A Fun Little Trip To Iowa!

November 2-3, 2014 ~ Our friends, Josh and Roni, bought a car hauler from Snappy's Trailer Sales company in Des Moines, Iowa about 8 weeks ago and they called and said it was ready to be picked up. So after they closed up their restaurant and got everything put away we hit the road! We wanted to be in Des Moines that evening so we could pick up the trailer and enjoy several stops along the way back home.

 The next morning I went over to Josh and Roni's room and brought their 11 month old daughter, Alexis, to our room! She's such a happy baby and just learning to walk which is pretty funny to watch!

We ate Cheerios....

We liked putting a lid on our head and letting it fall off! 

(She was giggling but I couldn't ever catch it!) 

We went to a little place called Waveland Cafe for breakfast!

It was a neat little cafe that had a kinds of painting on the wall. (I didn't take anymore as these people could tell we were tourists)  I don't really do breakfast so I figured a ham and cheese with cheesy hash browns would work perfectly!

I guess a big breakfast made her tired... 

Alexis just laid her head on the table for a quick rest! Silly girl! 

After breakfast we headed over to American Dream Machines 

to check out their classic cars. Like two little kids in a candy store!
http://www.admcars.com/ 

They had some sharp looking vehicles in here!

Alexis loved these old cars! 

As we were walking back to the truck I spotted this thing...

It's name is "Plantoir"

So I knew we had to go take a picture with it! 

(I love this kind of stuff)

We had to get a few selfies to get a good one!

On our way to the trailer place we drove by a park that had several things I would have liked to stop and take some pictures of. Guess I'll just have to plan another trip up there! 

When Alexis wasn't trying to steal Aunt Shell's camera she had to free her little piggy's! 

Slight issue with the wrong wheels but Josh was on them making sure they had the right ones!

Finally got loaded up and ready to head back home!

I have a friend, Heather Stewart, that swears these are the best tacos. We thought we would grab a quick snack then get on the road so we stopped at Tasty Tacos to check it out!

I now present to you .... a Tasty Taco!

Alexis was having fun and couldn't wait to try some tacos!

I think she liked the cheese! LOL!

Time to get back on the road....
Just a few random things we saw along the way! 

Josh doesn't like to stop and take pictures which drives me nuts but the cool thing about this horse is that it is on top of a tire shop and make completely out of tires!

You know I got excited when I saw this beauty!
I love me some windmills!

Alexis loved trying to get my camera!

We had enough time to stop by Winterset, Iowa....

Yep, you guessed it....

the Birthplace of Marion Robert Morrison
aka: John Wayne

John Wayne has been a favorite of Brandon's for many many years and it was something we have talked about going to and just never made time until this trip! Josh and Roni have a lot of John Wayne stuff in their restaurant so it was also cool for them to see this place.

We had to wait to take a tour of John Wayne's home so we played!

Alexis tried on hats....

even Uncle B tried on hats!
(I think Alexis is embarrassed!)

She did a great job of waiting patiently!

Of course I wanted a picture of all of us crazy kids!

They are building a new museum that will be open next year and dedicated on his birthday!
Looks like it will be a good time with some great entertainment.
Here's the link if you are interested in checking it out!
http://www.johnwaynebirthplace.museum/museum.html

The Spry's with "The Duke"!

Time to get loaded up in the truck again!
Alexis is trying to figure out this walking thing...

We then went to visit one of the many covered bridges!
This one is known as the Cutler-Donahoe Covered Bridge and we were told that it was used in the end of the movie "Bridges Over Madison County".
Here's a list of the several covered bridges.....
http://www.madisoncounty.com/pages/World-FamousCoveredBridges

So of course we had to take a few more pictures!

The Spicer Family!
(I had to laugh at Josh's face in this one!)

 Love those smiles!

I think this little girl has her parents right where she wants them!

 The Spry's!

A little fun before we leave....

Seriously if y'all knew how much work went into getting a selfie with everyone looking you would have laughed at us! Pretty sure the other people there wanted in on that fun!

Sadly we didn't have time to take pictures at the Iowa/Missouri boarder but it was a fun trip!