Rain Rain Rain

Saturday June 20-Jeff and I got up early to get our work done before we left for town. Since the campground is so full I figured my shower house would be a mess, but that wasn't the case....yeah. We wanted to be on our way by 7:45. We were heading to Seth and Katie's. They plus Ashton are running in a 5K inflatable run. We were going along to watch Hailey. She is to young to run. We followed them to there friends house to park and walk to the race. Well the weather looked a bit sketchy. They were to run at 9:30. We kept watching the sky. It was gonna be close. They all finished before the rain showed up. We watched Hailey and was ready to get a few pictures.

After everyone was through Jeff, Ashton, Hailey and me started heading for the truck. It started to rain but we got back before the rain really cut loose. We made our way back to the campground. It had already poured here with some hail. Now it was just raining.....sometimes hard sometimes not. It stopped for just a bit so we took advantage and went for a walk with the dogs. We met a giant schnauzer named Cloey. We almost made it back when the rain started again. We stayed inside the rest of the afternoon watching movies. As we were sitting down for supper I saw a flash of lightning followed by a big thunder. Then a few minutes later I saw emergency vehicles rushing to the second campground loop. There was 2 ambulance, 2 fire rescue vehicles and 2 sheriff cars. We had a terrible felling in our stomach thinking it couldn't be good. Well come to find out a 42 year old woman was walking between campers and was struck by lightning. It was a fatal strike. We did not go up there. We found out later what had happened. What was weird was we only saw the one lightning flash. You need to be aware of your weather but that was just a very unusual event. We had there family in our thoughts and prayers. When the rain finally quit the clouds were really cool to look at.

Sunday June 21- Happy Fathers Day!..... After our usual tasks to do we went into town to meet Justin and Molly for brunch. Jeff splurged and we shared a short stack of pancakes. We ate at Perkins and the food and company was great. We got to see Molly's new car. The restaurant was really close to a T J Maxx. I wanted to go look and so did Molly. Jeff went to the book store. We found a couple things we liked so we went to the dressing room to try them on. When we came out Molly wonders were her keys are? She asked Justin if he had them and we could tell by the look on his face the answer was no. So the hunt begins. She looked back in the dressing room. We back tracked of where we had looked. She, Justin and I all walked out to the car to look. We asked the cashiers if anyone had turned in some keys?...no. Well I could see that she was getting upset so I went into detective mode. I tried to remember where she had been looking. I went through every rack shaking clothes. I remembered she looked at some dresses so I was shaking them and I heard a jingle...eureka!!! I found them and I yelled across the store.... She needs to carry a purse from now on. We went back to the campground to let the dogs out. Then we gathered some stuff to take to Seth and Katie's. We are going there for supper. He got fish and even some king crab legs for Jeff. We got everything fixed and it was very good eatin....

After eating we came back home and took the dogs for a walk. The campground is almost empty...everyone's gone home.


Monday June 22- Well the weather looked really bad. We spent some time in the shower house this morning and we weren't cleaning. The weather was really bad all around us but we lucked out. We had some rain and wind but nothing like they were calling for. We had some things we wanted to get done today. The first thing was paying some of these doctor bills. That's pretty stressful for sure. I made out a couple checks for my bills. Jeff had to make some phone calls on his. He pays his with a health savings account. Jeff was hoping that they would negotiate on his bill if he paid it all. Well that was a big no. He had 2 bills he was trying to pay at the hospital. The first went thru but the 2nd one was declined. Well after some more phone calls he found out there is a limit of how much you can pay in one day. So more phone calls to get that lifted for the day.  While Jeff was taking care of that I started to feel dizzy. It just kept getting worse so I decided to go lay down. Well that didn't help either. I ended up being sick. So weird cause I don't ever get sick. Jeff calculated that its been about 20 years since that had happened. I laid down after that and took a 3 hour nap...another thing I never do. When I got up I felt better but laid around the rest of the day.


Tuesday June 23- Today I felt a lot better. The weather was way better too. It was cool and sunny. I got a nice walk in today. We decided to do some maintenence on the rig. We hooked up the camper to see if the back big foot would work right since we cleaned it....The first time no. We gave it a second try and it worked. Then we moved the rig up a bit to get the wheels moved. We also wanted to put some plastic cutting boards under the wheels. Someone told us about that. After we got it all set back up Jeff worked on the slides. He wanted to clean and lubricate them. We really felt like we accomplished something today. Then I decided to get my quilt laid out and pinned together for the quilting process. I have to do it outside because there isn't enough room in here. With all the rain I had to wait for the rug to dry. So now I can start the quilting...yeah.


Wednesday June 24-When we got up it was only sprinkling. That system moved out and we both got our walks in. We went to town, first to Ketelsen's  the camping place that fixed our A.C. in the bedroom. We needed to get them paid. We ran to get groceries after that. On the way home the sprinkling started again. The afternoon brought more rain so we stayed in...Jeff practiced his guitar and I quilted. As evening approached so did the bad weather. When we were heading to bed you could hear the thunder in the distance. We're hoping we miss the storms again.


Thursday June 25- Well guess what? It was cloudy and threatening rain most of the day. I did get my walk in. The 3 campers that were here left today. They said they gave up....too much rain. They did leave behind a lot of fire wood that we brought back to our site. I gave Belle a haircut today. With it being so cloudy it wasn't to hot for her. After hanging around here all day we couldn't wait to get out of the rig. We went to Ashton's hockey. He really showed some hustle tonight. Katie and Hailey was there so we walked around the upper level of the arena. It's perfect cause you can still see him playing. They are playing 3 on 3 and they do get a lot of ice time.

Friday June 26- Hey guess what.....its rainy again. Man this is getting old. Did some cleaning and stayed in. Hailey has swimming lessons tonight so we hope it clears up...its test night to see if she passes. We couldn't hang around here all day so we decided to go to a movie. Jeff has been wanting to see that Beach Boys movie..."Love and Mercy" We went to the movie and it was a new experience for us. We didn't get any popcorn or soda. Boy that was strange. The movie was pretty strange too.  The good news is the weather is clearing up. So Hailey's swim lessons will be better. We parked at Seth and Katie's and walked to the pool. Its pretty close. We got to watch her do her new tricks and take pictures. She still is a little afraid of putting her face in the water but she'll get used to that.






















We finished the night with a late supper, I had made baked spaghetti ahead of time so we just had to heat it up...tasted yummy.



Saturday June 27- It's not raining! We have a big day planned today. We got up early and went in to pick up the kids. We got to the kids house around 9a.m. Then we headed towards Boone Iowa. First we stopped in Ames for lunch. The restaurant was called Hickory Park. This place was really good we got there around 11 and so we beat the rush. Its unusual, clean, inexpensive and the food and service is great.

Everybody loved there lunch and the dessert was even better. After eating we got back in the truck and made our way to Boone Iowa and the Scenic Valley Railroad. First we picked up our tickets. We rode coach. Adult tickets were $20 and kids $7. There is also a museum to look at. All kinds of railroad stuff to enjoy. Our ride started at 1:30 and lasted until 3:15. The ride takes you from the depot through the Des Moines River Valley, and to the old mining community of Fraser, where the railroad got its start. Enroute, you will cross the 156' tall Bass Point Creek High Bridge. The train is powered by our steam locomotive on Saturdays and one of the diesel locomotives the rest of the week.

We loaded up, found us a seat and opened up the windows.....thats the air conditionig. The train travels around 14 mph and slows down when going over the bridges. The kids were excited and it really was a great outing for all of us.

On the trip back we moved out to the open air car. We wanted to stay out there when we crossed the tall bridge. The fun part was the view.... the bad part was the ash that was all over us. That's ok we can shower later. We pulled back into the depot right on time. Unloaded and watched as the train filled up with water, just like on petticoat junction.






















Well we had all the fun we could find here so we headed towards home or at least thats what we thought. We got stuck at a railroad crossing for 45 minutes. Finally made it home and we ate and had a campfire. When kids are here and you have a campfire you better have marshmallows. I did. We roasted them..yummy.

Had one more funny thing happen. Hailey is very picky and she told me she doesn't take showers only baths. Well that's a problem because we have no bath tub. Well I talked her into a shower. I had to keep the door open and hold on to the shower head. I got her all soaped up and she was trying to sit on the seat but she was so slick she kept sliding off. It was pretty comical. I had one hand with the shower head and the other I was trying to keep her on her feet. Never a dull moment around here when the kids are around. Boy are we lucky to have them. I made a bed up on the floor downstairs and Hailey and I slept there. The boys got the bed, what's up with that. What a great day we had.


Sunday June 28-Well we woke up to rain. What a bummer we had planned to take them fishing before they went home. That didn't happen. I made breakfast for every one. Seth called and we decided to meet them at Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers for lunch. The place was packed when we arrived. We found us a booth and enjoyed our lunch. Everything was great. When we left it sure was quiet in our truck. Time to rest up for next time.

Springs in Full Swing

Monday June 8- Its a real nice today without humidity. On Monday I usually do a lot of cleaning. I start the week out with lots of gusto so I figure I better get stuff accomplished. I worked on the rig inside, Jeff washed the roof and the rig outside. Its been awhile and it needed it. Jeff also repaired a chip in the truck window. I got them washed before he got to them. I went out to check on the baby bunnies. I must have frightened one he ran out over my foot and across the street. I was afraid they were too little to be out so Jeff went and caught him and put him back.






















Went into town to watch the Blackhawks play at home. It was close but no win....booooo.


Tuesday June 9- It was a nice morning but we are suppose to get some heat today. After my cleaning responsibilities I went on my walk. I have picked me a route out. I like to plan that way I know what to expect. I'm getting into a routine so its rather pleasant now. I just wanted to get it done before it gets too hot. I'm a wimp. Ashton had a change in his hockey this week. It's moved to Tuesday this week. We went in to watch.

Wednesday June 10- A sunny warm day, I'm liking this weather. Today consisted of getting more stuff done around here. The campground usually is pretty empty during the week but full up every weekend. It's really quiet around here especially during the week. We do most of our cleaning and maintenance during the week. The birds have begin to show up. The hummingbirds are back in full force. What's more fun than watching them......nothing.






















We had an early supper then headed in to Seth's house to watch the Blackhawks WIN!! That ties up the series. Another very exciting game.


Thursday June 11- Well after having those nice days we woke up to rain. It stopped long enough for me to get my walk in. Then it rained on and off the rest of the day. I got the borders added to my newest quilt project. I have to get the batting and backing so I can get it together and start on the quilting.

We ended the day with a  trip to town to watch Hailey's first tumbling class. She asked Papa if he would come and of course he said yes. When we got there they told us we couldn't watch but let us go in the last 10 minutes so she could show us what they did. She loved it.























Friday June 12- Another gloomy rainy day. Jeff managed to get his walk in but I didn't. I just walked around the campground loop. I told a camper the wrong information so I was watching for him to show up so I could give him the bad news. I had been worried about this for a couple days. Well it was taken care of so when I found out that I was one happy camper. Judy showed up around 8p.m. and we visited the night away.

Saturday June 13- Well it looks like that 30% chance of rain has changed...its raining so that seems like a 100%. Well we hung around here awhile then headed to town. First we took Judy to the new Pioneer Coop. Since the rain looked like it was here to stay we took in a movie. Went to Collins Road Theater...our favorite one here in town. They actually care about there customers. They also have real butter for the popcorn. While waiting for the movie to start we saw the add that had our grandson in it. This time I got a picture. That boy manages to get his picture more places.

The movie was The Age Of Adeline, we liked it and the popcorn. After the movie we stopped to get some stuff for supper. Made us chicken skewers, well they were supper yummy. After dinner we got ready for the game 5. Blackhawks really needed this game. Again another really exciting game and they did it.... a big win. Now the series is 3-2. Only need 1 more win.



Sunday June 14- Yeah....the sun is shining. We sat out and enjoyed the sunshine and the coffee. Judy and I went for a walk. Seth, Katie and the kids came out. Katie's mom and Ron were coming out to camp for a few nights. She was going to have a cookout for supper, so they came out early to see Judy.

Well Judy left around 3 and that's when Katie's family arrived. This was the first time to use this camper so they had a few issues. Well needless to say supper was running late so the kids left before they ate. Ashton stayed here but Sissy went home, she has swimming lessons tomorrow.


Monday June 15- Well it rained hard last night. It looked like rain for most of the day. It stayed cloudy with some sprinkles but we got some outdoor activities in.  Jeff and Ashton got to go fishing. I got my walk in with just a few sprinkles towards the end. We had to go to town to watch Hailey's first swim lesson. We went in early to get some supplies and a early supper. Went to Genghis Grill, one of our favorite places. We won't be going back, it was horrible. They have completely ruined this place. Next stop Cherry Hill and Hailey's swim lesson. It was really chilly and the wind was blowing. She did so good she really paid attention and did everything she was asked.

After the swim lesson we went back to Seth's. It's game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoff.....Go Blackhawks!! They were playing in Chicago and they haven't won the cup at home since 1938. Well after 3 long periods....they did it!!! Stanley Cup Champions.....

We brought both kids back to the campground with us. Ashton was staying with Nana and Hailey was staying with us.



Tuesday June 16- Started the day off with homemade cinnamon rolls....yum. The kids kept all of us busy. We had a tea party at our place. Sissy was all about that. We had tea (apple juice) and cookies. Funny it wasn't about the food or drink. It was all about the process.






















Well after some lunch we headed to the beach. It was a perfect day for that. The kids had fun in the water with Nana. I watched from the beach. We stayed for a few hours and came back for supper. Before we could eat we had to get Sissy a bath. She doesn't like showers so we got a bit creative.

The kids ate at Nana's. After we took them to the fishing dock. They had some fun and caught a few fish.

We stayed til it started to get dark and headed back. Nana had a fire so the kids enjoyed some smores. Sissy came in with us and Ashton stayed with Nana.


Wednesday June 17- Well we must have wore her out she slept in til after 8 a.m. It was cloudy again. We had hoped to launch our rocket but the wind is too much today. Since it was cloudy we went back over to go fishing again. It was another successful fishing trip, well nothing to keep but still something on the end of the line.






















When we got back from fishing Nana and Papa Ron had left. We had some lunch and was just watching TV. Then Sissy complained of a tummy ache. She wasn't kidding she got sick. I called Katie because we were suppose to take her in to go to her swimming lessons. That wasn't going to happen. So Katie came and got her. She was still sick when she left. Not a good way to end our time together.


Thursday June 18- Boy is it quiet around here. I texted Katie to see if Hailey was better. She said now Ashton is sick too. Well I took advantage of all this quiet and did some cleaning. I defrosted the freezer, one of my least favorite jobs. I was happy when it was done. The weather outside was really nice so I did laundry. I even cleaned out all the basement compartments. Jeff was working on cleaning up one of the big foot legs so I helped him too. It was a very productive day. Since both kids are sick no activities tonight so we stayed home.


Friday June 19- Wow what a beautiful day. The sun was out and the humidity was low. It was almost cool. After cleaning I took my walk. It was cool enough I wore a sweatshirt. Since I worked so hard yesterday I decided to take the day off. I went to the beach. A perfect day for that. We went to town to watch Sissy swim. She put her head under...a big deal for her. Justin and Molly came to watch the swimming lesson as well. The boys gave Jeff his fathers day gift early. He got a Vivofit 2. His has a few more options than mine but does mostly the same thing. Tracking your steps, sleep etc. We stopped at a store and I got some bing cherries on sale. I love them. Now to get ready for the weekend. It's going to be a busy one. It seems there are more people than usual. Bring on the campers.

Summer's a Coming

Monday May 25- Well I guess this means summer is officially here. Happy Memorial Day everyone especially those that have served. We had quite a lot of rain last night. That seems to happen most of our memorial day weekends. Our power went off for awhile. When we got up it seemed the water pressure is not quite right. Jeff went and checked things out and we have a problem. Our water comes from a well which uses a pump. There is a problem with the pump. Jeff called someone and tried to reset the water pump but it didn't work. So we had to close the shower houses. If we have no pump, we have no water. The park ranger showed up and got things running. Our campground is still pretty full. Its nice that the park is used. One thing we like about this park even when we are full up its still really quiet. I made some stuff to take to Seth and Katie's for a fish fry. Jeff brought some shrimp to grill for him. It turned out to be a beautiful day, with the sun shining. Justin and Molly joined us. It was a nice meal and good to be around family, celebrating a newly engaged couple. After eating Hailey was ready for another bike riding lesson. She is doing really good. Before she would only ride uphill we talked her in to trying riding downhill. She so fun to watch because she's so serious.






















After a few rides and even a couple crashes the big kids had to ride...my crazy boys.........

Went to Orange Leaf for some dessert, it was yummy as usual. We went over to Justin's for a Italian beef sandwich and to watch the Blackhawk's. It was an exciting game but the final score wasn't
what we wanted. Ducks win. The series is 3-2 ducks. This is one exciting series that's for sure.


Tuesday May 26-Raining this morning. We got things cleaned up around here after everyone left. Katie had to go out of town for work so we went to pick up Hailey for a visit.


Wednesday May 27-Well we had a busy day today. Hailey kept us hopping. She insisted on helping me clean the shower house. Then she wanted to go for a walk. We walked down to the beach and spotted some ducks and there babies. Sissy was excited about that.

We walked back and had some lunch, Hailey wanted to go back to the beach to see if the ducks were still there and show papa. Well papa brought the metal detector so they got to look for treasure.

They found some junk but they did find a quarter........that was exciting for all. We had supper then Hailey wanted to try fishing, so we walked down to the dock and gave it a try. We didn't catch anything but had fun trying. Listened to the Blackhawks on the radio, another exciting game but with better results. They've tied the series.

Thursday May 28- Sissy slept in late and still wanted to help me clean. Then we went down to see if the ducks were at the beach she wanted to feed them. So away we went. Success!!!






















We stayed and played in the sand a bit then headed back to the camper. After lunch we made cookies so Sissy could take some home. I haven't been baking because of our diets....it was fun. We played outside and found another surprise. There was a bunny behind our camper. After looking a little closer we found out its a bunny nest....there are babies....Can't wait to meet them. We went in for Ashton's hockey practice and to drop off Hailey, sure makes it quiet when the kids go home...so fun to have them visit.


Friday May 29- Today it was rainy so I stayed in a lot. I did get my walk in. I worked a lot on my nieces t-shirt quilt, one more row to tie. It cleared up enough that Jeff got the kayak in the lake. He tried fishing but no luck. It started to rain and the wind picked up so Jeff got pretty wet. Made stir fry for supper.

Saturday May 30-It was really cloudy most of the day. Seth called and invited us to come in to eat with them. We went back to Hurricanes. Last time it was really good this time the service was super slow. Our company was pretty entertaining though. We made a few stops in town and then headed to Seth's to watch the Blackhawks win this series!!!!!On to the Stanley Cup Playoffs!!!!!YEAH!!!!!

Sunday May 31-It was a bit chilly this morning but the sun was shining. I got busy sewing the binding on the quilt and then sewing the binding down by hand.....I finished it. So happy to be done.

Monday June 1-Mondays always seem to be our busy get things done day. We spend more time cleaning the shower house. We both had made to do lists. Went to town and mailed off  the quilt to California. Then on to the stores. Got our groceries. When I got home I started the laundry. We both got our walks in. Jeff was working on changing the fuel filter when we got a surprise. Had a big 5th wheel pull in. The people jumped out and we had met these folks at Grayton Beach in Florida. They had a Carriage Cameo, so we had talked. Well they thru us a curve because they had bought a new rig.
They are staying a few nights, then heading north towards home. We let them set up and planned on getting together later.

Tuesday June 2-It was a really nice day today. I did my walk early. I was doing a bit of cleaning inside when I heard a knock on the door. It was another surprise...Lenny, we met him last year when we were here. He is a retired Cedar Rapids firefighter from Palo. Jeff visited with him for a while. We also visited with Kathy and Jim. They let us look at there new rig. It a Mobile Suite, and very nice. We planned on going for supper tonight at a local place. Since I finished one quilt, its time to start another. I started cutting fabric. We went to dinner around 5:30 at Brogans Pub. We had pizza and it was tasty. The company was good too. We came back home and went over to play a new card game, 7's. Never played it before. It was Jim & I against Jeff & Kathy. They started off really whipping us but we came back with a vengeance and won the game. A come from behind victory.

Wednesday June 3-Nice day to start, it looked like we were really going to get hit with some serious rain, but that fizzled out. I got a message from Molly, she's got an appointment to try on some wedding dresses today and asked if I wanted to join them. Well heck yes. I've got boys so I definitely wanted to experience this. Jeff even let us leave early so I could go to the quilt shop to get fabric. It was really fun looking at the pretty dresses. She looks beautiful in all of them so whatever she chooses will be perfect.

To finish off the night we watched the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Blackhawks got it done......a big W.



Thursday June 4- Today we just kind of  hung around here. We did the usual things, shower house, walk. It's getting a little more habit like, the walking thing. That makes me happy. I did some more fabric cutting. Seth called me to see if we were going to come watch Hailey's first tumbling class...we were all in for that. Went in a bit early so Jeff could wash the truck. When we got to the tumbling place there was a mix up, no tumbling tonight. Sissy was very upset. We headed out but decided to make one more stop. We stopped at Morgan Creek  to visit with the camp host...Pat was there but Lou wasn't. So we had a really nice visit with her. Comparing stories.

Friday June 5- Its a nice day out there, I checked on the bunnies and I can see that they are growing. I had an exciting afternoon planned. Katie only works a half day on Friday and Molly's off so we had a beach day. Katie had some of her friends come too. It was a hot, sunny day and so much fun.

We also had Kettlesen's come and work on our air conditioner. It wasn't what they expected but it was running when they left. Hoping it keeps on working. Getting ready for a busy weekend.

Saturday June 6- I got my quilt all put together. We just hung around here most of the day. We are watching the weather, they are calling for rain but we hope it waits. We are planning on attending the Arts Festival in Iowa City tonight. The BoDeans play at 9 p.m. We went early and set up our chairs. There was another band playing and they sounded great. We listened for a while but wanted to get to a bar to watch the hockey game. We watched some of it but went back to watch the concert. The Blackhawk's got beat...bummer. The concert was a success, really good.

Sunday June 7- Big day at the park today...They are having a big Pigman Triathalon sprint here. It starts at 7:30 a.m. I went to make sure the shower house was ok before heading down to watch. It rained pretty hard last night so it was delayed just a little. They had around 800 athletes. We watched the elite women and elite men do the swimming, then moved up to watch the biking and the run. The race consists of a .5K swim, a 25K bike ride, and a 5K run.

We stayed long enough to watch the first to finish, both woman and man. They were very impressive. They finished in a little over an hour...Wow! We went back home and watched all the campers pull out. Its quiet around here now. Its been a busy couple of weeks. We are happy its warming up a bit and the rain has slowed down. We like our campground and are happy to be here.