Saturday, September 25, 2010

Rest Stop

I am in awe.  And I have a new respect for Iowa.  I thought all they had was a lot of corn, and a magic baseball field.  (Just kidding - Iowa actually has a great arts culture) --  But check out this rest area...

Yes, that is a giant nib, and it is even dipping itself in some black ink on the concrete.  Is that the coolest rest stop or what?  The photo was taken by my friend Leslie Cefali, who knew I would go crazy over it. 

I told her I have been doing all kinds of internet searches trying to find out more about this rest stop.  I found a bunch of other art themed rest stops, but that one was not listed.  The Iowa Dept of Transportation has some here, just click on each one to see their poster with info about a particular one (it takes a while for each to download).  The one on I-80 at Tiffin has an education theme, with pillars made of stacks of books.  But as I told Leslie, the nib spoiled me, and everything else looks puny in comparison!

When I asked Leslie where this rest stop is located, she didn't remember exactly, but narrowed it down to Interstate 80, somewhere between the eastern border of Iowa and the western border of Iowa.  (Yes, that would be my sarcasm showing, with a smile of course.) 

Check out these other photos she took inside the building, with a whole wall of M's by the men's restroom, and a wall of W's by the women's restroom.  They are floor to ceiling, wall to wall.  Pretty impressive!
Thanks for letting me post those, Leslie!!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW, my photos never looked so good! I am "pretty sure" the rest stop was just after exit 205 - between Des Moines and Iowa City -east bound. It is definitely worth a search of all of Iowa to find it!
Leslie

gaye said...

Hi Leslie
Those ARE really cool pics. Only you would find them.

Maureen Reynolds said...

Yeah Iowa! That looks terrific!

I know what you mean about a case of ...uh ...prejudice? I drove through Iowa about 3 yrs ago in hot hot weather, fearing that the corn would get me! However, we stopped in Des Moines and I was highly impressed.

I still worry about all that corn tho...

Jo Miller said...

How cool is that! I don't think I have ever been in a rest stop that is imaginative. Thanks for sharing this!

Karoda said...

woooooo....this would have spurred an impromptu art making right there on the grounds!

Anonymous said...

Its in Tiffin,Iowa and YES it is amazing

Anonymous said...

Hello,

It is great to hear the positive feedback! My name is Brian Frederiksen, I work at Dahlquist art studio in Des Moines and would be more than glad to answer questions about this one or the 14 other sites that we have worked on. we are currently posed to begin work on the Ankeny site. thanks again for the kind words.

Pat said...

Nice to have your comment here. This is by far the best rest area I have ever seen, and I may just make it a destination trip some day! Iowa rocks!

Deb Wiley said...

Pat, I would really like to use some quotes from this post in a story I'm writing for an Iowa magazine. Can you email me at debwiley (at) hotmail.com? Thanks!