Summer Skies

The weather this week has been interesting and eventful. We have had some very hot humid days and some stormy skies. I actually spent over an hour at the convenience store at the Grundy Center exit on Hwy 20 on Sunday night. There were small tornados touching down in that county and we were advised to stay put. I was quite impatient but did not want to drive into the heavy rain that followed the front. I stood outside to watch the sky and wall clouds. This photo was taken in Story County about an hour later. It is often absolutely gorgeous after a storm, much like life!

Sunday with Ashley

I had asked Ashley about a day that she might be free to just hang out together. Although Sunday was Father's Day, it worked out to be a good day for us. Travis had plans with his dad but I got to see him also. Of course we got some time with Mowgli too! I drove to Waterloo in the morning and drove back that evening. The only agenda was to scout out a few places that might be good for some of her upcoming photo shoots with families and little ones.
We spent most of our time driving around Cedar Falls and found several good spots. At the last spot we realized we really hadn't taken any photos so we grabbed the camera and played around a bit. It really was about finding places for photos, but I always like to get a few photos to record the day.
It was mostly just fun to hang out with Ashley. We had lunch at a favorite spot and also had time to relax at her house. They recently repainted and it looks very nice. It can be a challenge to find time to just be together but it's well worth the drive and the planning. It was a wonderful Sunday. I do love having adult children, but I already mentioned that, didn't I?

What a Fun Weekend

It was a wonderful weekend. I am slow about getting to blogging partially due to all the fun activities and partially due to my limited Internet connectivity, but that's another story!

Jay and Briana came down on Friday. We did not have any real plans but they were coming to town for a Saturday night concert and came early to spend some time with us in Des Moines.

We had no solid plans but decided to go out to the horse track since Jay had not been to this track and Briana had never been. Dale and I enjoy the atmosphere and the horses. We scope them out at the paddock then place our $2 bets. We stayed for three races. Dale and Briana were the winners, cashing in their tickets for the big bucks! After the evening at the horse track we stopped for some Thai food. It was after 9 pm when we ate dinner. That's really late for Dale and me
Saturday morning Briana and I decided to do "Yoga in the Park" which is a new program. Free yoga in the park on a gorgeous morning sounded like a great idea. Evidently about 200 other people thought it was a great idea also. There were men and women of all ages and skill levels. I was an obvious beginner but had a blast. We laughed too much to do some of the moves. The woman behind us encouraged us to listen to our bodies. Her body was telling her, "time to chill" and my body agreed sometimes. We were told to be "one with the earth." At times I took that one step further and just plopped on my belly. It's hard to be up on your toes and hands, sticking your damp butt up into the air while feeling grateful for the earth. I felt more grateful when the earth was touching more of my body! We were most grateful that Dale and Jay were walking and geocaching in the park so that they could drive us home!

We headed straight for the pool to cool off when we got home but couldn't stay long because we had plans. Dale and I were really anxious to take Jay to B&B Deli, the home of the Killer Sandwich. Jay ordered his sandwich with no veggies. Briana ordered hers with all veggies. The owner came out to take a picture of them. It was pretty funny!

After our killer sandwich picnic, we headed to the disc golf course. Jay has been playing quite a bit so we wanted to show him the course that we had discovered. Everybody else can throw lots further than me but I still enjoy it. We did a different part of the course this trip, very wooded and shady on a warm day. It was also a bit muddy from the recent rains. Of course Dale brought his camera and took some photos too. By the time we were done disc golfing, we were ready for the pool again. It was a great way to relax before cleaning up and heading to the book store then having dinner. Jay and Briana were headed to a concert so that's when Dale and I decided to go to a movie and ended up at the drive-in theater in Newton. By Saturday night we had packed in a full weekend worth of activities. It was so fun to hang out with Jay and Briana. Dale and I love showing the kids around Des Moines and all the fun places that we enjoy. It was great to have them visit. Have I mentioned recently that I just love having adult children? Life is good!!

Drive-In Theater

It's been years since I went to a drive-in movie theater. We are lucky enough to have a functioning and well run drive-in just thirty minutes from home in Newton. Dale and I have talked about going to the Valle Drive-in so we have been checking the showings this summer. Saturday night seemed like the right time. We saw Disney's "UP" and it was very good. The drive-in was full of young families, mini vans and SUVs. It was so cute to see the little kids in their jammies and tiny lawn chairs. It reminded me of going to the drive-in as a child of the sixties in my jammies. I took my kids to drive-ins when we lived in Mason City and in Cedar Falls, but are now closed. I am glad that they had that experience in childhood. It's pretty cool that there still a few drive-in theaters out there for us and younger generations to enjoy.

Grilling Kabobs

My grill has seen better days. It's seen better years! The oval shaped piece in the bottom that distributes the gas/heat/flame has a huge leak on the right side. It's not really a grill but a flame thrower on one edge with warming capabilities throughout.
I could fix it, replace the piece, but the last time that happened I was reduced to tears with tools in hand. I just do not enjoy that! I am not very mechanical so I make it work by rotating the food while cooking, which works well most of the time.
Friday night I made these chicken kabobs and asparagus on the grill. Both were longer than the foods that I usually grill. It was a challenge to move the hot metal skewers, especially the end that was over the flame shooter. No pot holders or oven gloves were damaged but it was risky. The meal was delicious but if you look closely, the ends are charred and the middle section is a bit pale! The meat was completely cooked even if it was very uneven cooking. It was actually a very tasty meal, considering the limitations of my crippled grill.

Lists of 100

I have mentioned our lists and here they are. When we explore, travel, photograph or dine we often look to out lists. We have visited 83 courthouses and many Carnegie Libraries, our own ideas for lists, photos and exploration. But these are my two favorite lists! This is what started it!
Shortly after I moved to Des Moines, one of these lists was in the Sunday Register. A few months later the other list appeared. I have saved these original lists which have started to yellow in my coffee table drawer. I have also downloaded and printed Word documents of each list. We keep one set in my vehicle and one in Dale's car. When we were first dating, I showed Dale the lists. We ate Tasty Tacos and Bauder's strawberry ice cream together and shared an enthusiasm for exploring more from the lists. Now we travel all over the state to visit a park, see a historical landmark, eat a pizza or taste a crepe. We have discovered new areas, met new people and tasted new flavors. We agree with many of the entries on the lists but there are several we would add if we were to create our own list. We have hit some road blocks along the way; a bakery closed by the health inspector, a restaurant burned to the ground and a couple of businesses that have closed. Now we are more likely to call ahead if possible. It's great to take Dale to the places that I have been and also wonderful to discover new areas where neither of us have ever been. I have lived in Iowa for fifty years but still see new things. The list may lead us to a location but then we will discover other things there and find another reason to explore there again. We have successfully experienced about 75% of the listings . . . so far! If you want a copy of the lists, just let me know. I will be glad to email it to you.

Saturday Road Trip

Last Saturday felt like a good day for a road trip. Dale and I had a couple of ideas, things from our lists, so we got in the car and headed Northwest. We had tried two times unsuccessfully to go to the Otho Pub for their famous loaded hash browns, but their hours are limited and we were unsuccessful. Saturday we called ahead to be sure of our arrival time and made it to the tiny town of Otho before the 2 pm kitchen closing. These were exceptional hash browns loaded with cheese, onions and green peppers. They were crispy and thick, formed by the pan. They weren't surprised that we had come for this dish. I guess when a stranger shows up it's a pretty sure order for loaded hash browns.

Our destination also included a couple of courthouses in that part of the state that we had missed. We visited Greene and Carroll counties. Dale was able to photography the courthouses and the Carnegie Libraries in those communities. Those are his own personal lists. We are making great headway with the courthouses. I decided to take a shot of this courthouse which is in Jefferson, Iowa on the Lincoln Highway, hence the statue of Abraham. We have explored the Lincoln Highway on previous trips but this took us to a new area. We often get bonus "finds" on these day trips. Last Saturday our bonus was Lake City, Iowa. We laughed and turned around to photograph the welcome sign as we pulled into town, "Lake City, Everything but the Lake!" There is no lake in Lake City, but as we pulled up to the center of town we were so impressed by one of the most gorgeous fountains we have seen in Iowa. It was a fun bonus. Mostly we drive around, stop at interesting spots, take some photos, eat some local food and enjoy the time on the road.

Sidewalk Chalk

This Spring when I looked for my sidewalk chalk I couldn't find it. For many years I have always had a little bucket of chalk in the garage, but I guess I gave it away when I moved. I have loved sidewalk chalking with my kids, my nieces and nephews and even my sisters. Although there are no kids around, I decided to go buy some and continue to enjoy that simple summer pleasure. Today I got off work at noon, read by the pool for a while then pulled a few weeds before deciding it was a good day to break open my box of chalk. It was fun, like a new box of crayons with exciting colors. Now it's raining. That's probably good news. I will have a fresh clean palette soon. I really love to draw flowers, houses and people too. We used to draw the earth then surround it with people hand in hand. Maybe I will try that when the rain dries up!

One More Photo

This is my favorite photo from the disc golf game, but yesterday when I did the post, I made a mistake, deleted it and didn't take the time to upload it again. So today I am correcting that. I like that I actually caught the disc in flight. It was so gorgeous out there yesterday. Today was very gray and damp but we made the best of it with another road trip. Maybe I will blog about that soon.

Trying Disc Golf

I finished my work day at noon on Friday and Dale had the day off. It was gorgeous outside so we decided to enjoy. We headed to our favorite deli for their famous "killer sandwiches" then went to a park to eat. We talked about what the kids had been doing and the conversation led to Jay's interest in disc golf. Dale and I had stumbled on a beautiful course at Ewing Park and decided to give it a try.

We stopped by Target and chose our discs. Since I had heard Jay's stories about water hazards, I decided to go with the clearance disc since I didn't know if I would have any control over the direction or distance!
It turns out that this was fun! My disc went in the direction that I intended. An occasional curve was easily corrected. I was even pleased with my distance, but I have plenty of room for improvement there. Of course we took the camera and photographed each other. That's always part of the fun. We may have been older than most of the disc golfers that we see, but that's OK with me. I love to be outside and this course was in a beautiful park that was partially wooded. I love being in the woods. We will do this again for sure.

Good-bye to Smokey

Our American Gothic

Pretty funny photo, huh? Or is it just dorky and silly? Dale and I set out for a Saturday road trip with a few ideas, plenty of time and sunshine. There are several Iowa destinations that we wanted to see. They were on our lists but we had not made it that direction yet. Saturday was a good day to head southeast. This photo was taken at the house painted by Grant Wood in American Gothic. We are not the first people to stand before the house with a pitchfork and try not to smile. It was fun to see the place especially after seeing the original painting earlier this spring. We also went to see the Villages of Van Buren County. It was not what we expected but still interesting to see the county that seems to be less affected by progress and commercialism than most. We did not see a single chain restaurant in the entire county. We also went to Fairfield which calls itself a cultural garden. It's the home of the Maharishi University which includes the Tower of Invincibility. It did not feel like Iowa to me. Of course we did get to visit a few county courthouses for Dale to photograph. We also found a couple of foods that are on our list. I will have to blog about the lists someday, but not now. Kinda gives you something to look forward to, doesn't it?