Follow the Orange Van - North

---

Having finished off Kansas, work sent me north. The states of Iowa and Wisconsin were next. After I was done with work and the van, I had a chance to spend a free day exploring Minneapolis.

---

Photos

Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs are a Triple A team of the Chicago Cubs. They play at fantastic Principal Park in downtown Des Moines.

Iowa Cubs 2
View of downtown and sunset

Field of Dreams
Set location for the movie. If you're a fan of the movie and a fan of baseball, you kinda have to make a trip up here at some point.

Ghost's view of things
Is this heaven?
No, it's Iowa.

Umpire's view
Kinda different without the corn.

Go figure
Most farms in Iowa are hundreds of acres in size. For the movie set, they had to pick an acre of land that crossed a property line. This has caused some drama between the landowners over who has the real 'Field of Dreams'. Kinda nice since you have two gift shops to choose from.

Madison, WI over Lake Monona
Madison is a fantastic and big college town. I would compare it to Austin without the music scene and without the traffic issues.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Campus
View up Basom Hill towards Bascom Hall.

View of Lake Mendota from the Student Union
Seems like a nice place hang out between classes. Apparently the ice cream they serve in the union is out of this world. They try all sorts of experimental flavors and with Wisconsin being a dairy state, the cream part is fresh. It was closed during my time there :(

State St
This is the main drag in Madison. It stretches from campus to the capital building. Imagine Mass St on steroids.
Very cool street. Lots of unique restaurants and shops.

Camp Randall Stadium
The monsterous place where the Badgers play football. I've actually seen a game here. Way back in the early 80's we had a family reunion here and Wisconsin was playing Missouri. The stadium seemed big then and it is certainly still big now.

The geo geek in me.
Had to visit the center of NW hemisphere.

Mall of America
Everything you need under one roof.

New Guthrie Theater
Cool looking building. The inside is supposed to be fantastic as well.