Des Moines, Iowa: A day in Iowa

I had a rough night. I had some very disturbing dreams that caused significant tossing and turning. And I could feel my body fighting a cold. But in the AM I was feeling much much better and the wonderful breakfast Jill made helped a lot. She has such a wonderful spirit.

I said my goodbyes and left to Des Moines, Iowa to meet a couchsurfer Darin. As I drove through Iowa I enjoyed the beautiful weather, the clouds and the acres and acres of corn fields.

I met up with Darin at his home during his lunch break, and since I needed to catch up on some blogging and rest. Darin's home was spotless. Probably the cleanest, tidiest, most organized home I've ever been to. And he was extremely accommodating. 

Later in the evening, he took me and a friend of his that happened to be in town (Kirby) out to see the sites of Des Moines. First stop the capitol building.

And a view of the city of Des Moines.

Then we drove a little to a memorial of something that has some interesting statues

Naked woman fondling her own breasts.

And an older woman (who looks like the devil) and a naked boy. Just weird for a memorial.

We drive downtown, park and walk around. As we are walking I see an available piano on the streets. Darin tells me in the night people randomly come up to it and play.

We walk by a waxing studio called the Pink Beaver. It just cracked me up and made me laugh.

Then we go to an arcade bar called Up Down.  It has many arcade games and other games too.

Life size jenga

And life size connect four.

I ended up playing this classic game for a long time.

Kirby generously paid for the round of drinks and Darin treated us to being 12 years old again. We were getting a little hungry so Darin treated us to a pizza place: Fong's Pizza, which was a fusion of Asian food and pizza.

One of the tiki cocktails. Reminds me of Psycho Suzi's with Dan in Minneapolis.

After pizza we headed back home after dropping off Kirby. I desperately needed some rest so I took an extended nap (2 hrs) and returning to blogging before heading

In the morning, I get up early and have to drive to Denver to see some really good friends: Bill and Laura.

Expenses: $41.26
Gasoline: $34.16
Groceries: $3.59
Groceries: $3.51