Camping.

One of the many things I have done while at home was go camping. It's usually a tradition every summer to go out on the river and camp for a couple of days - this time it was different. It was Rob and I going to Iowa to go camping - no river/floating, but music and great friends at the beginning of October.

I was in Iowa at one time in my life, maybe when I was 3 years old visiting family.

It was a last minute trip to go to a camp out music festival with a few of his friends. I thought why not and we started our adventure after Rob got off work.

The drive wasn't bad as it was only 5 hours (sound familiar?) and Rob drove the entire way while I fell asleep and our friend Kirk did the same in my backseat. We drove mostly through rural Illinois, crossed the river via ferry, and headed up through rural Missouri up to the southeast corner of Iowa. Our drive was not without drama as we were pulled over in Calhoun County by some cop who wrote Rob a BS speeding ticket. Anyway... as soon as we crossed the border into Iowa the climate felt like it changed completely to frigid.

The festival was on a farm who's nearest neighbor was probably a mile away. We arrived around 1am and started setting up our tent but the party was well underway. There were about 5 tents in our group and maybe 100 tents campwide. We put up our tent (only the second time putting it up - without a fight even) and joined the festivities along with our camoflouged Busch beer. There were many cool people, great music, and entertainment.

Did I mention it is cold in Iowa at the beginning of October?

Anyway we danced, we socialized, and we stayed up all night long. Rob and I shared a romantic moment watching the sun come up over the corn.

The next day was more of the same - music, friends, entertainment. At night though there was a beautiful show in the sky. Iowa is stunning at night. There are so many stars out - I have never seen anything like it. Rob and I laid on the ground and watched the stars. I saw probably 4 shooting stars, another thing I have never seen in my life.

The trip ended with the three of us who rode in my car completely exhausted. We quickly packed up and left town back for St. Louis, after an unforgettable weekend being with unforgettable people drinking camoflouged Busch.

Love
L