Hello from Prescott, IA

Hello from Prescott, IA

Wednesday Evening,  June 4, 2014   (Second post of this travelogue)

I wanted to make another couple of observations about the truck show.  As I was walking the rows of trucks for the third day (Saturday), I did something I hardly ever do at these shows – looked at some of the attendees.  I could not believe my eyes - our next door neighbor (diagonal to the rear from our house) was walking down the aisle with his wife.  He is a truck nut as well.  Small world!  He told me that at the dinner the night before, they announced that there were 687 trucks at the event!

My trip back to Prescott was uneventful, albeit a bit long.  Sunday we went to Guthrie Center, IA to attend a pig show that two of our young relatives were participating in.  It was a really fun event.  They also had a goat and sheep show as well, but we did not stick around, as it was getting pretty warm.

As we normally do, we have been making the rounds of the relatives.  That is always fun!  They are great folks back here and I always enjoy learning about the lifestyle and hearing some of the fun stories.

We love to travel here in the bus.  Each morning we wake up to a beautifully view of the rolling Iowa hills and the beautiful crops.  We have literally been watching the corn grow.  Since we arrived, the corn has grown perhaps 10 inches.  The photo below does not do justice to the beauty of the area.

Last night was a bit eventful.  The national news had been talking for two days about a huge storm that was headed our way.  Indeed, it was huge and created quite a bit of damage in the area.  At our location, we only got a small amount of hail, but we got almost 4.5 inches of rain in a very short time.  South of us they had softball size hail, very high “straight line” winds and some places got over 7 inches of rain!  Today Bill and I drove around the area south of Prescott and saw some of the damage.  Many of the fields were stripped by the hail.  We saw one machine shed that had been blown across the road and two silos that were destroyed.  The TV showed many cars that had large amounts of damage.

Tomorrow we start home.  It looks like we will be travelling in the rain a bit.  Hopefully the wind will not be a problem.

That is all for now.

Hello from Springfield, MO

Hello from Springfield, MO

Friday Evening,  May 30, 2014   (First post of this travelogue)

I am staying at the Candlewood Suites (map).  I have two activities that brought me here from Prescott, IA.  The first is to attend an amazing Antique Truck Historical Society (link) annual convention/show.  The second activity was to meet with a person that I am doing some joint work with. 

Let’s step back and catch up with the rest of the trip so far.  We left Denver on Saturday 5/24 after attending our granddaughter’s graduation party.  We left from the Thornton area about 4:00 Pm and drove until it started to get dark.  We parked the bus in a great rest stop in Julesburg, CO.  The next day we drove a bit over 400 miles and arrived in Prescott, IA in the late afternoon.  Our bus is parked in its “reserved” spot at the Birt house.  We spent Memorial Day decorating graves and attending a special luncheon at the local church. 

Thursday morning I drove the PT Cruiser to Springfield, MO (about 6 hour drive).  I will return to Prescott tomorrow.  The ATHS show (their national convention) is amazing.  There are hundreds of trucks.  The photo below is not the best, but it shows a long shot of some of the trucks.  There are all shapes and sizes and years.  I would guess that about half of the trucks are semis.  I have been there for a few hours Thursday and Friday and will go back for a couple of hours tomorrow morning before I start back.

This is my third ATHS national convention.  I have been a member for many years. The national conventions are almost beyond description.  The owners are very friendly and love to show their trucks.  As I said, the variety is amazing.  Each time I make a lap around the huge fairground, I see something new and interesting.

That is all for now.