June 26 - Quad Cities

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Barges, I would like to go with you . . .

The Quad Cities area consists of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, and Moline and Rock Island in Illinois.  Our final convention walk started at the Botanical Gardens in Rock Island and took us over the Mississippi to Davenport. During a pleasant walk along the Mississippi (on a levee) we saw a string of barges heading upstream toward Lock No. 15.  The Mississippi IS big and it IS muddy.  But before crossing the bridge we toured the Broadway Historic District in Rock Island.  Apparently, the Blues Brothers are from Rock Island.

It took us 18 minutes to walk across Centennial Bridge.  On the Davenport, Iowa side at the foot of the bridge we passed Modern Woodmen Ballpark, home of the Quad Cities River Bandits (farm team for the Los Angeles Angels).  We also had a chance to see the Union Station Visitor Center, the Figge Art Museum, and a skybridge leading to a riverboat casino.

Elwood, me and Jake

The walk was supposed to take us back to Rock Island via the Government Bridge, a turntable style drawbridge, to give us a close-up look at Lock and Dam No. 15.  This bridge would have taken us to Arsenal Island and Fort Armstrong (built in 1816).  However, the powers that be decided to “clean” this bridge today, so it was closed and we had to return via Centennial Bridge.  This added some distance to our walk, bringing it to 11K at least. 

Whatever

I am basing my rating on the planned route.  Anytime you get a walk that crosses the Mississippi and includes two states, you have a winner.  An island, a fort and a lock and dam are worth lots of bonus points.  Overall, I thought the Rock Island side was nicer than the Davenport side.  Both sides had a beautiful park along the riverfront, but Rock Island seemed like it had more to offer.

Although volunteer trail guides were posted in a few spots along the detour route, I think the marking of that portion of the route was non-existent and there were several places where a few chalk arrows would have been very helpful.

Even though this is the last convention walk, I will be adding a few more posts in the next week or so, so continue checking.  Some of the posts will be backdated, so look at the whole title.

Rating:

Walk Route: A

Walk Documentation: B+

June 25 - Cedar Rapids

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Cedar Rapids is Iowa’s 2^nd largest city and the largest corn-processing city in the world.  Some parts of the town smell like popcorn.  In June of 2008, Cedar Rapids experienced a devastating flood. Downtown businesses, public buildings, and more than 5,000 homes were inundated by floodwaters.

Our 5K walk today was neither a loop nor an out-and-back.  I guess you’d call it a point-to-point.  We started at Veterans Memorial Stadium (home of the Cedar Rapids Kernels) in a fairly nice sports complex.  

 We began by walking through a dilapidated neighborhood, then crossed railroad tracks that did not have crossing gates (twice), walked under the interstate, walked past a construction area, and then walked through an industrial area that smelled terrible.  (The dilapidated neighborhood had been flooded by water up to 8 feet deep in 2008.  A number of derelict buildings could still be seen.  The flood also impacted the sidewalk, making it uneven and difficult to walk on.)

Kolaches

At the 3K mark, we entered Czech Village.  This used to be the shopping district for many Czech, Moravian, and Slovak immigrants.  This area was interesting and picturesque.  A polka band was playing at a bandstand.  We stopped at the Sykora Bakery to try out the kolaches  Mmmmmm!  

Moving a museum

We also passed the temporary quarters of the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library and stopped in to see the Museum Store.  The original building was next to the river and had been damaged by the flood.  A monumental project is underway to move the enormous museum building to a new foundation on higher ground.  The building is up on blocks and is being moved very slowly towards the new foundation.  This move started two months ago.  You can observe the move via webcam at www.ncsml.org. 

We crossed the Cedar River and entered the downtown area.  There was a lot of construction to replace public buildings damaged in the flood.  The new US District Court building was quite striking.   

After passing the African-American Museum of Iowa we came to the site of the Freedom Festival BBQ Roundup.  It smelled wonderful, but it was a little early for lunch and we had gorged ourselves at the Sykora Bakery.   

The Tree of Five Seasons, logo of Cedar Rapids

We followed the bike trail a little bit longer and came to the business part of downtown.  A parade was going on as part of the Freedom Festival.  We checked in at the checkpoint at the Visitor’s Bureau and then went to wait by the Tree of Five Seasons sculpture for the shuttle bus back to the stadium.

Rating:

Walk Route: C (1^st 3K: D, next 2K: B+)

Walk Documentation: B+

June 24 - Iowa State Capitol

Friday, June 24, 2011

Our second walk today was not an official convention walk, but a year-round event. Having already completed 6K, we chose to do the 5K.  We started at the Marriott and crossed the Des Moines River to East Des Moines. 

WOW!  The Iowa State Capitol building is awesome.  It is located on a hill, so it dominates the landscape and you can see it from quite a distance away.  It has a large central dome covered with gold leaf and four smaller domes.  The building appears dignified and majestic without seeming excessive.  This is the 24^th state capitol building I have visited, and one of the most beautiful, in my opinion. Our photos do not do it justice.

The inside of the building features lavish detail everywhere you look.  Twenty-nine types of marble were used inside the building.  The various types of wood used all came from Iowa forests. Looking up into the elegant rotunda you can see more gold leaf, murals, marble columns, and the balconies of two upper levels.  On display inside are a number of murals and paintings and a model of the USS Iowa. 

The Capitol Campus includes other government buildings, several statues and war memorials, and a public garden.

Rating:

Walk Route: A+

Walk Documentation: B+

June 24- Des Moines

Friday, June 24, 2011

For our convention walk today we picked the 6K rather than the 12K because we wanted to do another walk to the state capitol later.  We started at the convention center and soon came to a huge sculpture park.  There was lot of activity in the area because people were setting up tents for a huge art fair this weekend.

Most of our experience with downtown Des Moines comes from driving to the convention for three days and taking this morning’s walk.  The downtown is a little strange.  There just doesn’t seem to be much activity.  There are a lot of nice buildings and a lot of parking garages, but no restaurants, coffee shops or stores.  Not many people walking around (other than volkswalkers).  We could easily find parking at a meter right in front of the convention center.

Terrace Hill, the Iowa Governor's Mansion

We continued to the Governor’s mansion.  It was built in the American Victorian Second Empire style.  It looked very “Midwestern” to me.  We saw many more Victorian era homes in the Sherman Hill National Historic District.  

Back at the convention center, I attended part of a workshop on tips for events.  It was mostly a lot of trivia like how to make a list of what goes in the checkpoint box, laminate it and tape it to the inside of the lid of the plastic tub.

In our travels across Iowa to the various walks we have seen hundreds of wind turbines.  They are an impressive and strangely beautiful sight and I was curious to know more about them.  The second workshop, "Wind Farms," answered all my questions and more. The presenter came from Mid American Energy ("Obsessively, Relentlessly at your service"). I found out what is inside the towers (a ladder going all the way up and various computers and other controls), where they are located and why, their drawbacks (impracticality of storing wind-generated power), the name of the box on top and what is in it (nacelle), and how long they take to construct (9 to 12 months).

The third and final AVA General Session followed.  The session included more awards, presentation of a gift to Iowa Natural Heritage and a speech about Iowa Trails by representatives of Iowa Natural Heritage, elections, and “new business.”

The elections were close, but the winners are:

President – Heinz Johnson

VP – Marvin Stokes

Secretary – Bonnie Johnson (uncontested)

Treasurer – Bob Morrison

Bob Morrison was aligned with Sam Korff and Becky Forsythe, who were defeated, so it will be interesting to see how things unfold.

The big surprise (to me at least) was when we came to new business. A delegate proposed a change in policy to allow one to stamp one's event book EVERY time one walks the event distance – up to once a day.  This measure was approved by a majority of the delegates and will take effect on July 1 this year.  (It also means the “+” stamp will no longer be necessary.)

Rating:

Walk Route: B

Walk Documentation: A

June 23 - Ames

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Damselfly

It was blustery and in the 60’s today – great walking weather!  Our 6K walk started at Reiman Gardens, the largest public gardens in Iowa.  The gardens were gorgeous.  The 14-acre site includes a Children’s Garden, an enclosed butterfly garden, a sustainable rose garden, an indoor conservatory, an herb garden, a hillside garden, a lake with lily pads, and a town and country garden.  There were many delightful nooks and crannies to discover and savor.  The current exhibit, “Big Bugs,” features 10 gigantic sculptures of insects. This is one of the nicest botanical gardens I have ever visited.

Our entire walk was on the campus of Iowa State University, the first designated land-grant university in the US (and a non-smoking campus, I might add).  At the beginning of the walk, the landscape was dominated by a beautiful 55,000 seat stadium. The team is appropriately called the Cyclones.

Rose Garden

The Campanile

After reaching the academic portion of the campus, we were wowed by one beautiful building after another.  Catt Hall was named for Carrie Chapman Catt, the first woman graduate of ISU in 1880 (and class valedictorian), and a renowned advocate for women’s rights and the founder of the League of Women Voters.  (By the way, yesterday’s keynote speaker, Tim Lane, is her great-great nephew. Lane told us that Catt was responsible for a physical education program for women at the university.  The university president had chided some male students for missing their exercise drills, telling them that exercise would make them better students.  She told the president that if exercise was good for the males, it would be good for the female students, too. )

In the library we saw two large murals by Grant Wood (“American Gothic”).  Wood helped form the art movement known as Regionalism, which held that painters should paint what they know. 

George Washington Carver was the first African-American to attend Iowa State and later became the first African-American faculty member.  One of the academic buildings is named for Carver.

The Campanile is the iconic bell tower located near the center of campus.  Built in 1898, the 110-foot tall tower contains a 50-bell carillon which sounds every quarter-hour.

After the walk we drove to the Convention Complex in Des Moines. I attended a workshop on AVA’s Trailmaster Program and I will be bringing the handbook back to my club.  The main thing to be aware of is the new trail-rating system that takes effect on January 1, 2012.

Reiman Garden Gnome

The second workshop I attended was a presentation on Feet and Footwear by a physical therapist.  He provided some very useful information on buying athletic shoes. He pointed out that most shoes are made in big factories in China and quality control is often lacking.  Two pairs that are supposed to be the same size may not b e the same, so you might need to try both on.  He also showed how to check to make sure both shoes in a pair are made properly.  Finally, he showed us how to strengthen our foot muscles.

The second AVA General Session followed.  The session included awards, committee reports, and voting on bylaws amendments.  The Youth Committee report addressed the Girl Scout Walk-Together program.  Next year the patches are going from $1 to $2.  The committee is proposing that the patches not be considered an award in the future.  This means that Girl Scouts could purchase the patches without having to purchase the IVV credit (i.e., they could be free walkers and still get the patches).  Only 500 patches will be ordered for next year, so we should get our order in early.

The proposed bylaws amendments were all adopted.  The proposal to charge dues to state associations was approved despite opposition from a substantial minority.

Rating:

Walk Route: A

Walk Documentation: A+

June 22 - Winterset

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Bridge to Nowhere

Our 10K walk today started in City Park in Winterset, Iowa.  Shortly after starting our walk, we came to the Cutler-Donahoe Covered Bridge, built in 1870, and one of the 5 remaining covered bridges in Madison County.  It is a lovely red-painted wooden bridge.  You can walk across it, but it doesn’t really go anywhere now; it is just part of the park.  

 Other attractions in City Park include an English-style hedge maze, the 25-foot tall Clark Tower overlooking the Middle River Valley, the restored Bennett log cabin, a stone commemorating the development of the Delicious apple, and a stone bridge used in the movie “The Bridges of Madison County.”

Clark Tower

The walk route also included the John Wayne birthplace, a 7-foot statue of the “Duke,” the Madison County Historical Complex, a Civil War monument, and buildings appearing in “The Bridges of Madison County” and “Cold Turkey.”  

Winterset also played a role in African American history. The building that currently houses the Winterset Art Center is linked to the Underground Railroad.  In addition there is a park memorializing George Washington Carver – scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor.  Carver was employed in Winterset before going to college in Indianola and later in Ames.

Follow the pink arrows

The heat wave has ended and today was cool and pleasant, like a humid summer day in Anchorage.  My knees and ankles are much better.  Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the break I took yesterday, or maybe it’s the glucosamine chondroitin I have started taking.

After the walk we drove to the Convention Complex in Des Moines. I attended the second half of a workshop on AVA (American Volkssport Association) Club Tax and Accounting Issues.  It wasn’t that interesting, but I got some handouts to bring home to my club.

The second workshop I attended was an AVA Town Hall Meeting.  The main issues discussed were:

•  Lack of a location for the 2013 convention
•  Whether “free walkers” should be eliminated
•   IT issues such as a “bulletin board” and using Facebook to publicize events

The first AVA General Session followed.  The keynote speaker was Tim Lane, a former fitness consultant with the Iowa Department of Public Health.  He was an excellent speaker.  One of the issues he adressed was the lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure in the US.  He said that 1.2% of our transportation spending goes to pedestrian improvements and he would like to see that number doubled.  Des Moines, with 6 pedestrian bridges over its rivers, skyways connecting downtown buildings, and other pedestrian amenities, is setting an example for the rest of the country.

We also heard from the candidates for AVA’s national officer positions.  Due to some controversial events during the past few months, this election is contested.  There were two candidates each for President, Vice President and Treasurer.  The conservative contingent wants the AVA to remain pretty much as it is; the other contingent thinks the AVA will need to reinvent itself in order to survive. 

Rating:

Walk Route: B+

Walk Documentation: B+