Hello from Prescott, IA

Hello from Prescott, IA

Sunday morning,  August 10, 2014   (First post of this travelogue)

Sadly, Pat’s aunt Jaris passed away on Monday (8/4) in Corning, IA.  We left Evergreen on Tuesday in the bus and stopped in Kearney, NE for the night. 

Wednesday, as we approached Corning, we encountered road construction on US 34.  It was asphalt grinding – a situation we have encountered many times.  Just before the highway that leads to Corning (Pat’s home town), our tire alarm went off.  We turned towards Corning so that we could stop at her cousin’s tire shop.  By the time we got there, both of the tow dolly tires were sending alarms and both tires were nearly flat.  We unhooked the PT cruiser from the dolly and left the tow dolly at the shop.

Jerry (Pat’s cousin) determined that fairly large slivers of asphalt had punctured both of the tow dolly tires.  Jerry was able to fix them.  I had a mounted spare and an additional un-mounted tire.  I ordered an extra rim and now have two spares (who would guess that both tires would go flat at the same time?).  All the other tires seem to be OK.

On Thursday there were family events related to the funeral.  Friday was the funeral, along with other related activities.  Thursday we had a family dinner at the Hoerman’s (family tradition of beef and noodles) and Friday we had another family dinner at Mona and Terry’s.  Both were great events where lots of family stories got exchanged.

Two of our daughters were able to make the trip.  Lisa flew in with Pat’s cousin Linda and all of Kelly’s family drove back.  Pat’s sister and her friend changed their travel plans for a Minnesota trip and drove to Iowa.  After the funeral they continued on to Minnesota.  Lisa flew back to Denver Saturday and Kelly and her family left Saturday afternoon.  Pat’s friend (since early childhood) Linda came down from Des Moines for the Friday events – it is always great to see her.

After the various activities on Friday we needed some “happy time”.  We went out to a family farm to see some day old piglets - most of the Denver folks got to hold them (see photos).  It does not take much to entertain the city folk {grin}.

Molly

Madison and Kelly

Lisa

 

 

 

Kelly

 

Damon

We were worried about going to Iowa in August because of the heat and humidity.  We are connected to a normal 20 amp outlet for our power and that is not enough to power an air conditioner.  It turns out that the weather has been rainy and fairly cool.  Aside from the humidity (somewhat damp sheets), the sleeping conditions have been great.  The rain was great for the Iowa folks as it has been dry and they need the moisture for the crops.

We will start home today.

That is all for now.

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.

Hello from Prescott, IA

Hello from Prescott, IA

Thursday afternoon  May 30, 2013   (Sixth travelogue of this trip).

I decided to make this the post a part of original Blytheville travelogue, since our bus thinks it is still on the same trip {grin}.  To recap previous posts in our blog, we arrived in Prescott on April 11 and will be leaving tomorrow.  That means that the bus has been here 49 days!  However, there has been a lot of water under the bridge between when we first got here and today.  After we arrived we stayed 2 days and then went back to Denver so that I could teach a class.  Shortly after that we went on the trip to Fiji that Pat earned.  We returned to Prescott on 5/20.  Pat stayed here and I flew to Seattle last week (that trip was documented in a separate travelogue).  A special thanks to Jeanne and Bill for being such special hosts and allowing us to park the bus for such a long time.

Speaking of water under the bridge (I chose that phrase knowing that I could transition into this discussion), there is literally a LOT of water under the bridges here in Iowa.  Almost every day that we have been here the second time it has rained – sometimes very heavily.  Indeed, today all of Iowa is under a flash flood warning.  There have been a few tornado watches during our stay – fortunately nothing developed in the area.

Bill was able to get the corn planted in April and got most of the beans in while I was in Seattle.  That is a good thing, since the fields are saturated and have standing water (see photo).  Worse yet, there is rain in the forecast for a few more days.  Last year there was a terrible drought in the mid-west, so the folks back here are not complaining too much.

Water in the fields - lots of rain in IA

Pat and Jeanne put flowers at most of the cemeteries while I was gone.  We have been able to visit most of the relatives.  The rest of the time, we have relaxed and ate way too much food.  While I was gone, Pat and the relatives went to a casino in Osceola, IA.

I arranged to have the drive axle tires on the bus replaced while we were in the area and had some metal parts for the IHC truck project fabricated by a company that has done several projects for me in the past.  I really try to do business with companies back here.  They have a good attitude and the prices are more than competitive with Denver prices.  Indeed, the metal fabrication work I have done at Brown Bear is far less expensive and they usually have the parts done in a day or two.

As noted above, we will head home tomorrow.  We make the trip in two days. 

That is all for now.

Hello from Prescott, IA

Hello from Prescott, IA

Thursday evening   October 18, 2012   (Fifth travelogue of this trip).

Our trip to Prescott was pretty mundane. It was about 250 miles – a drive that we have made several times.

Since we arrived here, we have been on the go most of the time.  Pat has many relatives here and it is always fun to get to see them.  On Sunday we went to the auction at her Uncle's auction facility.  Their whole family participates in the auction and it is always a fun event with a huge variety of items.  This time they even sold two semi-trailers.

We always stay with Bill and Jeanne at their farm.  It is so relaxing and friendly.  Bill has been able to get most of the harvesting done.  In spite of the terrible predictions of the harvest due to the severe drought, Bill has had some fields that had reasonable yield.  To be sure, the crop was damaged, but at least it was not a total loss.

The weather here has been pretty cool and rainy.  At our location, we got over 2 inches in a two day period (nice, slow rain), plus several periods of short storms.  In Branson the weather was a bit better, but there was still very cool nights and some rain.  We had packed mostly warm weather clothes and both of us have had to layer to stay warm.  As I write this, it is in the low 40s with 30 MPH winds and a drizzle – bone chilling cold!

The trees in Missouri were just starting to turn, but here in Iowa, the colors are beautiful.  I will include a photo in the next blog.

Tomorrow we start home.  We take two days to make the trip – about 650 miles.

That is all for now.

Hello from Prescott, IA

Hello from Prescott, IA

Sunday Evening September 26, 2010 (First travelogue of this trip).

We set up this blog to detail our travels and a few miscellaneous items. We have reduced our travel schedule quite a bit to minimize our expenses. A significant part of our travel was trade show related, and we often did not cover our costs on those trips. We finally decided to “stop the bleeding”. Because of the reduced travel, our posting frequency has been rather sporadic. Most of faithful readers know that they can sign up for email notification when we post. That will save frustration of checking in on the blog periodically.

We left Evergreen about noon on Monday. We stopped in North Platte, NE for the night at our favorite Wal Mart parking lot. We got a late start on Tuesday and arrive in Prescott about 6:00 PM. We have been going non-stop since then.

We are making this trip to visit family in Iowa and then travel to Branson, MO for an Eagle Bus Rally. From there we will go to Carthage, MO for a second bus rally and then home via a two lane US highway through rural Kansas and Colorado.

We are staying with Pat's relatives in Prescott, IA (map). We always enjoy staying with these folks and visiting all of the relatives. It is so convenient to be able to stay in the bus and still do a ton of visiting.

Prescott is a very small town (population 237). Pat was born about 10 miles west of here in Corning, IA (population 1554). Pat lived in the Corning area for 15 years, so she is used to small towns. For me, it is quite a change of pace, and I love it.

To give you a feeling of the small town way of life, Friday we marched in a parade down the main street of Corning (three blocks long). The parade was to celebrate the high school homecoming. One of the relatives is running for county supervisor and we marched behind a truck with his banners on it. It looked like the whole town turned out for the parade. What a blast.

We left a bone dry Colorado and landed in an area where they have had a tremendous amount of rain. In addition, it has been quite cool at night (43 degrees this morning). With all the humidity, we are freezing at times.

I had hoped to help with the harvest, but because it has been so rainy, the crop is behind schedule. However, we have been very busy doing all kinds of things including looking at auger cart and semi-trucks for the farm. Today we went to an auction run by some of Pat's relatives. This was not a great auction in terms of items, but it is always fun to people watch and listen to the auctioneer's chant.

Thats all for now.

Hello from Orlando Florida

Hello from Orlando Florida

Saturday afternoon May 29, 2010 (third travelogue of this trip).

I debated on how to number this travelogue. If you read our previous posts, we made a somewhat quick trip to Prescott, IA for a funeral. We made this trip in our PT Cruiser, as the bus transmission issues were not yet resolved. However, we had planned a trip to the East (including Prescott) to attend a couple of rallies. So, when we returned to Evergreen, I finished up the bus and we headed back out on Thursday (5/20). This time in the bus!

We made our “normal” stop in North Platte, NE at the Wal-mart. Friday we drove to Prescott and parked at our relatives farm (our “Iowa Home”). Saturday we attended a wonderful wedding of Pat's second cousin. We were able to get to see almost all of the relatives in the Corning/Prescott area.

As a bit of background, Pat was born and spent the first 15 years in the Corning, IA area. She even attended a one room school house close to where her mom and dad farmed. We have visited the school a couple of times and it is still in good condition. Unfortunately, the farm house where she was raised is gone, as is her Grandparent's house. She still has a ton of relatives in the area and it is really fun to come an visit!

The next few days in Iowa were quite hectic. Pat and her cousin spent some time decorating graves and visiting relatives. I helped Bill plant beans and did some work on the bus. Pat and I also visited some relatives of her dad. This was fun and really contributed to her genealogy database. We also got to have a fun evening on her cousin's new-to-them pontoon boat on Lake Icaria (map). . This is a beautiful lake that is very close to the Corning/Prescott area.

On Thursday (5/27) we drove to the Kansas City area and stayed at the Travelodge (exit 18 on I 29). They offer a very inexpensive package for a night's lodging/parking/transportation to the airport. Indeed, the cost of a night's stay was about what it would cost to park at the airport. We had stayed there many years ago for the same arrangement. We were concerned that the facilities might have become run-down. However, it was neat and clean and that is all we could ask.

We got up at 4:00 AM on Friday to catch a flight to Orlando. This is a trip our daughter Lisa and her family had planned and they “twisted our arm” to come along. We arrived in Orlando a bit before noon and went to the local Wal-mart to get groceries for the week (staying in condos). The Kassels arrived about 5:00 PM and we have been relaxing. Our condo is a part of the Grand Beach facility (map).

We will probably start the “park adventures” tomorrow. The whole week has predicted afternoon showers, but we can work around that.

That is all for now.

Hello from North Platte, NE

Hello from North Platte, NE

Friday evening May 22, 2009 (Fifth travelogue of this trip)

We are at the Wal Mart in North Platte (map). We have stayed here several times. The parking lot is very large and we do not have any conflict with parking for the customers.

We arrived in Prescott last Sunday. As always, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Monday we went to visit Pat's aunt Jaris. On Tuesday we went to the Methodist Grove Cemetery south of Brooks where several of Pat's dad's relatives are buried. We put flowers for Pat's dad as well as for us on several sites.

Wednesday Pat and Jeanne went to Des Moines to do some shopping for food that will be served at a Memorial Day meal at the Birt's church. Bill started planting soybeans, trying to beat the predicted rain storms. It was very late for planting, and the fields were marginally muddy, but he was able to work most of the day. I helped by loading the seed beans in the truck and taking them to the planter. We repeated the exercise yesterday while the girls placed flowers at the other cemeteries. Bill should be able to finish planting today.

I am attaching several photos. One shows what the Amish call “bank barns”. They are constructed on a hill so that there is a bank trail into the second story of the barn. We saw many of these in Europe. Another photo shows Cody (Bill and Jeanne's grandson) feeding a calf with a bottle. The calf is only a few days old. They are going to work with it in hopes that the kids can enter it in 4H competition.

I have also included several photos from our tour at Amish Acres in Nappanee, IN.

We will be home tomorrow.

That is all for this trip.

The Round Barn Theater at Amish Acres

Our Tour of the Amish home in Amish Acres

School House at Amish Acres



Bank Barn at Amish Acres

Pat and Jeanne at Methodist Grove Cemetery

Cody and "Cow Cow"