My Trip to Iowa - DeSaxonized

[heem6]

8AM - PHOENIX

Well, you all probably know that the big Rock Gone Wild fest supposed to be held this week was cancelled. My first chance to see one of my favorite metal bands, SAXON. So anyway, I had my tickets and hotels booked and want to visit relatives and friends there as well.

So I leave this morning and everything is going so smoothly. Traffic was good, parking at the Airport was easy, got a spot right next to the elevator, caught a shuttle immediately to my terminal. Standing in line to check my bags I get a call. Flight's been cancelled. Have to wait another two hours for the next flight. Rebooked through O'Hare in Chicago. Called the 800 number and asked to be re-routed thru Dallas/Ft. Worth. Flight arrives half hour earlier than the one thru O'Hare. O'Hare is a wretched, bottomless canyon of filth airport plagued by constant flight delays.) Asked the ticket agent if I would receive any compensation for the delay. She said no. Oh well. Then she said, "I'll give you First Class from here to Dallas. Sweet!

Here's my view for the next two hours at Sky Harbor airport.

[rickblacker]

How about some air port terminal hottie pics? There has to be some fine looking women running around yes?

[heem6]

I like where your head's at on this one, Rick.

9am - PHOENIX
Read in the paper that today is the 30th anniversary of Hendrix's legendary mid-morning performance at Woodstock.

That feels like a good omen for this trip.

[heem6]

I felt like too much of a pervert to stand around the airport and snap pictures of pretty women as they walked by. I did consider asking a few if I could take pictures of them for my blog, but I kinda imagined their thought process would be, "Stalker. Internet Freak." So I just kept quiet. By the way, this did actually work for a guy here in Iowa City when I was in college. He was retarded though. Seriously. His nickname was "Smiley." All the pretty girls used to let him take pictures of them. If only they knew what he probably did to them later!

[heem6]

2:30pm - DALLAS/FT. WORTH

They were going to book me through O'Hare and I'm really glad I changed that quickly. If you're a Catholic, and you haven't led a good life - O'Hare is where they send you to serve out your sentence in Purgatory. Seriously, you'll get stuck there with delayed flights and getting out of there is like trying to get a boat ride across the River Styx.

First class wasn't that great until you compare it to flying Poverty Class - on American Eagle. Then it's like living in one of Saddam Hussein's Presidential Palaces. Get this - first it's soft drinks, then hot, roasted cashews, walnuts, almonds. Then a hot towel to wipe our fingers with. Then lunch was served. A really surprisingly good Chicken Parmegan. ESPECIALLY taking into account that it must have been prepared before the flight and kept in warmer boxes for at least an hour or two. Green beans, salad with vinagrette dressing (which I am forcing myself to like just to please my doctor) and pita chips and a sweet roasted red pepper Humus dip. Then, as if that wasn't enough, a warm oatmeal raisin cookie! Is this how Paris Hilton lives?!! hahahaha.

Here's a pic from the plane window:


I've liked the Dallas Fort Worth airport each time I've been here. You can buy ANYTHING here from "Roadkill Cafe T-Shirts - It tastes like chicken!" to custom tailored men's fine suits. Here's a few pics of the elevated train lobby and one of the trains (Sky Links) arriving:



Okay, lame pics so far, right? But here's one of a moving sidewalk being repaired. How'd you like to step in there? Well some guy did and you can see his foot still inside where it got chomped off! What? You can't see that? Must be my low-res cell phone cam. It's there. I swear it! ;D


P.S. God love 'em - some people in front of me at the gate were complaining they couldn't get seats together and why would American stick them on a puddle jumper plane instead of a jumbo jet for the flight? "Des Moines is an INTERNATIONAL airport, after all." Yeah, an International Airport with a whopping ( 4 ) FOUR baggage carousels in the entire airport and where the only place to eat is a Burger King that closes down at 9pm. LOL

[heem6]

David Lee Roth once said, "If you want to really get to know a city, explore it at night. That's when all it's ghosts come out."

I got to Coralville last night around 9pm. Was going to go to hotel to unload, then eat and then to sleep. But I couldn't resist checking out Iowa City. I drove in over the Iowa River, the same way I used to take when I lived in the dorms on the hill. Someone had made a trail down the forest on the hillside and it was nicknamed "The Ho Chi Min" trail. Then we would take a shortcut across the frozen Iowa River! Man, if any of us had ever fallen in ... it would have been over in a few seconds.

Being in Iowa City at night was like revisiting a lot of ghosts. I drove by places I had lived, partied and studied, all with my mouth open and my mind overwhelmed with emotion. I'm a very different person today than I was as the kid who went to school here 25 years ago. I think my brain was having troubles processing the memories of that kid through the mind of the person now. It's like all these vague memories came rushing back, but they were someone else's memories.

I went by Van Halen Hall (Van Allen Hall). We used to party there before going to concert's down at the Crow's Nest. And on the sidewalk to the back is where I met one of the true loves of my life. I went by two of the houses I lived in during college. One was featured in the comic strip "Bloom County." It was the Bloom County Boarding House. After doing a news story on it for the Daily Iowan newspaper I rented a room there for a year and a half. The owner was really understanding and let me live there for almost a year with no payment until my student loan came in and I was able to pay the balance. I remember constantly forgetting my key, coming home drunk and having to climb up the fire escape ladder 3 stories to get in my room's window! If that wasn't bad enough, my girlfriend used to do that as well!

I was literally in a daze, wandering around with my mouth open. There was no way I could process all the feelings I was feeling all at once. I don't know if I've ever had feelings that powerful in my entire life. I literally felt like I was in a dream. I got a Gyro from the Gyro cart that has been there for at least 25 years. I went back into my favorite bar back in those days - The Deadwood - where I spent countless evenings taking off the chill, pounding beers and yakking away with my friends. Jon Gors and I, Jennifer and her roommate even got a standing ovation one night after singing (in four part harmony), "Happy Trails" the Van Halen version. Poor Jon (who was the spitting image of Robert Urich but with black hair) was shot and killed in Chicago at 26 years old. At the Deadwood, he continually bounced checks. Then he would come in and pay them off. Then cash another check. The night we learned he died I asked the waitress if she would check to see if he was on the bounced check list currently. She confirmed he was. I knew it. Even dead, Jon was still on the bounced check list!

I saw people playing guitars on front porches, people gathered around kegs on front porches, young boys and girls sitting on public benches holding hands and people walking everywhere.

This town has a very tangible feeling to it. Just like Sedona has a real feel to it, so does Iowa City. It's a magical, funky, eccentric college town that is half-stuck in the best and coolest part of the 70's, and half modern day. Everywhere you go are strange back alleys, weird parking spots on the sides or backs of houses, occasional cobblestone streets and girls! Oh, they\re are a lot of pretty girls in this town!

[heem6]

I took dozens of pictures of Iowa City - click here to see them!
s37.photobucket.com/albums/e64/heem6/

Here's one - I put together a deal with a local bar owner while I was there to donate the proceeds from the door on Valentine's Day each year. I made sure he got good write-ups in the media each year and the Student Senate helped get matching funding from the State so that the Cambus' could operate from 12am - 2am on weekend nights. Getting kids home from studying or the bars safely. We called it the SAFERIDE system.

[rickblacker]

Sounds like you're having a lot of fun man. Memory lane. Feels strange huh?

[heem6]

Yeah. Cool, but definitely strange. I have to go soon, being the only person over 24 is getting to me! A girl brought her dog into the Deadwood bar tonight and I asked her if I could pet it just to have someone to talk to! haha.

[heem6]

THURSDAY - CORALVILLE

Didn't go into Iowa City today as it got a little boring being the only person over 22 in that city!

Stopped at the grocery chain I used to work at (Hy-Vee) for a Pork Loin sandwich. My god, it was as big as a small dog! It took four ketchup packets to cover it! haha.


Went shopping at the Coralville Mall and found a matching pair of Mens & Women's sport watches for my cousins wedding. They like to ride motorcycles, and already have all the housewares they need, so I thought they might like a pair of watches to wear when they go out on the bike.

Then went to see "The Perfect Getaway." Pretty cool little movie. I liked it. More entertaining than I had expected.



Tomorrow I head into Des Moines to see my buddy and his family.

[heem6]

FRIDAY - CORALVILLE/DES MOINES

People are so friendly here! While I was in Hy-Vee, the counter clerk and I were chatting away about travelling and I forgot to order a drink. I pulled my wallet out and he said, "No, don't worry about it. It's on the house." Wow. Then I had asked one of the mgrs. where the bathroom is and he walked me over to it, so I was telling him I worked at three different Hy-Vees in the past. He says, "That makes us like family then! haha." NOBODY would ever say that in Phoenix! Later that afternoon, at the theater, I had a large Diet Dr. Pepper I had bought at the mall. At ARBY's Sean! I asked the ticket taker, "Don't suppose I can take this in with me," and he was like, "Oh yeah, don't worry about it." Dang!

So, before I left I thought I should take one last drive thru Iowa City. I am so glad I did. While I was taking the picture of the University Library - 5 stories! - I decided to stop in and see the new Journalism bldg. I graduated with a Journalism degree, and was quite active in The Society of Professional Journalists and a Staff Writer on the Daily Iowan newspaper. I was looking around and asked if they had a copy of the award we won in 1985, "Best College Newspaper in the Nation." I was shown back to the publisher's office who is the same publisher from when I was there! We didn't know each other, but he offered me a tour of the new offices which were really cool - including a TV studio where they film Daily Iowan TV each day. Great guy, very nice, does a wonderful job of mentoring students into careers in Journalism. At the end of the tour, he gave me a Daily Iowan T-Shirt and made me promise to e-mail him the first time I wore it in Phoenix and got stopped by someone from Iowa, which he swears will happen! haha. He even remembered the article I had written on The Bloom County Boarding House. It was nice to talk to an adult, and a great note to leave the city on.
www.dailyiowan.com/

Pulled into the rental car return at the airport and a lady was right there to meet me, do the inspection and give me a receipt from a little computer she was carrying. I didn't even have to go inside.

Came to see my friends and took them out to The Outback. Just sayin - the Golden Roast Pork Loin is really good!

Then I got to play guitars with my buddy - a Taylor 514ce Limited Edition, a Taylor 12 string Limited Edition and a vintage Ibanez Lawsuit Les Paul. Played "Son of a Poor Man," and "Ridin' the Storm Out" by REO Speedwagon, "Honky Tonk Woman" by the Stones, and "Take it Easy" by The Eagles."

Posted some more Iowa City pics here:
s37.photobucket.com/albums/e64/heem6

Here's a sample:

[rickblacker]

Pork sandwich eh? Sounds good. Better if it wasn't fried, rather low smoked cooked... yummy


Sounds like you had a great time!!!