“Iowa? Why are you going to Iowa?” they asked. We answered, “It’s faces, not places.”

Well, in fact, it was faces and places! We were hosted by two different FF clubs in the state; warm,

wonderful people and a great deal of interesting – very not-Long Island—experiences. Having read

“The Bridges of Madison County,” it was quite an experience crossing several of those bridges and

walking through the streets of downtown Madison County where the movie was filmed. A visit to a

Quilt Museum and to John Wayne’s birthplace rounded out the day.

We went to a local sporting event – a Tug Fest. Nope, not boats, but teams of 20 strong men (or 25

women), stationed on either side of the Mississippi River (Illinois/Iowa) competing in 10 heats of a tug-a-

war being cheered on by hundreds of spectators. Unfortunately “our” side lost losing 8 of the heats.

Another highlight was spending a day at the Iowa State Fair. This city-slicker was wowed by enormous

pumpkins, bulls and pigs, a life-sized cow carved from butter, everything-on-a-stick food, and the birthing

tent where we saw newborn chicks, ducklings, turkeys, goats, cows, foals, and a sow nursing her litter of

12 oinking piglets.

That’s the answer to “Why Iowa? !