Iowa Continued

Today I am still in Iowa. Waterloo is a large-ish town that is one hour north of Iowa City. Troy is from here. But first, I’d like to mention something very coincidental.

Last night in Iowa City, we were all at a bar called The Mill. Troy and his sister were telling me that many famous bands had passed through this place before they became famous. This included (maybe) Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, and Two Gallants. As we were leaving, we stood outside the bar for a little bit, trying to decide on where to go for some drunken snack face-stuffing. Taped on the outside of the door was a poster advertising a coming show. It was the Bicycats playing on August 21st. I shouted in disbelief “that’s my friend!” And I was pretty sure it was. My friend Zach Bernstein, who I attended High School with, is in a one man band called the Bicycats. I recently saw him perform at the Sidewalk Café on the Lower East Side, and we’d hung out the night before he left for his new home in Providence, RI. Anyway, like I said I was pretty sure it was his band, although it is entirely possible that there is another band that calls themselves the Bicycats. I sent him a text last night, and today I we spoke on the phone. He said that he is in fact playing in Iowa City Tuesday night, and that he couldn’t imagine I’d be around that area, but that if I was, I should show up. Crazy. I told him about my trip, he told me about his. Sadly, I’m leaving tomorrow for South Dakota, which does not pass the route of Des Moines to Iowa City. I love when little stories happen within a bigger picture. PS If you are in the area, he is playing a show in Brooklyn on August 25th. Check out his myspace page.

On another note, I finished a great book yesterday by John Steinbeck called Travels with Charley in Search of America. Steinbeck mentions how journeys are very peculiar things. Sometimes they continue long after all travel has ceased, and sometimes the journey ends before the trip is in fact over. I wonder how my journey will be. Something tells me that I will continue to learn new things about myself and my country everyday. Another part of me feels that I will soon tire of the road and the stresses that come with it. Having to coexist with another person for 2 weeks non-stop is a very difficult task. I’ve noticed that Troy is mostly constant in his moods. He’s always up for talking and joking around. I, on the other hand, have different moods. Sometimes I like to just sit and watch the road, read my book, write in my notebook, or listen to whatever song we have playing. Other times I’m up for a fun conversation, or a silly game or whatnot. It’s been hard to communicate to Troy that sometimes I like to listen to my own thoughts. I also feel that this trip would be a little more exciting and (dare I say it) fun if one or two other people had come along. I really hope that I don’t go crazy. Two weeks is a long time, and we are actually planning on not coming back until Labor Day, which makes this trip two and a half weeks in reality.

Here is a rundown of today: We passed through Cedar Rapids, home of the Quaker Oats factory. Troy rolled down the windows and told me to take a whiff of the air. No joke, it smelled like freshly cooked oatmeal. Imagine living in a city that constantly smelled of breakfast. I think that would make for a happier population.

We got to Waterloo and I took a nice, NICE shower. Then went to see Superbad on a super huge movie screen. So super huge that we actually had to pay an extra $.50 for it! Superbad was super OK. I enjoyed it more than Troy because I had low expectations. Troy thought there were way too many dick jokes.

We got to play a game of House of the Dead 2. They had one in the lobby of the movie theatre. We got pretty far, but then our quarters ran out.

Dinner at the House of Krouse was good. We had sweet corn, turkey cutlets and rolls. They served fruit-filled Jell-O WITH the meal. I thought that was so odd. I passed on that. The Krouses are a very nice family, though. They lent us a large tent, and Troy, the dad, and I did a trial set-up on the deck to make sure it worked. It did. We also have an actual ton of maps and camping guides that were dug up for us. I have my very own guest room with a wall of windows going across. It’s very pleasant.

Iowans are very nice. They are not at all backwards. Very homegrown American, I would say. If you ever head out here and want to fit in, make sure you substitute the word “way” for “very” or “really.” Examples: Last night was way fun! Your shirt is way cool! Also, pronounce the word “tour” like “two-or.”

Tomorrow we are on to South Dakota!