It is Wednesday night, a warm, dry evening in Dallas County, Iowa. The weather has warmed up and dried out, and the big news story here is that the fields have dried enough for the farmers to finally plant the corn. We are watching game 5 of the Jazz-Lakers series. The Jazz are hanging in there through the 3rd quarter, but keep throwing away chances to take the lead.
We spent last weekend in the Omaha area. We left first thing Saturday morning, driving through a rainstorm to Council Bluffs, Iowa. I was there for my first official BBQ judging experience, a contest called BBQ in The Bluffs. The event had closed the roads around a square park in the center of downtown. The BBQ teams were set up along the streets, where they had been cooking since the prior day, and the judging tent was set up in the center of the park, right next to a really beautiful fountain. My fellow judges were a mix of newly certified judges like me, and seasoned veterans, who were quick to share BBQ stories and advice. The judging, as usual for these events, was blind (the food comes to the judging tables in standard containers marked with a number), and we judged the four main categories; chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket. The chicken and ribs I happened to get were just OK, but I did have some phenomenal pork and brisket. It was a fun time, and the heavier rain held off until after the judging.
awesome fountain with judging tent to the right
While I was judging, Sarah took Asher and went into Omaha to spend time with her grandparents. I met up with them at Grandma Dodi's house, and we spent Saturday night there. Sunday morning was supposed to be stormy, but it dawned as a beautiful, sunny, but chilly day. We went to the Omaha zoo, which is a great zoo, and one that really takes a long day to see in it's entirety. We focsed on making sure we saw the parts we missed last time we were there. Asher loved the big cats, and walking through the tunnel through the shark tank. He also got a kiss through the glass from a mother orangutan. The highlight for Asher was the zoo train, which in Omaha is pulled by an actual steam engine (albeit a small one), so the two railroad nerds in the family (Asher and I) were loving it!
Asher (in his trusty hat) and a polar bear
Grandma Dodi met us at the zoo after mass, and we had a Mother's day brunch of snack bar BBQ sandwiches (don't ask me what they would have scored in judging). We left Omaha in the afternoon. Instead of sticking to I-80, a route that is becoming VERY familiar, we decided to take a drive in the country to get back to Waukee, hoping to see the countryside and maybe find some good country food. From the Missouri River, we drove up through the Loess Hills, and then east across the rolling fields of West-Central Iowa. The day was beautiful, and we were listening to the game 4 Jazz victory on the radio. We stopped in Elkhorn, Iowa, which is a small town that is very proud of its Danish heritage. They are so proud, in fact, that they bought a centuries-old windmill in Denmark, shipped it to Elkhorn, and rebuilt it. They also have a copy of the famous mermaid statue in Copenhagen. Iowa has a few towns that try to capture the feel of the country where most of the settlers were from. Pella is another great example of that, where all the buildings are built in a Dutch style, many of the signs are in Dutch, and there is a canal and a big Dutch windmill in town. I have heard of Slavic and Norwegian towns in Iowa as well. Anyway, we stopped in Elkhorn to look at the windmill, which is very picturesque, and to browse through a little store that sells lots of stuff from Denmark. Unfortunately the Danish restaurant was already closed.
We began realizing it is very tough to find something to eat after 3 on Sunday afternoon in rural Iowa. We ended up driving across 120 miles of Iowa farmland, into the Des Moines suburbs, and eating at a restaurant that basically copies an Iowa farm. It is called the Machine Shed, one of our favorite places to eat here. It was delicious, of course, but it was kind of funny to end up there after driving past so much of the real thing.
Tomorrow Sarah's parents will be here. It will be great to see them and it should be a fun time. I need to get to sleep now. The Jazz lost.
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