Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrim. It's here, and hopefully, it'll be a day for Iowans to relax and unwind. But if not, know that others, around Iowa, working too, and there is some solidarity in that. You might be thinking, "Yeah, solidarity." I'm trying to make you feel better. Okay, now go with it.

Now, that you're feeling much better, after my pep talk, let's chat about what you're doing for turkey day.  Oh yeah, maybe working.  Stop bringing us down, dude,

Where Did the Negativity Go?

Hey, now that we've jettisoned all the negativity, If you aren't working will you be the host?  Or is there going to be some travel in your plans?

If You're Staying In

If you are staying home, it might be a bit safer, UNLESS you will be deep frying your turkey.  That's a whole different mess with safety concerns of its own.

If you're staying home, hopefully, you've gotten your supplies before now but if not you might be seeing me in the store.  I'm quite last minute with most holiday cooking and we might bump carts. You best have good insurance if we do. I was once in an overturned cart accident, back in '78, and my epiglottis still hasn't recovered to this day.

Headed Out on Iowa's Highways & Byways?

If you will be hitting the road this Thanksgiving, know that it's some of the most dangerous driving days of the year.  According to AAA 80 million Americans will be traversing the roadways on Thanksgiving.  It's a numbers game.  The more people on the road, the more chances of an accident.

Don't you think, AAA, would be Arthur Fonzarelli's (The Fonz) favorite organization or is that just me?  If you are aware of "The Fonz" may I say "Aaaa" to you!  If not, wow, I don't know what kind of world we live in.  Please enlighten yourself.  You could even go down a rabbit hole and learn about The Fonz's girlfriend Pinky Tuscadero but I digress.  Back to being safe on the roadways.

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TruckInfo?Canva/TSM
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Truckinfo says Iowa has had several fatal accidents in the years 2003 through 2022 on Thanksgiving, That data was provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as well as The US Census Bureau.

The majority of traffic crashes on Thanksgiving are alcohol and speed-related, then they fall off to other reasons.

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Here are the roadways, says Truckinfo, where Iowans and other travelers have lost their lives on Thanksgiving. The roads are listed with the number of lives lost.

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The list of roadways is many and the rest of the list is below.

I-80 JohnsonIowa5
I-35 StoryIowa4
I-380 LinnIowa3
CR-F048 JasperIowa2
I-29 MononaIowa2
I-35 PolkIowa2
I-80 PolkIowa2
Q AVENUE PageIowa2
SR-27 LeeIowa2
SR-48 MontgomeryIowa2
US-169 WebsterIowa2
US-20 Black HawkIowa2
US-30 StoryIowa2
US-34 HenryIowa2
US-6 PottawattamieIowa2
W66 LouisaIowa2
7590 JasperIowa1
140TH KossuthIowa1
150TH ST WapelloIowa1
16TH AVE SW LinnIowa1
1ST AVE DubuqueIowa1
240TH ST DelawareIowa1
303 AVE LeeIowa1
400TH ST SiouxIowa1
650th Buena VistaIowa1
A54B SiouxIowa1
AMBER RD JonesIowa1
BERRY AVE MononaIowa1
CEDAR AVE AdairIowa1
CR-190TH ST AdamsIowa1
CR-210TH AVE/UTICA RIDGE RD ScottIowa1
CR-320TH STREET StoryIowa1
CR-330TH ST CrawfordIowa1
CR-65TH ST Des MoinesIowa1
CR-C07X/GARBER RD ClaytonIowa1
CR-D41 SKYLINE RD DubuqueIowa1
CR-D61 BELLEVUE-CASCADE RD JacksonIowa1
CR-E17 JonesIowa1
CR-L12/QUEST RD/MARION ST PlymouthIowa1
CR-MARKS HILL RD WorthIowa1
CR-PLEASANT PLAIN RD JeffersonIowa1
CR-W045/BUFFALO CREEK BLVD BuchananIowa1
CR-W42 JUNIPER RD FayetteIowa1
DRYHOLLOW RD AllamakeeIowa1
E53 GreeneIowa1
EDGEWOOD RD SW LinnIowa1
F16 ShelbyIowa1
F57 PoweshiekIowa1
I-280 ScottIowa1
I-29 FremontIowa1
I-29 MillsIowa1
I-29 PottawattamieIowa1
I-35 Cerro GordoIowa1
I-35 WarrenIowa1
I-35 WorthIowa1
I-380 Black HawkIowa1
I-380 JasperIowa1
I-380 JohnsonIowa1
I-80 DallasIowa1
I-80 JasperIowa1
I-80/29 PottawattamieIowa1
JAMISON RD MillsIowa1
JERSEY RIDGE RD ScottIowa1
JOPLIN AVE BremerIowa1
KESTREL AVE PlymouthIowa1
LAFAYETTE ST Black HawkIowa1
LAREDO AVE HarrisonIowa1
MIDDLE RD ScottIowa1
NE 46TH Ave PolkIowa1
PARK ST DallasIowa1
R45 WarrenIowa1
RIVER ROAD Black HawkIowa1
ROCKINGHAM RD ScottIowa1
S 2ND ST JeffersonIowa1
SR-1 AdamsIowa1
SR-10 SiouxIowa1
SR-127 HarrisonIowa1
SR-141 DallasIowa1
SR-15 KossuthIowa1
SR-163 MarionIowa1
SR-17 PolkIowa1
SR-3/E BREMER AVE BremerIowa1
SR-330 MarshallIowa1
SR-4 EmmetIowa1
SR-4/22TH AVE PocahontasIowa1
SR-60 SiouxIowa1
SR-66/CR-P33 RinggoldIowa1
SR-9 AllamakeeIowa1
SR-9 WorthIowa1
SR-926 KENYON RD WebsterIowa1
SW 2ND ST PolkIowa1
T37 GrundyIowa1
T38 JasperIowa1
US-18 HancockIowa1
US-20 CalhounIowa1
US-20 HardinIowa1
US-218 BremerIowa1
US-30/73RD ST BentonIowa1
US-30/LINCOLN HWY LinnIowa1
US-34 MontgomeryIowa1
US-34 WapelloIowa1
US-52 DubuqueIowa1
US-59 ShelbyIowa1
US-61 LeeIowa1
US-63 Black HawkIowa1
US-65 Cerro GordoIowa1
US-65 LucasIowa1
US-67 ClintonIowa1
US-69/SE 14TH ST PolkIowa1
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How Do They Get these Numbers?

So, you're looking at data about fatal car accidents that happened during the Thanksgiving holiday. The period they’re focused on is from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving all the way through Sunday after Thanksgiving. The data you have comes from two main sources: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the US Census Bureau.

The fatal accident numbers you're looking at include all the deaths from car accidents that happened during Thanksgiving from 2003 to 2022—so it’s a 20-year total.

The population data comes from the US Census Bureau and is from 2022, which tells us how many people were living in the country at that time.

In short, you're comparing how many people died in accidents over Thanksgiving in those 20 years and comparing that to the population size in 2022 to get a sense of how big a deal Thanksgiving travel-related fatalities are.

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How Do We Decompress?

And now, for your viewing pleasure and to hopefully lower your stress level, a beaver eating some cabbage.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrim, and stay safe!

Eastern Iowa Restaurants We Want on 'Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives'

The Food Network show 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' hasn't made very many stops in Iowa, so we wanted to give them a few ideas for their next visit! Our list contains diners, hole-in-the-walls, small town staples, places that have stood the test of time, and restaurants that just have that perfect dive-y vibe. Most of our picks come from the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City areas, but we did include a few favorites that are a bit of a drive! Here are some of the places we'd love to see on 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' someday:

Gallery Credit: Courtlin

Slang Names Iowans Use For Cities & Towns in Iowa

The 'I Grew Up In Iowa' Facebook Group was asked for slang terms for towns in Iowa that you have used or know of.

Gallery Credit: Sloppy Joe