Final Leg of September Roadtrip - York, NE to Waukon, IA to home

Friday Sept 23rd- York NE to Waukon, IA to visit Christina. Woke early to hit the road for a long drive. During our trip, Chris moved to Waukon for a 4 week rotation in a rural community in NÉ Iowa. So we headed northeast as opposed to due east. I-80 was as predicted, but as we headed north from Des Moines, the county became more rolling and as we approached the Mississippi and Waukon, the colors and hills were beautiful. Quite the pastoral scene. Arrived at the Stony Creek Inn where Brian and Brian had spent the night 10 plus years ago when they were evacuated from a camp site in the Yellow River Forest State Park after a Tornado warning. They had dubbed it the Stony Gulch Inn so it took us a bit to connect the dots. Met up with Chris after she was done with work. All three of us had a wonderful dinner in Decorah (a mere 19 miles from Waukon) at La Rana. Decorah is a neat little town and home to Luther College which we drove around. We had a great time catching up on Chris' adventures and sharing our multitude of pictures and stories. Retired to the hotel and Chris headed back to her apartment.

Saturday September 24th- Waukon, Effigy Mounds, Pikes Peak ( of Iowa), and Yellow River State Park. Got to spend the day with Chris! After Chris went for a run, we went to breakfast at the West End Cafe which was also recommended by Andrea, the doctor in the clinic where Chris is doing her rotation. The people we have met in this area of Iowa have been incredibly friendly and accommodating. We hiked to see one of the Indian Mounds and saw some great vistas at the Effigy mounds. We depended in Ester (gps'er) to get us to Yellow River State Park and ended up in a cornfield...... As a result of a detour we got to visit a bonus state park (Pikes Peak.......not sure why the name) and finally got to Yellow River State Park and a several mile hike on some of the same trails Brian and Brian had hiked years before. We had a chance to see Christina's apartment and had a sad farewell. And on the road again ....this time destination HOME!