When in the military I spent a month there in 1982 at Rockwell Collins learning some crypto gear. The Marines put me up at the Longbranch Best Western. It was high living for me back in the day. I used to go down to the bar and get Michelob on draft. That was the fancy beer back then if you didn't want to drink Bud or Miller. It was a lot like that movie Fargo, in how the people talked and acted.
There was a big shopping mall across the street. This was the height of mall culture, when MTV was just getting started and "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" was a recent movie. I remember walking through that mall and seeing all the high school girls with the big hair and the guys with their letter varsity jackets. "Down Under" by Men At Work was the big song during that time. It seemed like everywhere I went, that song was coming through the speakers. Also John Cougar. A lot of John Cougar.
I have fond memories of that month in Iowa. I would also go there three times afterwards as my wife had relatives that lived in Marion, which is just outside Cedar Rapids.
The fact that Trump is doing well there bodes well. I mean if anybody would reject a city slicker businessman like Trump, it would be Iowa. But they seem to love him out there.
Are you an amateur radio guy by any chance? Your background sounds just like one of my favorite radio contacts.
My family left Iowa all the way back in 1978 and moved to Illinois. (Don't get me started on this hell hole of a state!) I'd not been back to Iowa at all until about 3 or 4 years ago now when I went to Lincoln, Nebraska for an amateur radio contest.
I stopped in Altoona for gas, drove around a bit, realized I didn't recognize a thing and got back on I-80 West to Nebraska.
Well, they fell for one slick talker in Obama so I guess it makes sense that they're doing so for Trump.
(Ducking in preparation for the incoming flak!)