A photo tour of THE BIG CITY

Yesterday my father, my brother (The Fruits -- yes, that's his real nickname) and I went on a walking tour of Des Moines, Iowa (aka the BIG CITY). Here they are in their traipsing glory.

On our walk, we broke into Sec Taylor Stadium, home of the Iowa Cubs and the hot dog gun. Yep, friends, in addition to t-shirts and other crap, they shoot foiled wrapped hot dogs into the audience. People eat them. I have seen it with my own eyes.

This is the Iowa Capitol building. It is a really amazing place. The dome is made of gold leaf and you can go up into the dome on the inside of the building. About 10 years ago, Fruits and I walked around the building without being stopped or asked what we were doing. We tried to replicate our hijinks, but the door was locked.Another dramatic angle of the dome.
And the trains. My dad likes trains. Here are some train tracks.

Here is one of the many train bridges. This crosses the Raccoon River (I think, it might be the Des Moines River).
This is Terrace Hill, the governor's mansion.This is THE BIG CITY's skyline, taken from the Capitol Building. At night, the lights on the main street in the photo create the outline of a witch. Or, it did 20 years ago.

That street is also a crucial part of loop scooping. Teenagers drive a loop through Des Moines on the weekends. Many of them are farm kids (you can tell by their license plates which list the county the car is registered in), and others are, by Fruits' recollection, complete losers.

I scooped the loop.

And there was much loop scooping last night. Complete with screaming teenagers in prom gowns.

And they came to my hotel.

Where they partied like rockstars and kept me up until 4:30 a.m. (despite three phone calls to the front desk and a visit from the police). Good times.

I'm back in Seattle and happily so.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

-- This Single Gal