Three kids, three cities, three trips! I did it! Flagstaff in the winter, Portland in the spring, and Cedar Rapids two weeks ago. It has been a joy to visit the kids in their places and to be with their family and friends. I described my trips to Flagstaff and Portland on recent Substacks. Today I want to tell about Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Cedar Rapids is home to two dozen Fortune 500 companies, including Quaker Oats, Collins Aerospace, General Mills, Cargill, and Nordstrom.
The Cedar River and the beautiful bridges make the city dreamy. In 2008 a major flood showed the power of Nature. I stood in areas where the flood mark was over my head. The photos show the contrast:
The Czech Village/New Bohemia District is one of the most interesting parts of the city. This 40-block area is made up of two hip and historic neighborhoods.
The settlement started in the mid-1800s. Many Czech folks were heading to the California Gold Rush, but never got further west than Cedar Rapids. Three large factories: a meat packing plant, a wagon works, and the North Star Oatmeal plant employed many of the immigrants. Amazing buildings remain as monuments to arts, culture and sociability.
I did not do touristy things while in Cedar Rapids. My daughter, Kirstin, and I walked scenic paths and she took me around the city. We saw an interesting river community of small houses built on pontoons secured on both sides of the river. We had time together just being in each other’s presence. With Andrew, her boyfriend, we watched movies and had some good food.
Oh yes, we played Big Boogle. Very interesting and embarrassing for me. After 4 or 5 rounds, they were scoring points in the 50s. I had scored 4! I attempted scoring a four letter word - nash. They didn’t allow it! OK, as I write this post I learn that NASH stands for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Come on, I could have used it to get to 5 points! Remember the Nash Rambler? There you have 2 possibilities for a 5th point with a little grace from my opponents. God, they were competitive! Very interesting how I was unable to see 4 or 5 letter combinations to form words needed to score. Age, burnt brain cells, slow thinking, or a combination or all three?
A good trip to Iowa. A good year of seeing the kids. I learned through these trips that my energy for travel has seriously lessened. I come home very tired and it takes days to recover. Some people are presidents and running for president at my age! I can manage to walk to the coffee shop and do a Substack. Seems okay to me.
I have decided not to visit the kids again. I wrote to them last weekend and they were very understanding with preliminary plans to come this way.
The stress of travel and Cinny’s growing needs fed into the decision.
The film sounds good. We may search for it. Thanks.
Your comment about the word game reminded me of a scene in the movie Snow Cake that came out in the 2000s, I think. Did you ever see it? I'd highly recommend it A great performance by Sigourney Weaver.
Do you visit all the kids every year? It's crazy how spread out families are today.
Glad to know more about Cedar Rapids. It sounds (and looks) nice.