Kenwood RV Midwest Summer Rally

75 degrees with bright sunshine in State Center, Iowa

Kenwood RV Park (La Feria, Texas) Midwest Summer Rally officially got underway yesterday afternoon with a spaghetti and sweet corn supper last night.  Afterwards dime-bingo was played.

Around 40 people who spend at least part of their winter months in Kenwood RV Park in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, but reside in the Midwest, showed up by Tuesday afternoon.  We had picked sweet corn  on Monday and some of it was cooked as well as speghetti and salad and lots of deserts.

Above photos are from Monday afternoon as people gathered.  We had a wiener roast that evening.  Games were played and weather was good with heavy overcast so not so hot.  Tuesday morning was rain, but most of the RVs had already been parked on the grass, so no big problem.

Lots of visiting going on.  I am at the town library writing this (for their WIFI) and Phyllis is working with the craft thing this morning -- making Tee Shirts with Kenwood on them and the years we have been coming to the summer rally.

More later, Lynn

In State Center, IA

73 with rain in State Center, IA  -  At a Library for wifi.  Got the last 1,000 or so photos worked on, sort of.  Won't have time to post any here -- they are closing in 8 minutes for noon hour.

Went to Indianola, IA with our trailer and Messers and their RV for the Balloon Festival and then came over here to State Center, IA for the Kenwood RV Midwest Summer Rally.

Will be posting later, Lynn

Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska

76 degrees in Clarinda, IA

Yesterday we drove, with Dick and Deanne Messer, to Omaha and visited the Henry Doorly Zoo.CLICK HERE for web site

We got to the zoo just after 9 am when it opened and walked and rode the train, and walked and rode the skyfari (skylift).



I have spent last 2 hours working on editing the more than 400 photos I took.  Will take more time.

We were really tired, but had seen a lot when we left around 2:30 pm.  Will have to go back sometime to see three or four major things we didn't get to.

Will be around the house here, and drive around Clarinda today to show the Messers.  Tomorrow we pull our trailer and they take their motor home to near Indianola, IA where we will camp for the weekend.  :

Here is their unit now parked in our drive

Will post link to my Zoo photos when I get them all straightened, labeled, cropped, delete those necessary, etc.

Later, Lynn

RAGBRAI | The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa - in our area

72º here in Clarinda, IA at 9:00 am on Tuesday  -- Cooler than last week.

The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa
came across the southern part of Iowa this year.  This is the 44th year (XLIV) that more than 10,000 bike riders have ridden from the Missouri river on the west to the Mississippi river on the east.

 These photos were taken about 8:15 am on Monday morning near the POE Booth the Clarinda clubs set up to serve pie, rolls, water, gator aid at the Bethesda Lutheran Church on County Road J20 and then they turned north on County Road M63..

 We set our trailer up Sunday afternoon beside a low-boy trailer that had the water on.  We stayed overnight and the first cyclist came by just after 5:00 am -- in the dark.  Steady stream started by 6:00 am.

My photos of RAGBRAI weekend - CLICK HERE

This year the ride started at Glenwood so many came there on Saturday for the start of the ride on Sunday.  The first over-night was in Shenandoah, just 17 miles west of us and their route after leaving Shenandoah on Monday morning took them north and east through Essex, IA and then east to Bethesda (which is only a church now - back in the 1940's and 1950's it was actually a town) before turning north and east again to go 

through Villisca and end up in Creston, IA last night.

After setting up our trailer and all the help left Sunday evening, we drove to Shenandoah and walked a bit around the streets that were all closed to anything but foot traffic.

Page County Cattlemen were grilling

 and serving beef sandwiches.

Group picture was taken just before they closed down.  There were probably 3 times the number who were helping at various times.

Had steady line up to the single Porta Potty on site, and many of the men used the trees out back.  The thing was full well before the crowds got through.

 During much of the time there were lines waiting to get pies.

All the pies were sold by 9 am and then just some pop and Gatorade and water.

The crowd really slowed down by about noon and they finally pulled things up shortly after.

 Waiting for our friends Dick and Deanne Messer from northern Minnesota to arrive in the motorhome for a few days visit until Friday when we will move to State Park south of Indianola to attend the Balloon Festival.

Later, Lynn

99 degrees

 58% humidity and 97º on back deck at 2:05 pm today.

61% humidity and 99º on back deck at 5:18 pm today.  A little warm.  Official weather site states 95º with "feel like" of 105º right now at 5:44 pm.

Am pretty sure we aren't going to eat our supper at the table on the back deck outside tonight.

This 92% humidity and 75º was at 6:50 am, about the time I finished trimming a mulberry tree by the northwest corner of our house.  Pretty warm for that time of day, and humid.

Started by taking lot of smaller branches down with loppers -- from top of step-ladder.
(You heard the one about - I like my step-ladder, but I really like my ladder better)

Bunch taken out.

What I was working on.

The mulberry tree was encroaching on the evergreen type tree beside it.  Lots of open space now.




More later, Lynn

Hot July in SW Iowa

93º in Clarinda, IA with a "feel like" of 107º at 1:30 pm -- Humidity 60% but intense direct sunshine.

I  worked outside until lunch and then showered and will stay in the cool basement here working on the computer this afternoon.  Phyllis is up to the Methodist Church to help with the Food Pantry as people come in on Wednesday afternoons and she also will do some quilting, if the ladies do that.

 Went out before breakfast and picked up more twigs and small branches off the lawn.  We had quite a storm with wind and lots of rain early Monday morning.  Reports of around 6 inches here in the Clarinda area. 

 After breakfast I got ladder out and cleaned the gutters on both sides of the big shop building.  Especially the west one is always full of lots of leaves, twigs, etc. as it is directly under a large Ash tree.

On Monday morning, we left just before 8 am, in the hard rain, and drove to Omaha.  We stopped off to drive through Shenandoah, having heard several remarks about how "cute" downtown Shenandoah was

 with the decorations recently put up along the street account RAGBRAI    CLICK HERE FOR WEBSITE  will be staying in Shenandoah this Sunday evening after starting their across-the-state bicycle ride on Sunday morning in Glenwood and stay Monday night in Creston, finishing their week-long ride in Muscatine, IA on Saturday.

 They painted bicycle wheels and tires and put them up along with their Shenandoah signs.
Sunday - 49.7 miles
Monday - 75.2 miles
Tuesday - 58.5 miles
Wednesday - 65.1 miles
Thursday - 50.7 miles
Friday - 68.5 miles
Saturday - 49.7 miles 

We won't be riding any, though I had thought might do some.  Phyllis' PEO club is setting up a food/water booth along the route so will be helping with that, setting up Sunday afternoon to be ready to serve/sell Monday morning and through the day as long as food/water lasts, at Bethesda, IA.  There is no town, there now, just a church and we will have our trailer set up in one of the driveways.

 We stopped in Omaha at Duluth Trading store and I got some clothes.  Had been ordering, occasionally, from catalog, but found that they had opened a store in Omaha just 3 weeks ago.  Even had a sale on an item that ended Sunday, but they let me get some at the sale price.  Nice guys.

  We then headed north and west to Linda Whaley Taylor's farm for a visit with her.  She was in my Callaway, NE High School Class of 1961, and had lived on this farm of her husband's family since in the early 1960's.  It is almost half-way between Blair, NE and Nickerson, NE.

This is Linda as we visited a bit in her living room before eating a dandy lunch she prepared.

She has quite a few cats that are both indoor and outdoor cats -- you may see one clear at the top of this cat jungle-gym near the window in her living room.

Linda's husband, Howard, passed away several years ago and - her son David farms the ground now.

She still has quite a garden and likes to cook, but usually doesn't have very many people to cook for.  She had a delightful sandwich lunch for us.

At right is her farm house that has been added on to through the years.






We headed back to West Omaha where Phyllis had a check-up on an aching knee.  Doc said to just observe it and unless got worse would not need attention.

 Since we were in West Omaha we stopped to get some things at Costco.

Then stopped in Council Bluffs, IA at some more stores and then ate supper at the Panda Express before driving east on Highway 92, down a county road, then east on Highway 34, and finally coming down county road M-63 at Stanton, IA.  Between northeast Nebraska and Southwest Iowa we saw a lot of Corn and Soybeans!

Lawn was getting a little growth to it, so I mowed it on Tuesday morning.

Too bad we can't save the grass and make hay, or something, out of it.


Will sign off for now.

Later, Lynn