Iowa: Prairie Rose State Park

Turkey vultures.

Iowa: Pottawattamie County

Going for a walk near my sister and brother-in-law's house. Bonus: a photo of an elk at Botna Bend!

A curious creature!

Iowa: MacFarland Park

Walking in MacFarland Park, just outside of Ames.

 

My Food Obsession (Not the Donut One)

There are many things I love about living in the Pacific Northwest. The climate, the mountains, the endless trails. There is quite a lot of wonderful food out here too. Fresh local fruits and vegetables, dairy, and seafood to start with.

However, as a born and raised Midwesterner, sometimes I just want a nice pork tenderloin the size of my head and slathered in pickles and other condiments. Mention the words "pork tenderloin" out here, and unless the listener is also a transplant from the Plains states, there is going to be some confusion because it's just not a food item that exists here. I've done some experimenting with making my own, but while the attempts were delicious, they were just not satisfying enough.

So my goal for my visit to Iowa was to eat as many pork tenderloins as I could. I managed three (and three chocolate malts), which for a week's stay was quite enough. My craving is temporarily sated, and my sister has given me a meat tenderizer for when it returns and I am back to my pork tenderloin experimenting.

At the Clay County Fair. This was my second and probably best sandwhich. You can somewhat see the tent behind me, where they cut the meat off the loin, breaded and fried it right there. Fresh tenderloin!

Right before flying out. Smitty's on Army Post Road in Des Moines. Also delicious, but not perhaps my favorite breading. Very malty chocolate malt there, as well!

 

Spudnut

Spudnut, at the Clay County Fair. Made somehow with potatoes.

Nostalgia

For the last few days I've been reminiscing about my time in New Zealand (as one does). About this time five years ago, I was taking a short break from Dunedin to travel through the Catlins, and from Invercargill up towards Alexandra before heading east and back south towards Dunedin again. Most of my photos from that year, including those, are not on the computer I use now, but thanks to the internet I've been able to look at a number of them still. I think this feeds into the missing of the place, but I keep doing it anyway.

But then there are days like today, where I spent a few hours with a friend going for a walk at Boulevard Park. We ended up walking as far as the ferry terminal and back, with a stop for coffee before leaving. It was a beautiful day for it with just enough of a breeze to keep the sun from being too warm, and with a number of sailboats out in the bay to look at.

And as much as I loved New Zealand, I remember how much I love living here too.