Some Geocaching

 We traveled to Cherokee IA last month for a day of geocaching. We geocached in and around Cherokee before attending an event in nearby Cleghorn that afternoon.

a geocache in the city library in Cherokee

and a Little Library geocache

a birdhouse gadget cache called DKOI

Hubby solved all the puzzles for the pie geoart

that was the easy part

going down and up the ditches was the hard part

he attached a rope to the step of the truck

to let himself down into the steep ditches

and then used it to pull himself up and out

we did not finish finding the pie caches 

we will have to go back to Cleghorn

I attended an event in Sibley and completed some geocaches

I earned this souvenir for attending the event

Hubby stayed home and attended a college football game

some of the geocachers who collected trash along the ditches of 

Rice Street in Brandon

our collection of collected ditch trash

the geocachers who participated in the city-sponsored 

Cache In Trash Out event

we earned this virtual souvenir for the event

 

Sioux City IA

 We had not spent time in Sioux City before our excursion last week. Usually, Sioux City was a drive through with lots of irritating road construction and no options other than the interstate road construction. 

Sioux City is in the northwest corner of Iowa. North Sioux City is in South Dakota and South Sioux City is in Nebraska, across the Missouri River. 

The bridge across the Missouri River to South Sioux City in Nebraska.

Smurf Fries, sculpture at the art museum

another downtown sculpture

Floyd River Campsite Rock

The rock shows illustrations of various historical events in Lewis & Clark's journey. Some of the events include the death of Charles Floyd, an idea of what the campsite might have looked like, Floyd's suffering and a portrait of Charles Floyd. 

The original Freedom Rock was created and painted by artist Ray "Bubba" Sorenson, and designed to honor veterans and provide a unique piece of art in each of Iowa's 99 counties. The Freedom Rock series has expanded to other unique locations.

Sergeant Charles Floyd was the only member of the Lewis and Clark Party to have died during the expedition. 

he was buried on this bluff August 20, 1804

named Floyd's Bluff

the bluff overlooking the Missouri River

Clark diagnosed the condition which led to Floyd's demise as bilious colic, though modern doctors and historians believe Floyd's death was more likely to have been caused by a ruptured appendix. ~ Wikipedia

Bison painted by Martin Ron

a three-dimensional painting 3 stories tall

Harrier Hawk, painted by Sarah Rutherford

the harrier hawk is an endangered species of the Siouxland area

Bridging East and West

three girls who represent African American, Southeast Asia and Jewish

communities and business in that part of Sioux City

 showcasing Hispanic heritage in Sioux City

painted by David Manzanares, an artist from Mexico

a closed diner 

red oak leaves

oldest building on the campus of Morningside College

Charles City College Hall 1890

a Richardson Romanesque structure of Sioux Quartzite

We completed 3 of the 14 Adventure Labs in the Sioux City area. Completing Adventure Labs are a great way to see all a community has to offer. We attended an event at the end of the day hosted by a Swiss exchange student at Morningside College giving us an opportunity to meet a few of the local geocachers.

Woodbury County Court House

 We drove to Sioux City for a day of geocaching last week. Our first stop was at the Woodbury County Court House. Courthouses are usually interesting; sometimes it is the outside structure and sometimes it is the inside. This one was a total surprise on the inside. 

the only open entrance; there are two

the stained glass dome in the rotunda

not visible from the outside

arrowhead and leaf motif

repeated throughout all the glass works in the courthouse

murals by artist John Warner Norton (1876-1934)

four murals line the mezzanine level

the four murals were completed in 1919

the murals were painted on canvas in Norton's IL studio

and installed in the courthouse

white terra cotta accentuates the murals of the mezzanine level

the lights above the entrance

more terra cotta detail on the walls of the main floor

the original elevator to the four courtrooms on the second floor

some of the outside features 

the eagle on the eighth floor

the courthouse was built at a  cost of $825,641.23

about 50¢ per square foot

two bison on the alley side of the courthouse

more outside structure detail

even the lights along the sidewalk were unique

Public Safety Memorial next to the courthouse

The courthouse architectural style is Prairie School which originated in Chicago and developed in the 1890s.

the courthouse was started in 1916 and completed in 1918

it has 6 additional stories in the tower

The exterior design was quite radical compared to the stone or granite of typical courthouses of the time. Roman brick differing in size and color and sculptures above the two entrances make this structure unique on the outside.

Justice and Humanity

click to enlarge the photo to see more of the detail