Lightening bugs

 I am sure they have an official name, but is the only one I have ever known. Grew up with them around every summer evening. Apparently they do not like where we live as I have not seen any in years. Watched them while in Iowa and watching them now here in central Kansas.


  One of life's little treasures we forget about sometimes.


 Take time to smell the roses, and enjoy the lightening bugs!

Near future

  For a variety of reasons, yesterday was stressful. Add in the fact we do not like to move everyday we have been taking it easy here at Pawnee State recreation area. Nice enough campground, few things I do not like but nothing major.

  This trip was not about sight seeing, it was about visiting old friends. That we have done successfully. Tomorrow we relocate to just south of Topeka Kansas for two nights. Then it is a one night stand in Guthrie Oklahoma. Have guest coming over Saturday so Friday arrival is as long as we could delay our return. Nothing wrong being at the stationary house, just prefer the one on six wheels. That being said, don't look for much in the way of posting till confirmation of our safe arrival.

 Oh, a minor point of pride. You might have noticed the states visited map to the right. Those colored in states have been since August 2015, less than a year. Yes, we have been on the road a bit. Coming up Louisiana in August, south Texas during September to October. Louisian again in January, trip to Florida in February, south Texas in March. Spring 2017????, leaning toward Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, D.C.  area. Stay tuned for future trips.

Pella Iowa

 Pella Iowa sits south of Grinnell a ways. A nice tourist type of town that strives to retain it's heritage, and is succeeding quite well. Local ordinances require any and all building facades have some feature of Dutch architecture. They went so far as to hire a company from the Netherlands to construct and actual, and accurate, windmill just off the square. More information can be found HERE and HERE and HERE


 Some dummy left his camera back in Grinnell and had dificulty seeing the screen of his cell phone. My apologies for the poor photography.

  Would be nice to be back in first of May for Tulip Time but then again I do not like crowds.


 Lest you think this trip was all Dutch, it is also the boyhood home of someone best known in the west.

 This artwork was created by a local man when he was 90. It is constructed of metal wagon wheels welded together and stands maybe a 100ft tall.

 Of course we could not leave Pella with out a visit to the local bakery. Very tasty treats that will not make it home. A lot more to see and do in Iowa so we shall return in near future. So if the saying is "not Dutch?, not much" Mary and I thought it best to become Dutch boy and girl

Currently outside Lincoln Nebraska. Came this way so Mary could visit a quilt institute/museum on the University of Nebraska campus. Mission accomplished but not without some stressful moments. We are on our way home and Tuesday night will find us in Kansas.



carpe diem

Friendship, what life is all about

 Mary and I just spent a memorable day with dear friends. They took us to Pella which is a unique town of Dutch heritage. Hopefully some good photos and the full story of our day tomorrow. This post is dedicated to our wonderful host, Danny and Joy Carroll. Danny and I have known each other since middle school. The three of us, Mary, Danny and myself all graduated high school together.

 Danny and I have been best friends for as long as we can remember, yet we are different. In some ways I am the evil one trying to tempt and corrupt the good one. What do they call it, the Ying to someone else Yang?

 What ever you want to say it is, lasting should be part of the description. I told Danny he was the only person I would drive from Texas to Iowa to be in the wedding for and I meant it. I also have told him if he called and said he needed me to charge the gates of hell I would be there with him. Meant that as well.


 Thank you my friend for a wonderful visit. It was indeed memorable. Joy I apologize but I think this is the only photo I have with you in it. Meals were wonderful, even if I did pass on the asparagus!


 Till next time my friend!

More old friends

 We arrived in Kellogg Iowa about 2pm today. We are staying here to visit friends in Grinnell, about 10 miles east. Fourty one years ago we drove up here so i could be the best man in their wedding. More tomorrow but we had a very pleasant day here in Iowa visiting.

Minnesota

Our brief stay in Minnesota comes to an end tomorrow. While we have barely begun to explore it, I can say most of what we have seen is beautiful. Driving out to Redwing, a beautiful town, we passed thru some idyllic countryside. Red Barns, tall silos, green fields. Not just flat fields but fields on rolling terrain. Yes, it gets way to cold for us up this way in the winter months. On the other hand summer months are nice. Back home it was a low of 78 and a high of 98 today. Here we started out at 57 and made it up to 71. Very nice indeed. Will return to Minnesota someday.

  Friday takes us to Grinnell Iowa. There we will visit my friend of 50 years.



  more later...

Minneapolis

  We visited this fair city today. A lot of traffic and strange routing of traffic. Not my favorite city and not one I am likely to return to. Our trip downtown took us to...wait for it,,,a museum! This was the Mill City Museum celebrating the long heritage of milling flour here. Minneapolis was founded on the banks of the Mississippi at Saint Anthony falls. These falls provided the power for timber and flower mills. The Minnesota historical society runs the museum in the ruins of one of the old mills. Very informative about how the bills were built and powered.

Just south of Minneapolis is the city of Bloomington. It is the location of this little place called Mall of America with 500+ shops. You know Mary could not pass it by. Big, nice place with amusement park in middle. Mary and I could not find a ride we were capable of surviving.


 Mary at this HUGE Crayola store/experience. This adult coloring book thing is getting out of hand!

 Out to Red Wing tomorrow.

Dubuque

  Dubuque is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, cities in Iowa. Sitting on bluffs over looking the river it is a diverse city. Used to seperated into areas by nationality or religion. Has some beautiful old structures.

  One of the most interesting was the one for First United Methodist Church. Reportedly they have the fifth largest collection of stained glass works by Louis Tiffany. We saw a large collection of his work last year in Winter Park Florida. The windows we saw, and the building itself, were stunning. We make a point of touring old, interesting  church buildings. This one rates at the top.

 Of course we could not pass up a chance to visit a museum. This was a large, informative museum.

 There are two casinos in town, one owned by the city. Sad to say our luck was not good.



Tomorrow we move on to Apple Valley Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis/St Paul. We will be there for three nights.

Location, location or cha-cha-changes

 If you came along on the March-May you will remember we had you in the desert. Well get ready for something different. We are in the breadbasket for the world. Have seen our share of fields of corn in Illinois and now Iowa. Lot's and lot's of green fields.

  We are currently in Dubuque Iowa, This is where Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin meet. Four corner region in April, Tri State region in June.


 Our current location courtesy of Google Earth

  As you can tell we are camped on the banks of the Mississippi river. The old girl is not near as wide as she is down Vicksburg or Natchez way. None the less quite a strong current. We are just down stream from one of the river locks, number 11 I believe.  We have been sitting here enjoying the cool breeze and watching the pleasure boat traffic.

  Looking for a small cabin with a view? This may be just the one for you...

Old Friends

 Spent the past 2 plus days visiting old friends. Mary and Sharon grew up neighbors and have been BFF's forever. Mark fired up the smoker and we ate well. On to Iowa tomorrow.

Land of Lincoln

Change of plans had us driving on to Normal Illinois area. Cooler here than at home. More later

Exit one

So we stopped for the night at Downstream casino, exit 1 in Missouri. So if you have players card you can stay for free. Went to casino and signed up for one to save the normal $30 cost. In getting the card they give you $7 free play and when you get 10 points a $10 voucher for food. Stay for free, twenty bucks off meal, I broke even gambling and Mary came out $80 ahead. Not a bad stop! On to St. Louis today