USA 2012

John and I said goodbye to Kristen and Chris on Tuesday morning, Sept 18.  They were leaving shortly for Japan, where Chris was being reassigned as a Navy Officer.  They had taken us out to dinner the night before, and we shared a toast to the many adventures that awaited us both.  We left shortly after our goodbyes for our 6-week road trip.

SIOUX CITY, IOWA

We drove lots of miles, across many corn fields (very dry) to get to our first major stop, which was Sioux City, Iowa.  His mother grew up in Sioux City, and he has heard some of the stories, but had never been there.  We found his mother's senior picture in a high school yearbook in the genealogical libray, as well as some other interesting tidbits; found the grocery store his grandfather owned (now a seedy bar), and the older apartment complex where his grandmother lived in her later years, and probably the home his mother lived in, although we weren't sure if it was the same home, even though it was the correct address.  We found the Graceland Cemetery and the Griffen family plot where his grandmother, grandfather and other relatives are buried.  All of this was a real high for John.  We only wish there were still some relatives alive who could fill in the stories.

 

We also went to a museum and learned more about that part of the country, including the huge corn palaces they had built earlier -- all out of corn cobs!