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