Busy week

46º here in Clarinda, IA at 11 am Friday with rain.

Even though it is a few days from now, here is the forecast for Albuquerque where we will be in our trailer from Oct 3rd through the 14th at the International Balloon Festival (Click HERE) 

Weather doesn't look too bad for the first several days shown - 50's for lows and 70's for highs.  Of course there are another 6 days that this doesn't show.

Tuesday evening we drove to Shenandoah to have supper with Carolyn & Al Ruhde and Patty Steckelberg.

Wednesday evening we went to Square Dance in Clarinda of the Clarinda Circle 8 Square Dance Club.  Jerry Junck from Wayne, NE was the caller.  He is a full-time professional Square Dance Caller and is very smooth to dance to.

Jerry Junck

Last night we went to

Phil & Debra Tornholm's house

were we played Pegs & Joker and

also introduced the game to Charlie & Connie

Richardson.  First time for them and was

a bit over-whelming, but think they 

enjoyed and will be playing more 

Thursday we were in Omaha and able to meet Phyllis' sister Beth & husband Steve as they arrived from Colorado to spend time with their son & family in Omaha over the weekend.  Met them at Olive Garden and enjoyed a short visit over lunch.

Hopefully, getting some of the last things packed in the pickup and the travel trailer.  Will hook up tomorrow (hopefully before the rain starts again) and be ready to head south Sunday morning.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A Few Signs Your Spending Too Much Time With Your Smart Phone::

- You wake up at 3 am to go to the bathroom, and check your  phone’s e-mail and texts on the way back to bed.
- Your firstborn is named iPhone.
- You turn off your Smart Phone and are suddenly filled with a feeling of emptiness, as if you just pulled the plug on a loved one.
- You spend half of a plane trip with your phone in front of you, and your child in the overhead compartment. 

- You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
- Immediately after reading this you send it to someone.
------------------------
Ways to tell if a redneck has been working on a computer
10. The monitor is up on blocks.

9. Outgoing faxes have tobacco stains on them.

8. The six front keys have rotted out.

7. The extra RAM slots have Dodge truck parts installed in them.

6. The numeric keypad only goes up to six.

5. The password is "Bubba".

4. The CPU has a gun rack mount.

3. There is a Skoal can in the CD-ROM drive.

2. The keyboard is camouflaged.

And, The Number One Way To Tell If A Redneck Has Been Working On A Computer...
The mouse is referred to as a "critter".
===================

Later, Lynn

Nice weekend visiting the "kids"

77º in ,Clarinda IA at 5:45 pm Monday as I start this.

Got to our home here in Clarinda just before 1 pm today.  Had stopped to visit a bit with our good friends in Villisca, IA, Mary Jo & Oliver Herzberg and she had fixed some soup for lunch so we got some good soup and a nice visit with them.  They got us going to the Rio Grande Valley about 10 years ago, though they are unable to go south in the winter any more.

Mary Jo and Phyllis on Herzberg's front porch today.

Our place & neighbor to the west.

Our place today.

South and west of Des Moines, IA we must have seen 300-400
new wind turbines and many, many in construction.

Saw a lot of corn and beans on the way from Marengo - a little bit harvested, but the few
machines we saw running were dragging a lot of mud.  Some fields still green, most looking close to harvest.

Great Granddaughter right in the middle of everything

Jessica is either asleep or going 100 mile an hour.  Here GGrandma got her to sit a bit to read to her.

She sat with Mickey Mouse for a bit with her Aunt Emily and Em's boyfriend Derik

Mom is giving Jessica a "sled ride" across the carpet in a Tote box

Jessica found she could cover up Aunt Em with the box!

Or, she could fall into it and roll it over.

Box making a pretty good toy.

Think G Grandma is getting some instruction from Jessica

Grandma Patty helping Jessica sort some fuzzy toys

Great Grandma Phyllis and Mommy Ashley with Jessica
one evening at supper time.

I was "helping" Jessica with her nap!

Burned a lot of branches, etc. by the railroad track behind their place.

Pushing Jessica on the swing

Saturday afternoon Cam cut most of a damaged apple tree down
and we helped haul it to the burn pile.

Cam working on the tree

Miss Silly at the supper table

Jessica at a restaurant Sunday

Derik and Emily just moved into this house in What Cheer, IA
a week ago.

Later, Lynn

In Maringo, IA for the weekend

58º here in Marengo, IA at 10:30 am Saturday.  Cool.  We got .4" of rain with very high wins Thursday in Clarinda.  Lots of small limbs blown down and about half the leaves/seeds are off the Ash tree.

We drove from Clarinda to Maringo Friday and got to spend some time with daughter-in-law Patty, granddaughter Ashley, her husband Heath, and our great granddaughter Jessica.  We all drove down to Williamsburg, IA last night for supper at a Mexican Restaurant.

Eating at Mi Casa Authentic Mexican Grill in Williamsburg, IA

Somehow 2-year olds have a lot of energy.

Grand daughter, son, daughter-in-law

In the late afternoon I wet with the girls shopping in Coralville.

Just what everyone needs for the patio! A serving table "built in" to a motorcycle.

On the way back to Marengo Jessica sleeping in her car chair.

Miss busy-body has about worn out mom & gma

Busy, Busy

Busy, Busy

Busy, Busy

Busy, Busy

Busy, Busy

Ah, sitting for a second

 Have received word that our close friend, Bill Winslow, has gone home from the hospital and put on hospice.  He and wife Darlene took their whole family on a cruise last March before heading from Kenwood RV Park to their northern Michigan home.  This summer he has had several incidents that were thought to be mini-strokes; finding out finally that he has two tumors on his brain.  He has had several incidents and bouts with stomach ulcers (possibly caused by medicine to combat the brain cancer) and bowel problems.  Become weak and unresponsive.   Phyllis & Darlene have called each other "sisters" for the 8 years or so we have spent winters at Kenwood.  Bill is 85 and doubt anyone who knows him doesn't call him a friend.

We have lined up our trip to Albuquerque; staying Sunday evening in yard of Harold & LaRhoda Neher's yard (and play some Pegs & Jokers in the afternoon and go to a soup supper and entertainment with them Sunday Evening), then go on to lunch and afternoon visit with Bill & Kathy Connelley's near Tescott, KS Monday.  Have a spot reserved at RV Park in Russell, KS Monday night.  On through Kansas, panhandle of Oklahoma, and panhandle of Texas to stay at Logan, New Mexico Tuesday night.  Wednesday we will be at a park 40 miles from the Balloon Fiesta park where we are instructed to arrive between 8 am and 10 am.  We will be at the Fiesta for 10 nights where they say 80,000 people attend daily and parked with the Escapee RV group where we will have catered meals twice a day as a group and some events they put on.  We will have no electricity, water or sewer hookups, but can run generator anytime between 5 am and 10 pm.  We will have water on-board and empty black and grey tanks when we arrive.

Since Phyllis doesn't have to get quickly to Kenwood, account they hired a different Activity Director, we may spend some time in the Big Bend area of Texas on the way to the park after the Fiesta is over.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The banker saw his old friend Tom, an eighty-year old rancher, in town. Tom had lost his wife a year or so before and rumor had it that he was marrying a 'mail order' bride. Being a good friend, the banker asked Tom if the rumor was true. Tom assured him that it was. The banker then asked Tom the age of his new bride to be.  Tom proudly said, 'She'll be twenty-one in November.'  Now the banker, being the wise man that he was,could see that the sexual appetite of a young woman could not be satisfied by an eighty year old man. Wanting his old friend's remaining years to be happy the banker tactfully suggested that Tom should consider getting a hired hand to help him out on the ranch, knowing nature would take its own course. Tom thought this was a good idea and said he would look for one that afternoon.  About four months later, the banker ran into Tom in town again. 'How's the new wife?', asked the banker. Tom proudly said, 'Good - she's pregnant.' The banker, happy that his sage advice had worked out, continued, 'And how's the hired hand?' Without hesitating, Tom said, 'She's pregnant too.'
Don't ever underestimate old Guys ……………….
Later, Lynn