Eye-Oh-Wa!!!"

I was at Emily's uncle's house over the weekend. One of the other guests there had just returned from Texas so I had the same conversation with her that I've had with the 90123489 other Minnesotans who runs into me and just got back from Texas. They tell me what a great frendly state it is, they can't believe how green it is, and are pleasantly surprised that the state has more to offer than George Bush. All of this smacks of elitism at times, but that is for another post.

My point to this post is the lady, fresh from her trip to the Big Bend said, "Texas is my favorite state now, not counting my homestate and the state I live in now."

And this of course got me to thinking. What is my favorite state that isn't where I grew up and where I live now?

And it's actually a no-brainer. IOWA. Now maybe this state should be disqualified since that's where I went to college. And I did live in Iowa City for two years after that.

However, I can list 100 reasons, easily as to why Iowa kicks ass. Don't worry, I won't. But from the Hawkeye cheer at football games (one side cheers, "I!" the other shouts "O!" and the end zones shout "WA!") to Secret Pizza, the Amana Colonies, and the replica of the Star Trek Enterprise in Riverside, I-O-WA gets my vote. Oh yeah, and I left out the now defunct Dr. Brown's Cookies--fresh-baked cookies delivered to your house a la Domino's.

North Carolina also is a mighty fine state and could easily unseat Iowa as my favorite if I found they deliver cookies to your home as well.

Any other nominations?