Michigan Part 1 | Road trip!

And we’re off!

After the fun Fourth of July festivities in Seward, Ronny, my sister, Emily and I headed out on a road trip to Michigan. We had been wanting to get to Michigan to visit Ronny’s cousin, Billy, who is in grad school at Michigan State, and to see where their Grandpa Pope grew up near Lansing.

First stop….Iowa! I’ve never driven through the whole state of Iowa, so that was a fun treat to see all of the corn. Y’all know I like corn. :)


After stopping at the Iowa Corn office in Des Moines, we got our culture in at the Amana Colonies. Unfortunately, this is the only picture we got there, but fortunately it is a cute one of my sister and I! I could have spent a lot more time there….but Ronny was anxious to get back on the road.


Next stop…Illinois. The best part of Illinois was having a celebration dinner at the Steak ‘N Shake in Joliet to celebrate Em’s big girl job! She will be starting with KAT Nurseries in Olathe, KS next week. And of course we saw corn in Illinois, too.

We stayed that evening in Stevensville, Michigan after around 10 hours of driving. We could have pushed it all of the way to Lansing, but we really wanted to see Lake Michigan, so you’ll have to wait until the next blog to see those wonderful pictures!

A little Southern flavor

Here is a little picture review of my trip to New Orleans for the U.S. Grains Council annual meeting. When I wasn't in meetings, my group and I were able to experience a little bit of Bourbon Street, as well as the French Quarter. We also took a tour of a food testing lab and two grain elevator riverport facilities.

My 2010 Corn Mission crew reunion!

Jackson Square:

 

The famous Cafe du Monde were I consumed the amazing beignets and chicory coffee!

Amazing barbeque shrimp!

The ZEN-NOH Grain facility on the river:

  



To check out all of my pictures, you can see my online album here.

Food in Asia

This is a picture-packed post, but I wanted to share some of the foods I ate while in Asia. And I did try everything once!

In Japan, we went to a Shabu Shabu restaurant - a "hot pot" style restaurant that is very popular and even becoming more popular in the U.S. The hot pot cooks the meat and vegetables that you put in the pot - one side is original and the other side has hot spices to cook the food in, which I like best!

 

 This was Japan's version of fried pork, corn and edamame.

 Lamb on fire in Taiwan:

 Frog legs:

 "Drunk chicken" and Taiwan Beer:

 Goose liver, truffles and a baked apple:

 A "boxed" lunch:

 A Japanese grill with literally TEN courses! I was so full.

 Some kind of white fish with asparagus:

 Shrimp and broccoli:

 An oyster soup:

 Salad and fruit:

 Beef and garlic:

 Cooked cabbage:

 Custard dessert:

 Kenny's birthday cake in Taiwan - prettier than it tasted!

Bagged squid in a convenience store:

One BIG cup o' noodle at the convenience store in Japan:

Reminding me of K-State: purple potato pockets: 

 

A roundtable dinner in China:



Watermelon and sugarcane for dessert:

Apple flavored candy:

Coke in China:

Another "boxed lunch" in Japan - surprisingly, this was the only time we ate rice! They told us it was for common people and since we were guests of the government, they wanted to feed us their best food - like jellyfish and oysters!

I dont' have a picture of the eel we ate, but at this restaurant, they were proudly displayed at the front with the rest of the fish!

 And one of the best foods we had at the end of the trip: