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The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum is in West Branch IA, where he was born
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Hoover was on a Stanford College "surveying team". Probably not a major sport . . .
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At age 21, Hoover grew a beard and dressed up to apply for a job that specified 35yrs or older. The other photo is of Lou Henry, his college sweetheart and not-yet wife
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A depiction of Hoover at work in the Australian outback - Hoover called it the land of "black flies, red dirt and white heat"
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A display highlighting some of Hoover's accomplishments as Secretary of Commerce - including establishing the FCC, FAA and Federal Highway Administration.
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Hoover's name was officially applied to the Boulder Dam several years after it was built. Construction started during Hoover's presidency
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After FDR's death, Hoover was asked by new Pesident Truman to head up a post-war relief program, which he gladly agreed to do.
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Hoover was a lifelong avid fisherman, but apparently never got the hang of dressing comfortably for his hobby.
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A temporary exhibit at the museum focused on the unsuccessful Prohibition era
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This was a sample of a small still, with explanations of how it worked
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In Amana, one of several statues reimagining Iowan artist Grant Wood's famed America Gothic painting.
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There are a lot of wind turbines in Iowa. To get a sense of scale, this is one turbine blade displayed at an Iowa rest area
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You can't go to Mitchell SD and not visit the Corn Palace. Biggest hunk of kitch in the world
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The 2016 theme was Rock 'n' Roll.
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Detail shows how split corn cobs are nailed to the wall to create the Palace's vegetarian murals
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Mitchell's official centennial sculpture - "Reconcile With Them" from 1990
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When internet weather reports suffer data damage. We probably would have noticed these extremes
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In Custer State Park, the drive through The Needles is spectacular
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These are made of the same granite that permeates all of the Black Hills.
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A state official proposed sculpting some of these needles with historial scenes. That idea morphed into Mount Rushmore
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Wind, water, snow - all contributed to the erosion that helped make these formations
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That tunnel is one of several that make it impossible for RVs and tour buses to use this road
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A new visitor center provides an introduction to the park, although you drive through a lot of park to get there
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The park is best known for the bison herd. This is a loner . .
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We can watch prairie dogs all day. Almost did.
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These begger burros stop traffic and practically get into the car in search of munchies
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There are always a few uncomfortable looking pregnant jennies
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We saw only a few pronghorns. Fascinating animals
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We never saw the big bison herd - some 1300 strong. These are a few stragglers
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You can get glimpses of Mt Rushmore as you drive through the park. The road was specially built to do that
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There are even views through a few tunnels
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We'll end this slideshow this way - Mr. Borglund's best-known work.