Benjamin spent a night in Decorah visiting family on his way to a funeral.

We drove east across Iowa, stopping at the Jesse James Historical Site in Adair. This site marks the location of the world's first robbery of a moving train. As the story goes, Jesse James believed there to be a shipment of gold on a train passing by Adair. He and his gang cut the rails and when the train came along, they pulled the rail out of place and the engine plunged into the ditch. The engineer and fireman were killed, and several passengers were injured. When they opened the safe, there was no gold shipment, as it had been delayed. Jesse and his gang robbed the passengers and fled to Missouri, where the governor offered a $10,000 reward for Jesse James, dead or alive. A few years later one of the new members of the James gang was tempted by the reward and shot and killed Jesse James.

We also stopped in downtown Des Moines to see the Iowa State Capitol and toured the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch.

We toured the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque. We also spent an evening gambling and bowling with Ben's father and sister at Diamond Jo Casino.

We attended a wedding at the Hotel Winneshiek in Decorah. We also visited Effigy Mounds National Monument near Marquette where we hiked around the mounds and enjoyed the views of the Mississippi River and valley below.

Driving east through Iowa we stopped at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum in West Branch. This is also the final resting place of President Hoover and his wife. We also stopped at the Iowa-80 Truck Stop near Davenport, which is the largest truck stop in the world.