Pick a State

Last week I talked about why I didn't work at camp this year. However, we did decide to go up for visit day, which was Tuesday. The entire trip ended up being about eighteen hours of travel for about four hours of visiting, but it was a great trip. In that short time, I was able to visit with several of my friends, meet a few of the new campers, and even go on the new zip line they had this year. I'm thankful that it worked out and that my dad especially was willing to do so much driving in a short time period.

Between Iowa and Indianapolis, IN, where camp is now held, there is not much other than farm fields and small towns. Since 2003, I have made ten trips to CHAMP Camp, in Ohio and Indiana, one to Chicago to get my DPS, and one to Toronto to be best man in my best friend's wedding. Through these excursions, I have become familiar with traveling in the Midwest and the ubiquitous corn field, and uniqueness of certain areas.

I have lived in Iowa all my life, but when passing some small towns, I wonder what it would be like to live there. Let's take Danville, IN for an example, one of the towns we drove through. It had many nice looking older homes, along with some that weren't, and appeared to be a typical small Midwestern town. I liked that it had a train track going through it, but what differences does it have from my town, or how is it the same? Along this same road were several houses that peaked our interest and made us wonder how the inside looked.

Another town, or small city, we passed through was Peoria, IL. Driving through, it looks similar to Des Moines, but perhaps a little smaller. The three years I lived in Des Moines the city became very familiar to me and did not seem as big at first. From the interstate, all I could see were large buildings and parking garages, not anything that particular grabbed my interest. However, if living there, I wonder what it would feel like after a short time and if it would begin to feel like home.

My mind wonders while traveling, and if I had unlimited medical funds and could live anywhere I've seen, I consider my choices. In the end, I prefer my roots of small town Iowa, but getting to know a new community, and state, could be an interesting experience, at least for a short time.