Chapter 2
The Hawkeye State
Thanks for the reviews and follows. I've been enjoying writing this road trip and I'm so happy you enjoy reading it. This is the tour of Iowa.
Disclaimer:Don't Own Anything
After going through some of Missouri with just a little bit of snow, the scene changed as they approached the stateline revealing a fresh blanket of snow. The large sign The People of Iowa Welcome You-Fields of Opportunities greeted them as they drove into the stateline.
"Ah, we're in Iowa." Jane said. "I remember the circuit travelled through Iowa."
"So, you've been here before?" Lisbon questioned.
"Yes, I have, though we traveled through places we didn't have the opportunity to visit any of the sights. I never saw anything past the fairgrounds." Jane said.
"This is your chance. I never went on trips much when I was a kid, so I haven't seen much and of course, I never did much travelling in California other than trips to crime sites." Lisbon said.
"We need to enjoy ourselves and just appreciate the beautiful country we have or at least part of it right now." Jane said as he looked ahead at the snow cover. "Even in winter."
"I agree." Lisbon replied.
"The reason I remember Iowa is because of a con my dad made me do." Jane said.
"Oh." Lisbon answered concerned. Here was another time Jane was opening up more about his past, and she was prepared to listen.
"Dad used to spend time at hospitals because he knew a lot of times sick people were easy marks." Jane said regretfully and paused. He took a breath. "He had a grandmother and her dying granddaughter come to my tent one evening. My dad used a fake crystal he claimed had healing powers."
"And they were going to pay your father and you for that." Lisbon said frowning at the idea that Jane's father would stoop that low to cheat a dying girl.
"Yes, my father claimed I could help heal the girl with the crystal. I will tell you, Teresa, I didn't want to do it in the first place but my dad was for the money. The grandmother begged to buy the crystal. I've felt guilty about that. That was when I really decided I didn't want to be in the show anymore. I conned a dying girl. It was wrong of me. At the time I didn't want to be like my father. Of course, I did end like him blinded by money." Jane explained guiltily.
"Patrick, that shows me you've always had a good heart. Your father used you then. He had the control. Yes, you made mistakes but you used your gift for good. I realize afterwards you did what you
knew."
"I suppose I wouldn't have met you in that case and we wouldn't have our beautiful daughter." Jane finished and looked towards the signage on the road. "Oh, the welcome center." Jane excitedly said as he came across the road sign announcing Lamoni and the sign that said Amish Country Store and Welcome Center. They went inside the red and white barn like building. Inside was an array of baked cooks, gifts, quilts, jams, and quilts and of course brochures. Jane grabbed a few brochures, while Lisbon took the baby to change her.
They bought a couple of postcards and Lisbon decided to splurge on a beautiful Amish handmade quilt. "My mother would've loved this."
"Did you know the state bird is the goldfinch, and the flower is the wild rose, and the nickname is the Hawkeye state and its named after the Ioway Indian tribe." Jane took the postcard of Iowa out with the facts on it.
"I didn't know that, honey." Lisbon said carrying the baby.
Arriving in Winterset, Iowa around 11:00A.M. they spotted the sign John Wayne's Birthplace. They drove around the square . "Hey, this town's for you, your hero was born here. You secretly watched the Duke's movies after you were frustrated with your brothers." Jane teased.
"I did not." Lisbon denied.
"Yes, you did." Jane said as he pulled into a parking space in front of the North Cafe, a tall brick and beige building with a vertical red and beige striped awning .
They walked into the busy diner with black booths on one side and long counter with stools lining up the side. A young hostess with her black hair in a ponytail came up to them. "Two?"
"Well, technically three."Jane said holding the car seat.
"Yes, two adults." Lisbon answered.
They were both led to a booth with a silver coatrack beside it and and given menus. "Penny will be with you in a minute." The hostess said as she left.
The older lady waitress with graying hair immediately followed. The nametag revealed the name Penny. She carried two glasses and immediately set them in front of the couple.
"Are your eggs good?" Jane asked. The waitress stared at him confused.
"As far as I know, sir." Penny said.
"I'm sorry, m'am, my husband thinks he's a connoisseur of eggs." Lisbon said. "He's picky."
"No, I'm not. I'm just...specific." Jane waved his hand around.
"I think you'd like them." Penny chuckled. "Would you like anything to drink besides water?"
"Tea." Jane said.
"Coffee." Lisbon said. The waitress turned and left to get the drinks.
"This is a nice little town, Teresa." Jane noted looking around the cafe.
"Yes, it's very homey." Lisbon answered. "I grew up in the city, so I wouldn't know what it's like to live in a small town."
"I grew up everywhere. I suppose I lived in Malibu. You know, Grace would be delighted we're visiting her home state." Jane said.
"I'm sure she would." Lisbon answered.
Penny brought on a tray hot water in a coffee mug and coffee. She also brought a caddy with a variety of tea bags. She distributed the cups and caddy on the table.
"You ready to order?" Penny asked holding her little notebook and pen.
"I'll have scrambled eggs and bacon." Jane said.
"Hamburger." Lisbon said.
"Say, what are the interesting points of interest here?" Jane asked.
"Do we have the points of interest here?" Penny chimed rhetorically. "This cafe here is one, and the covered bridges. Have you seen the Bridges of Madison County? This town here was the star, well, along with Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. This cafe was in the movie."Penny described lighting up as she explained proud of her town. "And of course, the Duke himself, John Wayne was born here." Jane grinned.
"We haven't seen that have we dear?" Jane asked looking at his wife. She nodded a no." We certainly will. We want to see at least one of the bridges here. How many are there?"
"Seven. Roseman is the most famous. I better get your food in."Penny said as she turned towards the
kitchen area.
"We need to see the famous bridge." Jane said shuffling through the types of tea bags in the caddy and chose fruit blend and put it in the cup.
"Patrick, why did you want to go see all these small towns?" Lisbon asked her husband.
"I thought it would enlighten us." Jane said.
A few minutes later, Penny brought their food over on a tray. "You can try these." She sat the plate of eggs in front of Jane and placed Lisbon's hamburger and fries in front of her. Jane immediately took a bite. "Excellent."
"So, where are you two from?" Penny asked.
"Oh, Texas. We're going to Chicago to visit my brother." Lisbon said.
"Long ways. I hope you're staying in Iowa tonight, though, we hear there's a storm coming." Penny
admitted carefully.
"We have a reservation in Des Moines." Jane admitted.
"That's good." Penny said and saw Lisby Michelle in the car seat. "Hello, little girl, is this her first road trip?" Penny asked making faces at the baby. The baby looked around.
"Yes." Jane said. "She's been a pretty good little traveler."
Leaving the cafe after paying, they drove down the road towards the Roseman Bridge with the directions Penny, the waitress wrote down for them. Finally, they arrived at a gravel parking lot and in front them was the old time red covered long bridge, the roof sparkled with snow. In front of it, a white picket fence lined along the wooden planks. The ground beside was covered with snow.
Getting out of the car, they walked down to the path, Lisbon carefully carrying the baby wrapped in her blankets, and Jane excitedly skipped down to the bridge. Lisbon caught up with her husband and
she admired the old beautiful bridge. Maybe he was right to go on this trip. If they would've flown, they wouldn't have seen these sites. She saw him admiring the inside of the bridge. The sign of the top of the bridge said Roseman Bridge Built 1883.
He noticed her there with the baby. "We should use a picture of us in front of the bridge as a Christmas card." Jane said.
"Since when do you care about Christmas cards?" Lisbon asked giving off a wondering looking.
"Since now, look at this, isn't this a beautiful site." Jane exclaimed putting his arms out towards the bridge.
"Yes, it's beautiful. Jane, it's a little late for Christmas cards, isn't it?" Lisbon asked.
"This could be a New Year's card." Jane said.
They then saw a woman coming towards them, a middle aged lady with brown hair. "Hello, I see
you're enjoying the bridge. Not a lot of traffic here in the winter. I noticed your car from the gift shop."
"Would you mind getting a picture of us?" Jane asked.
"I would be happy to take your picture." The lady said. Jane handed the woman the camera and Jane and Lisbon went in front of the entrance of the bridge and the woman took the picture with ease.
"Thank You." Jane said.
Getting back on the road again at 4:00, the wind picked up and this time they traveled on the interstate with a lot more traffic and flakes started falling. A few minutes into driving, the wind trippled its velocity, the snow falling faster and faster where it was just a blanket of white. The windshield wipers could hardly keep up with the winterstorm.
"I can't see." Jane said.
Lisbon fumed. She didn't want something like this to happen. Being caught in bad weather. Why did she listen to Jane going on this crazy road trip? She told him about this and he didn't listen. Growing up in the Midwest, travelling in snow was a nightmare. "This is your fault!" Lisbon said loudly.
"Why? I don't control the weather!" Jane said annoyed at her accusation.
"This whole road trip! I knew this would happen. Getting in bad weather" Lisbon reminded abruptly.
"Do you want to drive? This isn't easy since I've never driven in snow" Jane yelled.
"We could've just flown and I wouldn't miss all these days of work!" Lisbon yelled. "Instead I have to go by your whims!"
Lisby Michelle began wailing with an extreme force after hearing the noise of her parents argument. Jane drove slowly, the snow blew at the windshield. He tensely gripped the wheel wondering why on earth would his wife start an argument now when they were trying to find their exit to Des Moines in a snowstorm. On top of it, the baby crying. "Now the baby's crying." Jane said annoyedly. "You've enjoyed the trip, haven't you?" Jane trying to calmly say knowing their screaming disturbed their daughter.
"That's not the point. You knew it was a possibility of this kind of weather. I told you." Lisbon said roughly saying not as loud as before. She didn't want her daughter to cry too much longer.
"Teresa, I can't see the signs." Jane said. "I need to concentrate."
Lisbon stopped talking and Jane drove in silence. Lisby Michelle continued crying for a few more minutes but eventually stopped realizing her parents stopped yelling.
Lisbon heard some choice words muttered by her husband. She shoudn't have gotten so angry while they headed into the storm. It was a rash reaction and it wasn't Patrick's fault what the weather did.
Finally, after an hour around 5:30 seeing a town in sight, Jane carefully turned off and saw the town Perry, another small town. He drove through downtown and in the middle of it was a large building with flags hanging in a row He parked parallel on the street. He looked at his wife who was still angry. He had missed the exit, which he could barely see. "Let's see if we can get a room here."
"Fine." Lisbon said gruffly staring at him.
"You can't be mad at me forever." Jane said getting out of the car and shut the door and headed towards the entrance. Lisbon got out and slammed the door and opened the backseat and unhooked the carseat and placed a blanket over the baby and caught up with her husband.
Jane waited at the door for his wife and opened it and let her go in first. He headed through the door and up to the front desk.
"Good Evening." The young blonde girl desk clerk greeted with a smile.
"It's certainly quite the evening. There's a snowstorm out there." Jane said.
"Yeah, I heard about it. It's strange because usually our worst months for snow are January and February. Not that I'm saying snow doesn't happen in December, just not as much." The girl with the nametag, Megan said.
"This looks like a nice place." Jane observed the large lobby with the brick fireplace in the middle. In front of it were two large wooden chairs with a coffee table in the middle. To the left, a grandstair case travelled upwards and a large Christmas tree stood in the corner.
"Do you have rooms available?" Jane turned his focus on the clerk. Lisbon stood waiting impatiently.
"Let's see." Megan searched the computer. "We have the Louis Armstrong Suite. "Oh, here at Pattee we have themed rooms. Each room is different." Megan explained taking out a sheet of paper with the list of rooms placing it on the desk so Jane could see. He looked over the list.
"That sounds splendid. So, it's a very unique hotel?" Jane asked.
"Yes, we get many guests from all over. The suites are especially romantic." Megan said noticing Lisbon by Jane. "With a fireplace, a spa tub, and a parlor." Megan described.
"We'll take the suite, besides my wife loves jazz." Jane grinned. Lisbon motioned with her finger to Jane to come over. "Just a minute. We need to talk it over." Jane said to Megan.
"Patrick, we have to think about expense." Lisbon whispered to her husband.
"Teresa, we're in the middle of a snowstorm right now and I don't really want to drive in it anymore. So, right now expense is not an issue." Jane reminded.
"Okay." Lisbon relented and went up to the desk. "Yes, we'll stay tonight." Lisbon said to Megan.
Megan handed Jane the plastic keycards. "The room number is 310 and it's on the third elevator is to the right. And staircase is straight ahead. David's Milwaukee Diner is over there." Megan pointed across the room.
"Come on, Teresa. Let's go see the room." Jane begged.
They rode up the elevator in silence. The baby fussed a little. They found the Louis Armstrong Suite. Jane slid the key in the slot and opened the door revealing a large suite with a parlor with a wooden and iron fireplace. A red couch sat against the wall above pictures of the jazz musician. Also against the wall, a desk and Victorian style chairs positioned at the desk.
The double doors in the next room opened to the bedroom with a large red and gold bed with a brass headboard with a valence.
"Wow, this is nice." Jane exclaimed looking excitedly around the room. Lisbon followed impressed as well.
"This is beautiful." Lisbon admitted forgetting she was mad at her husband. "How much does this cost?"
"Don't care. The snowstorm special of $159. We have a place to stay." Jane lied remembering the price listed on the room sheet was $249 for suites.
Lisbon rolled her eyes knowing very well he was lying about the price. She wouldn't worry about it now. She carefully set the car seat down and picked up Lisby Michelle, who had a wet diaper. "Sweetie, let's get you cleaned up." Lisbon talked to the baby. She grabbed a blanket out of the diaper bag she brought for changing. They still needed to get the rest of their luggage.
"I'll get the luggage and you and Lisby Michelle stay warm here." Jane said opening the door. Before he would go out he decided to explore the hallway seeing the doors to the other rooms that said African Room, Bohemian Room, Italian Room, Quilting Room, Welsh Room, Japanese room and the Travel suite. He went to the elevator and decided to explore the basement. Jane made it there and the door opened and he walked around and discovered to his amazement, an old fashioned bowling alley with two lanes. He grinned at the site. This was new. He never heard of a bowling alley being in a hotel. On the wall, a wooden shelf with bowling balls and a counter with the shoes. Along the side of the walls were chairs and tables. Jane grinned again at the sight. He went back upstairs to the lobby and headed back outside amidst the blizzard and to the car. He took the large luggage rack and grabbed their suitcase,Teresa's toiletry bag, Lisby's playpen and her bag of toys, bouncy seat and placed them on the rack. He took the elevator back upstairs and rolled the luggage rack into the room and started unloading the cart and bringing the bags in the room with the bed. "Guess what, Teresa! There's a bowling alley downstairs in the basement!" Jane said excitedly.
"You can't be serious!" Lisbon said still calming down. "You want to go bowling?"
"We're stranded in a snowstorm and there's a bowling alley in our hotel, so why not?" Jane said.
Teresa laughed. "Okay, well, then I look forward to beating your butt, Patrick." Lisbon teasingly grinned.
Jane grabbed the luggage rack to bring back and Lisbon carried the baby and her bouncy chair and traveled down the elevator, first stopping at the lobby to drop off the rack. Then they headed to the basement. They checked out shoes at the counter, upstairs they arranged for a game.
"You're going to see your mommy beat your daddy." Lisbon told the baby as she hooked her up in the seat. The baby giggled hearing her mother. Lisbon was in her full on competitive mode.
"Oh, really, you think you can beat me?" Jane asked his wife.
"Of course, I can. I beat you at foosball. So, why can't I beat you in bowling." Lisbon grinned sneakily.
"Okay, we'll see what mommy can do." Jane said to the baby smiling and watching his wife. He was relieved Teresa didn't seem mad at him anymore after their yelling match in the snowstorm.
The pins came down and took their places. Lisbon grabbed the ball, stuck her fingers in the holes of the ball and positioned herself at the end of the lane, knelt down and rolled the ball in the middle. The ball rolled and struck all 10 pins.
Jane sat dumbstruck that his wife did a strike on the first time.
"I got a strike!" Lisbon said doing a happy dance.
"Modest, aren't you my dear." Jane said. "We just got started."
"Your turn." Lisbon said as she sat in Jane's seat by Lisby Michelle.
Jane took a ball and stuck his fingers in the holes and went at the edge of the lane and rolled it but only hitting five of the pins.
"Better luck next time, honey." Lisbon smirked and bragged.
Jane improved his bowling and got a strike eventually, however it was Lisbon who ended up winning the whole game.
Getting back to the room Jane and Lisbon checked out the room service menu provided on the desk. They decided to just stay in the room and order the food. Lisbon fed the baby while Jane ordered chicken parmesan and a pork chop. Their food was delivered and they shared each other's meals. Lisby Michelle fell asleep and so Jane set up the temporary bed of the playpen in the bedroom.
"She's asleep." Jane said looking at their daughter sleeping peacefully. "Look at her. She looks comfortable."
Lisbon joined standing by her husband admiring their baby. "Yes, she does."
"We should make the most of this romantic atmosphere." Jane said looking around the room. "Unless you're still mad?" Jane questioned carefully.
"Yes, I do agree with that." Lisbon said. "No, I'm not mad."
A couple minutes later they were leaning against the couch with the fire going after moving the small table out of the way. Teresa was against her husband's chest and Jane caressing her hands carefully. "I'm sorry about yelling at you in the car." Lisbon said apologetically looking at Jane with sympathy.
"Apology accepted, my dear." Jane said.
Lisbon let out a sigh. "I was frustrated with the storm and I took it out on you. I should've not said anything so you could drive."
"You're probably right. We should've flown. I didn't think ahead about the weather and especially with me being inexperienced with winter driving." Jane said.
"I should've been the one to drive. I have driven snow before." Lisbon admitted.
"Well, let's not worry anymore about what we should've done, and just enjoy this moment and this gorgeous room." Jane said.
"Patrick, I've enjoyed the road trip. I've learned to appreciate small town America. It's been fun." Lisbon said. "I even enjoyed the ball of twine." Lisbon rolled her eyes at the thought.
"It's quite mind boggling someone rolled it up. It's nice since we married you've been calling me Patrick more often." Jane said smiling at his wife.
"Well, it's Jane when I'm mad." Lisbon teased. " I love you." She said innocently like the first time she said it at their nephew's party. He looked at her and she leaned her head and kiss him softly on the lips. After turning off the fireplace, Teresa led her husband to the bedroom.
Jane began humming the song, "Let it Snow." He kisses his wife gently. They slid into the bed "This is nice here." Teresa said. Teresa laid down carefully and smiled. Patrick slowly unbuttoned the top of her pajamas and kissed her neck. She then slowly unbuttoned his top and strokes his chest softly. "Oh, that feels good, 's quite toasty and warm in this bed with you,my dear." Patrick said sneakily.
"But what if we don't get out tomorrow?" Teresa asked worried.
"Then we'll stay here." Patrick said. He strokes her cheek softly. "You looked quite gorgeous by the fireplace."
The next day in the morning Teresa's phone rang. She looked over and looked at the time on her phone, noticing it 7:30A.M and answered and saw her brother's ID. She got up and walked around the room.
"Hello, Stan."
"Hey, T, how ya doing? Where are you now?" Stan asked.
"We're good. We're in Perry, Iowa. We got snowed in last night. We missed our exit and ended up in Perry."
"The kids are so excited to see you and Patrick and the baby." Stan said.
"We look forward to seeing you and Karen and the kids too. Is Tommy coming? We saw Jimmy in Oklahoma City and he's coming, I know."
"That's good, to know. They're flying I know because I'm picking Jimmy up from the airport, though I think Tommy and his girlfriend are renting car." Stan explained. "Annie will be coming too."
"Hopefully, we'll get out today and there today or tomorrow." Lisbon said.
"I'm sorry, you got stranded in Iowa." Stan said.
"Believe it or not it's been nice. We stayed at a fancy hotel last night. One thing about Patrick, he gets me to do things I normally wouldn't do like go on this road trip." Lisbon admitted looking out the bedroom window seeing the snow plows clearing the streets of snow.
"Good morning, Mrs. Jane." Jane stretched his arms out and looked for his wife beside him but then noticed she was standing at the window. Lisbon turned from the window upon hearing him.
"Stan called wondering when we're coming." Lisbon said. She had dressed in her jeans and a t-shirt.
"He called early." Jane said picking up his watch beside the bed. "Did you tell him we might be stranded a couple days in his delightful hotel?" Jane asked.
"I said we'll be coming soon. And we will, I saw the snow plow clean the street." Lisbon said.
"Oh, Teresa, don't ruin the magic." Jane said disappointedly going to the window and seeing the clean street and grabbing his pants putting them on and getting a shirt on.
"Did you realize the baby's still asleep?" Lisbon noticed the baby in the mobile bassinet of the playpen. Their daughter was on her back sleeping peacefully in the plush portable bed.
"This place relaxes her too." Jane said noticing the baby. "She's going to be starved." He recalled in the night when he got up automatically and mentally ready to feed her. He saw her sleeping and figure if she hadn't woke up, there was no need to wake her. Sometimes he just watched her amazed at his new chance of fatherhood. He went over to the cooler they brought with them and took out the ready feed Enfamil bottle. A couple minutes later the baby awoke and smacked her mouth open and shut and finally cried for her food. He took her in his arms and sat in the chair and Lisby Michelle started sucking hungrily as he held her. Getting ready and dressed they hurriedly packed and went downstairs for breakfast in the restaurant.
Travelling down the road, the newly fallen snow glistened on the ground. Most of the roads were clear with a exception of a few splotches here and there. The traffic stayed steady throughout the travel in the state. Finally after three hours of driving, they arrived in Davenport which would be the gateway to Illinois. For their stop, they stopped at a local restaurant downtown. After Jane and Lisbon had eaten while feeding the baby, they walked around the LeClaire Park with a view of the Mississippi River.
"Look at this, it's beautiful, the Mississippi." Jane said looking out at the wide river.
"It's beautiful." Lisbon responded agreeing with her husband as she held their bundled up baby daughter.
"We wouldn't have seen this if we flew. I love seeing new places. We should come back when Lisby Michelle is older." Jane said.
"And not in the winter." Lisbon replied.
He placed his hands in his coat pockets and looked up letting the crisp air blow in his hair. Two bald eagles soared in the sky majestically.
"There's our nation's bird. The symbol of our beautiful country." Jane said inspiredly.
And so after getting back into the car, they crossed the bridge over to Moline, IL on the way to final destination-Chicago.
Next Stop-Chicago
There are more attractions in Iowa than what I talked about but these fit in their route. All of these are real places. Like the clerk said, generally the major snow doesn't come until January or February, but I decided on snow for my story. Some of you might hear that the Iowa Hawkeyes will be playing in the Rose Bowl for New Year's Day. That's pretty exciting.
I would love some feedback.