Peckish Travels

One of the places of interest listed for Iowa City is something called the Devonian Fossil Gorge. Since this is an outside area to peruse, and it was another beautiful fall day here, we drove about 13 minutes out of town to check it out.

Life apparently is recorded in layers, and the Devonian layer stretches (from Iowa City) east 60 miles to the Mississippi and north 150 miles to southern Minnesota. It occurred 382 to 389 million years ago. If you had been around at that time, you might have seen the Dunkleosteous, the largest predator of the time, an armor plated fish 33’ long and weighing 4 tons! That to me sounds crazier than sci-fi.

Anyhoo, due to floods in 1993 and again in 2008, Coralville Lake flowed over the emergency spillway and washed away up to 17’ of soil and rock, exposing the Devonian bedrock that became the Devonian Fossil Gorge. The exposed fossils pre-date dinosaurs by almost 200 million years.

We walked through the informative panels and the gorge, trying to wrap our minds around the ancient history of this area.

For this beautiful fall day (mid-60s F, no coats needed), Bob found us a route that took us on a trail along the Iowa River and then in and around City Park.

The Iowa River Trail is a 16-mile paved, multi-use trail network that (not surprisingly) runs mostly along the Iowa River, connecting the communities of Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty.

City Park features a playground, sports fields, pool, and amphitheater. It was buzzing with people watching a rowing meet as well as a couple of girl’s softball games.

Lovely day!

Today was game day in Iowa City, which this time of year means football (US style). The Iowa Hawkeyes took on the Minnesota Gophers at 2:30 at home in Kinnick Stadium. Since our two nephews graduated from U of I, they and their dad have season tickets and were in town for the game. They offered us tickets, so we went.

Of course, first is the tailgating, which began about 10:30. Bob joined Jody, Nick, and Zack for their spread, libations, and watching other football games on tv via their dish link. I came about 1:40 for a quick tailgate visit before heading to the stadium.

The game was good, and we got to see (me for the first time in person) some of the Iowa traditions including the waving to the children in the Children’s Hospital next to the stadium, even the other team and the officiating staff join in. Very moving. The winner of this particular rivalry, unfortunately this time Minnesota, wins a bronze trophy in the shape of a pig.

Bob and I went to the Iowa Old Capitol Building today, which once was the center of government for the territory and then state of Iowa before being given to the university. It now stands as the most prominent landmark on the University of Iowa campus. It is now a free museum providing history of the first Iowa capitol building as well as some exhibits.

The Iowa Territory was opened for settlement in 1838. The cornerstone for the Old Capitol Building was laid in 1840, and the legislature moved into the Capitol in 1842. Iowa became a state in 1846, when President James Polk admitted it to the union as the 29th state. The first Iowa General Assembly chartered the University of Iowa 59 days after Iowa became a state. The state capital was moved to Des Moines in 1857 and the Old Capitol was then given to the university.

One of the exhibits that was on display was photos of their annual corn monuments which are created in conjunction with Homecoming. These are massive monuments coated in corn (but of course) as a symbol of the Hawkeye spirit. Unfortunately, Homecoming was last weekend, so we just missed this year’s monument, but we enjoyed looking at those from prior years.

The museum also had information posted on various individuals who have made a significant contribution to Iowa football. Not sure if this was also in relation to Homecoming or just an indication of the importance of football to the state.

Yesterday, Bob and I arrived in Iowa City (about 2 hours east of Des Moines) for a two week housesit. Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, the alma mater for two of our nephews.

We are sitting for two cute and playful cats. Meet Sam and Maddy.

We spent most of our time at the house yesterday getting settled in, but this morning we headed off to the nearby Hickory Hill Park that had been recommended to us by one of Bob’s high school friends who lives here. Hickory Hill Park is a large natural area consisting of 190 acres of forest, fields, reconstructed prairie, and parkland centered on Ralston Creek.

As we had planned, on October 9, we drove from Poulsbo, Washington, to Baker City, Oregon, and then on the 10th, we made it to Logan, Utah, to visit high school friends of Beth’s. We had a great visit with them on Tuesday night at their lovely home.

On Wednesday, we had a good walking tour of the Utah State University campus, but shortly afterwards, we received concerning texts about Bob’s dad, so we decided to cut our visit short and start driving to Iowa. Shortly into the drive, we learned that Bob’s dad had passed away. We continued on, overnighting in Cheyenne, Wyoming, before arriving in Storm Lake, Iowa on Thursday, October 12.

Up until about midday yesterday, we have been with Bob’s family, helping his mom and then just sharing memories of Mr. Peck. Bob’s dad had a great work ethic, loved sports, and could talk to anyone, all traits that I see in each of his four children.

Saturday was our last full day in Chemainus, so we spent much of the first part of the day tidying and cleaning the house for the homeowners’ return the following day. Wall-E pretty much stayed out of the way, especially when the vacuum came out, but Willow seemed to find it all fascinating and wanted to be on top of the activity. She is definitely a curious cat.

About mid-afternoon Bob and I headed to one of the many wineries in the area, which proved to be a lovely, yummy, and educational visit. We did a self-guided tasting but we’re able to talk to the owner (a former MD) and learned the difference between an unfiltered and unfined wine. Their wines tended to be both. Our favorite was their sparkling wine.

A view from the patio

Sunday we left our Chemainus “home” a little after 11 am to catch the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, Washington. The ferry didn’t leave until 3:00, but we had to be there at 1:30 to go through US Immigration. The ferry company alerted us to leave even earlier due to the Victoria Marathon that was being run that day. We found the drive much easier than expected and got to the ferry terminal at about 12:15. We were able to park and the walk around until 1:30.

Onward to friends and family and our next sit in Iowa City, Iowa.

We can’t believe our time on Vancouver Island is almost at an end. It has been a great trip. We definitely understand the appeal of living here — mountains, water, great trails, and good people! Rafa was the sweetest Labradoodle and great companion, and Willow and Wall-E have been entertaining cats. Our two homeowners were welcoming and helpful, and it will be sad Sunday morning when we head out, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Today, we drove about 15 minutes south to Maple Mountain Forest Preserve to do some hiking on the multi-modal (hiking, mountain biking, equestrian) trails there and take advantage of the 70 F degree weather. There were a number of cars in the lot when we pulled in. During the almost 3 hour hike, we ended up pulling over for 3 mountain bikers and were passed by two men on motor bikes when we were on the park road for a short part of the hike. All of the trails were well marked.

We headed back to Duncan today to check out the totem pole trail that they have, primarily in their downtown area. As with the murals in Chemainus, it was a fun way to explore the area.

Duncan, population of about 5,000, and now known as the City of Totems, began as a village called Alderlea in 1887 when William Chalmers Duncan donated farmland for the town site. The city of Duncan was incorporated in 1912. The totem pole project began in 1985 and is currently the world’s largest outdoor collection of publicly displayed totem poles.

Here’s some of the totems on display.

We are already into the 3rd day of the 10th month of this year. Where does the time go (my monthly question)? Sunday (10/1) Bob and I went to the Chemainus Theater for an afternoon performance of “The Fiancé,” a farce about a girl who gets engaged to 3 men before they go off to war and they all come back on the same day. It was a fun show, and we enjoyed seeing the lovely theater, poking around the great gift store/art gallery, and having a glass of wine at intermission in the cozy Fireside Lounge. They also have a dining area for combo dinner and theater tickets. The theater was full. We would definitely go back for another show!

Yesterday brought some much needed rain, nice and steady for most of the day. We ran a few errands and did some work online. Today, we headed a bit farther south (about 30 minutes) to walk along a different part of the Cowichan Valley Trail (CVT) at a trailhead in Glendora Trails Head Park near the town of Duncan. We just did a couple of out and backs out of the park and were once again surrounded in green, but we also got to check out an old railroad trestle, one of many along the CVT.