Northern Iowa

We have been in northern Iowa exploring this area for Bigfoot. I have been pleasantly surprised with how nice this area is and I feel I need to take back all of the nasty things I’ve said about Iowa over the years.  This is not flat at all but rather it has beautiful rolling hills.

Pilot Knob State Park

I don’t mention every place I stop at to search for Big Foot as many are dead ends. For example I was near Forest City this week which is home to Winnebago. I stopped at two local establishments in search of the elusive prey. The first stop was a little Mexican restaurant in downtown. I had their carnitas tacos which were very good and the pork was quite delicate. But there was not a sign of Big Foot. I also went to a more traditional sports bar in case Big Foot was in the mood for that style of food. Again, no sign of Big Foot. My salad was mostly iceberg lettuce (which I dislike) but the grilled chicken was nice and the iced tea was refreshing. 

I also went to several establishments in Cresco. These seemed very promising. The first restaurant was a local sandwich shop (Fat T’s Cafe) and I had a very nice Panini. The atmosphere was everything that the research had shown to appeal to Big Foot but there was no sign. The other place in Cresco I searched was Dough & Joe which was a bakery and coffee shop. The bakery was excellent and I picked up a loaf of bread for later. I went back to try the coffee and it was drinkable but not quite strong enough. In any event, no Big Foot. 

Fat T’s Cafe. Good sandwiches. 

Good bakery. No Big Foot

I also checked out Osage. The first stop was Piggyback Smoke Shack. I know Big Foot can’t resist smoked meats and this place has some excellent choices. The brisket was delightful as was the pulled pork. I was even able to make a meal the next day from my leftovers. Feeling I was getting close I decided to explore this little town some more. By an amazing coincidence there was a brewery nearby. Clearly the combination of smoked meats and freshly brewed beer must attract Big Foot. Limestone Brewers had a great selection of beer and were able to safely fill my growler for a to go order of porter along with some to go cans of an IPA. I also knew that I was on the right track as there signs that the creature has been there. A giant wooden homage to Big Foot was out front and they had additional indicators inside. Clearly my tracking of Big Foot from brewery to brewery has been the correct strategy as this has been the only type of establishment that has had this memorial to the creature (other than tacky tourist traps selling crap). 

Limestone Brewers. Big Foot was here, I’d stake my PhD in Cryptozoology on it.  

Based upon this latest discovery, I will need to redouble my efforts at exploring small town breweries. It is so satisfying to have years of advanced scientific research pay off. 

On the living situation front, I have made some progress. The most cost effective solution (a scout is thrifty after all) is to get a larger trailer. I can delay the purchase of a new truck until the car market settles down which I would prefer to do. I searched for a “couples” floor plan which means it’s not designed for shoving in as many beds as possible. I was able to find two models from two different manufacturers and selected one. I have been waiting to pick up the trailer which is scheduled for Friday afternoon after which I need to make a beeline for Wisconsin. I have several important meetings I need to attend with other scientific experts along with seeing B&L. Of course also importantly is the Bier and Food festival at The Runaway in Burlington. Afterwards I head to the Green Bay area to see C&D along with consulting with additional great minds. Then I’m off to Kentucky and then looping towards Texas for the winter  

Regardless if you are searching for Big Foot or not, be sure to support your local establishments of all varieties. I love getting a sense of a community through their food or drink and the only way to do that is to eat and shop local, wherever you are. 

Also I apologize for any excessive typos this week. I had to pack everything from the trailer into my truck in order to do the trade in so I’m typing away on my phone with shoddy internet reception at a park. The glamorous life of a vagabond.

Thor

Braxwood.com

If you have not read all of these, please at least read the welcome message as it may explain a few things about the adventure. Feel free to read all of the posts and comment. I may or may not reply to comments based upon an inscrutable set of criteria.

If you are interested in getting email notifications of these postings but have not figured out how to do that yet, you can email me at thor.braxwood@gmail.com and I can manually add you. If you are more self-sufficient, a helpful hint is to go to full web version and look on the right side. Otherwise you will just need to randomly check in but if you contact me directly and ask me what I have I been up to, I will direct you to the blog but I will still talk to you. I mean, I am traveling with dogs and while I talk to them they have yet to speak to me. You may notice the randomness of the timing of my posts; this does point to the need to subscribe to notifications