Direct to Iowa!

With dad no longer in shape for a 14 hour drive to Iowa, we decided to take advantage of the brand new direct flight from DCA to Cedar Rapids, and I flew with him out to Iowa to get him set up at Martha's for the month. It really was amazing to take off at 8:30 on Saturday morning and be at Martha's by 11am - too early for lunch! 

It was a quick trip as I was flying back on Monday morning, but I fit in a nice visit with Grandma & Grandpa Z, an afternoon at the Pond with the Cottingham's - including Carrol's family visiting from Oregon and Kentner's family visiting from New Zealand, a luau at the Pond for a friend of Ken & Helen's with dancing, music, and a fire eater (the advantages of Friends in the West Branch Quaker Church having members with Samoan roots!), nice visits with Leanna and Kent, a barbeque dinner at Wildwood, and even a facetime visit with Thomas and family! 

I also got some nice pictures of the old cottonwood tree on the lane up to the Pond that lost some major limbs in the last big storm. My grandpa Floyd used to tell stories about how big that tree was when he was a boy back in the 1910's - meaning that it was probably an original tree on the prairie before it was turned into farmland. It's always been one of my favorites, so it was a little sad to see it wracked by storm damage... 

Looking forward to a longer visit when the whole family drives back out in a few weeks!