ours. Sweet.
	We had both ordered the flavor of the day: apple pie frozen yogurt cones. Delicious!
	Right up the street was this dapper looking rooster. You've got to respect a giant chicken in a top hat, right?
	We crossed over the Illinois River into Peoria proper, ...
	... and headed to the Dan Fogelberg Memorial in Riverfront Park.
	On the walk from the parking lot to the memorial, we passed Constitution Garden, ...
	... which has a Bill of Rights walk featuring a plaque in the ground for each of the first ten Amendments to the US Constitution, ...
	... and one stone per state showing the date that a specific state ratified that Amendment.
	Back to Dan Fogelberg. Peoria was his home town, and shortly after he died in 2007, a fan came up with the idea to create a memorial for him. She presented the idea to the City Council, which unanimously approved the idea and set aside this area in Riverfront Park. The memorial was officially dedicated in 2010.
	The three stones of the memorial feature lyrics from different songs. Fans were allowed to contribute suggestions and vote on the songs that would be used. The first stone has lyrics from his 1974 song, "Part of the Plan."
	The middle stone contains lyrics from his 2003 song "Icarus Ascending." Both of these songs are huge favorites of Debbie's.
	The last stone has the dedication, and lyrics from "River of Souls." It really is a beautiful monument.
	A bench nearby had a view of the monument and the river, ...
	... and had a quote from Fogelberg about following your own instincts when you are making music.
	In addition to setting aside the land for the memorial, the city of Peoria also renamed a portion of Abington Street as "Fogelberg Parkway."
	We drove by Woodruff High School, which was Fogelberg's alma mater, and also where his father was a teacher and bandleader.
	We kept driving along Fogelberg Parkway to this convenience store, where Fogelberg ran into his old high school sweetheart one Christmas Eve as described in the song, "Same Old Lang Syne."
	After leaving the Dan Fogelberg part of town, we noticed that other streets were named after famous people from Peoria. More on that later.
	As we approached our next destination, we passed some large, beautiful homes.
	We were headed to the Francis W. Little House, which was built from plans by Frank Lloyd Wright.
	We had a quick lunch at McDonald's before heading out of Peoria.
	We passed this assisted living facility as we were driving toward the highway, and Debbie noticed that it had gargoyles on the roofline. Fancy!
	We passed the George O. Pasquel Company, which sells "nugget foods" in addition to ...
	... pork and beans. Who doesn't love a pig wearing a can stuck to the side of a building? Now that's good advertising.
	Speaking about famous residents of Peoria, we would be remiss if we didn't mention Richard Pryor. His statue in the warehouse district is a remarkable likeness of him and was unveiled in 2015, ten years after his death.
	There were lots of sculptures and artwork in the intersections along the warehouse district and in front of ...
	... the Peoria Riverfront Museum.
	We love it when a section of road is named, and this section was named for the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan. He was raised in northern Illinois, and worked as a radio sports commentator in the area before moving to California.
	Have we mentioned that Illinois is has an association with Abraham Lincoln?
	I'm sure we have. Haven't we?
	Tom always cleans the bugs off the windshield when we stop for gas, and Debbie always takes his picture.
	More round barns. Good show, Illinois.
	Hey! There's a big bridge ahead! I'll bet we are crossing into ...
	... Iowa! Congratulations, The Ocho, on making it to your 30th state.
	Our campground this night was Geode State Park.
	We had a lovely spot at the end of a loop that was completely free of other campers.
	We got set up in camp and watched one of our favorite movies, "Happy Accidents." We laughed out loud when one of the main characters said that he is from Dubuque, Iowa, even though that is one of the Iowa towns we wouldn't be visiting on this trip.
	Our dinner this evening was beef stroganoff.
	When Tom went to the restroom, he refilled our empty water bottles. We've gotten good at water management in our rig when we don't have water hookups at our campsites.
	Since the air conditioner in our RV was not working, this fan was very, very key to our comfort. We were much happier with the temperature once the sun was down.
	Debbie made freeze-dried mango sticky rice for dessert, which was a nice treat before bedtime, especially once it cooled off. Day 3 >