Some news from the middle of nowhere. Adventureland Park in Des Moines opens this Saturday. Masks are NOT required.
There are only two Gerstlauer Infinity coasters in North America, and they've got one one of them (the other is at Knots in California), the Monster. It has a beyond vertical 101 degree drop hill, and a night lighting system that changes the track color as the cars roll.
They'll be bringing an S&S Freespin online later this summer, and their other coasters include two woodies, the Outlaw (a CCI design) and the Tornado (the park's original), as well as a Maurer spinner.
Good for them, I bet it will be packed too when people go there just to not have to deal with masks and crap.
If I make a road trip this summer I may actually end up in Iowa for a little while. I've only barely been through there on I-29 and don't even think that counts, but have considered trekking up to UPMI. Can't decide if I want to screw with leftist states at all though, or even if I'm going to do a road trip this summer.
Some years back I drove from Pittsburgh to Denver using only state and local roads and an oversized travel atlas from Rand McNally. It was great, a ton of fun, and I got to really see America.
During this trip I went through Iowa and Jack Kerouac was right: The prettiest girls in the world live in Des Moines.
It really is a fun way to travel. I did similar last summer up into Wyoming and South Dakota. Essentially made the trip the fun part and not the destination. I was on the interstate a bit, but probably less than 25% of the total miles.
We were on a deadline but had about a week to to get there. So we meandered a lot through South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. We accidentally ended up seeing Mt Rushmore, Toadstool Geological Park, a few ghost towns, and just a bunch of other really cool places. That part of the US is so underrated. And remote. There were a couple of days we didn't see anyone else.
Taking a trek up to UPMI sounds amazing. I might give that a shot.
Ah yes, good old Highway 2. The Death Star Treench run. Two hundred miles long, hundred feet wide. That last twenty minutes before St Ignace with the beach is nice tho.