I’d like to believe that I have a healthy fear of being alone in a strange place at night. A fact I had tried to ignore during my preparation for the artist in residency at Waubonsie. The idea that I would be staying a cabin, in the middle of a state park, completely alone, was the one thing about this experience I knew I was going to struggle with. Add in no Wi-Fi and no tv and it’s no surprise that 2am, my first night, found me wide awake, exhausted, and paranoid of every single scuff and scrape.

Waubonsie State Park offers campsites for RV’s, tent camping and shelters for picnics. In 2005 with the addition of the Wa-Shaw-Tee Unit, a former Girl Scout Camp, the park gained 642 acres, including a lake, a lodge and eight cabins. During my weeklong residency I had the privilege of staying in Kahiga; a spacious studio cabin fully furnished and included a large woodburning fireplace, kitchen, heating and air-conditioning. The outside had the perfect setup for an evening around the campfire with a fire pit and picnic tables. I’m researching to see if the name Kahiga has any significance but so far, I’ve had very little luck.

Coming to Waubonsie I was looking for a chance to tune in; to explore and practice my craft with no distractions. To just be present where I was and to capture the beautiful landscape of the Loess Hills in photos. I wanted to embrace the opportunity of letting go of technology, but I also knew if I was going to make the best of this experience, I needed sleep. So, I fell back on a habit that helps me at home. I pulled out my phone, opened YouTube and watched the closest thing to nature my sleep deprived mind could think of…Garden Answers. It worked. I dozed off to the sound of the host, Laura, talking about peony varieties. Five hours later I awoke, somewhat rested, to the chatter of birds and an irate squirrel.

Anxious to get going but still a bit worn out, I choose the short hike along Bridge Trail to kick off day two. Apart from a rather dramatic drop down onto the forest floor just before the trails end, the hike itself was leisurely. I spotted my first butterflies of the season, or maybe they were moths, either way it was encouraging. Running in almost a perfect North/South line, Bridge Trail is less than a mile and noted as ‘easy’ on the trail map. At the outset there is a picturesque overlook of the valley but for the remainder of the trail the view is mostly obscured by thicker brush and trees. Truth is, I was more captivated and caught up by the rather large population of grey squirrels flitting about and the difficulty of trying to photograph one sitting still. FYI…I never managed a decent photo of a single squirrel my entire visit.

The short morning hike had a reviving effect, or maybe it was the energy from all the squirrels, so I decided to satisfy my curiosity about the area around Waubonsie and drove the 10-mile loop from the gate onto J46 west to Bluff Road, down Bluff Road to Hamburg, Ia, then up along the eastern edge of the hills with a left turn onto J46 and back to the park gate.

Home to approximately 885 souls, Hamburg is the most southwestern city in Iowa. In September they celebrate the Tri-City Popcorn Days in honor of Alex and Arthur Vogel’s, Vogel and Son Popcorn Company. The company started in 1948 and grew so large that they bought the city’s water tower and train station where they were able to store nearly a million pounds of popcorn. Now owned by ConAgra Foods, the company is still headquarted in Hamburg and its popcorn is used in Act II and Orville Redenbacher’s.  

After a quiet afternoon of lunch and writing at the cabin I wandered back to the picnic area I had come across on day one, in the hopes of getting more photos of the golden prairie grass field. Unfortunately, it had grown gusty, and with the wind came a dose of cold air that drove me back inside my cozy cabin to a quiet evening and a far more successful night’s sleep.

A “Week in Waubonsie” is my latest series I created after spending my first artist in residency at Waubonsie State Park in the Loess Hills. I’m excited to be sharing this journey over the next several weeks as I also begin the process of developing my first official collection, also titled “A Week in Waubonsie”. I hope you return soon to see the latest release or you can sign up below to receive automatic email notifications.