Austine's graduation April, 2016

On 4/26, my darling son Ben's birthday, we left the Double Nickle RV campground in York, NE and headed to Iowa.  The campground was really pretty interesting.  New owners had taken over about 2 years ago and are doing a lot of work on it.  All the sites have a double swing. They are right next a private golf course. The cool thing about this is that they have swings facing the golf course where you can sit and watch ( Kirk prefers to taunt).  Someday, when they are all done this will be a really nice campground.  The only con we had at this time, was that they were rather expensive for being under construction and not all amenities available yet.  

We arrived in Gladbrook in the afternoon.  We stayed at Union Grove State Park.  We've stayed there before as it's just 6 miles from town.  That made it easy to get to Kirks mom's in Gladbrook.  We had a nice couple of days with her.  We ate at the new restaurant in town, Spankys, and had tenderloins from Beamans one afternoon. 

Mavis having supper at Spankys in Gladbrook 

On 4/28 we went out to supper with Heather, Charlie, Damon, and Kaylee.  We had a nice visit although, I think Damon would have rather been somewhere else playing his games. He's at that age you know.   

The next day we packed up and drove the RV to Hartford, Iowa to Webbs RV campground. We stayed here as this was Austine's college graduation weekend and this was the closest we could get to Indianola.  She graduated from Simpson College with a degree in Sociology. She has accepted a position as Director of a Day Care. Kirk and I took her out to eat the night before her graduation.  She picked Jason's BBQ and Bacon, Bacon, Bacon in West Des Moines.  What a yummy place.   We had a great time and conversation. Austine is an awesome young lady and we wish her the best.  The next day we attended her graduation.  They could do a little better on being organized, but it was a great day for her. We are so proud of her!!  After graduation, we headed to Wonewoc, WI. We will be staying at Chapparal Campground while I complete my next assignment in the Wisconsin dells.  

Can't believe this little buddy turned 33 years old this year.  

So proud of this young lady.  Congratulations Austine!

Lindsey, Mason, and Papa Kirk.   Mason excited to see big sister graduate. 

She did it!!!

Awesome couple, Austine and boy Jordan!

More of Summer time in Iowa 2015

Kirk and I had a very busy summer in Albia with family being so close in almost all directions of us. Aside from worrying about Kristy and Robyn getting lost on their hike at Zion National Park (all is well), and Ben and his family enduring a severe thunderstorm while camping in Chippewa Falls, WI that same weekend (again, all is well), I am doing well myself now.  No matter how old our children get, we parents will continue to worry about them, just like we did when they were small.  It never stops.  Of course, praying for them is always my number one go to.  Nothing above that!

Kristy and Robyn at Arches Canyon in Utah before the hike!

Then there is my husband, Kirk.  On 7/30 he started having pains in his abdomen.  It was bad enough, that he thought he should go to the ER.  It has to be bad for him to want to go there.  Being in the small town of Albia, Iowa, we were able to get in right away.  After many, many tests (blood, x-rays, CT, etc), everything was negative.  He does have a history of pancreatitis, so they did give him a shot of pain meds which made him very nauseated (did take the pain away though), and we went home.  We've had a couple of small bouts since that time, but they seem to be manageable, especially when we know there isn't much they can do (so, I get out my essential oils :) ).

Adyson's birthday party was the weekend of 8/7-8/9 in Minneapolis.   She had a wonderful, fun party at Kristy's place with lots of friends and family present.  Then we (Kirk and I, Kristy, Robyn, Ady, Ben and Nicki, Bella, and Isaac) went to the St Paul East RV Park in ST Paul and stayed in a cabin, with Ben and Nicki also having their camper there.  What a fun birthday weekend.  Oh yeah, Ady is now 12 years old.

 Adyson and her mommy, Robyn at Ady's 12 year old birthday party.

 Camping in ST Paul with these crazies!

End of an awesome birthday weekend.  Happy Birthday Ady!

On 8/11 Kirk's mother (Mavis) had a slight, yet scary mishap while downtown Gladbrook.  Kirk hopped on his motorcycle the next morning and rode there to check on her.  Again, all was well with Mavis.  Another reason it was nice to be this close to family.   The next day, Kirk got a call from Lindsey (Nate's wife) to say that Nate was in the hospital due to some ongoing numbness in his left foot.  I don't believe they ever did find any reason for it, but it sure was a scare and he seems to be doing fine.

On 8/15 we attended the Iowa State Fair.  I had gone many years ago with my son Ben.  We went to see the Moody Blues play in concert.  Afterwards there was a fantastic fireworks display.  However, at that time, I didn't really get to see all the fair stuff (or at least I don't recall).  Aside from that, Kirk and I had a great time there.  I had my first ever Iowa famous Guinnea Grinder, which has now been changed to the Jennie Grinder (due to being politically correct ).  It was pretty good.  We also visited the cows, pigs, butter cow, rode the sky tram, did a lot of walking (it was extremely hot), had fried oreos, turkey legs, and probably other stuff I'm not mentioning.  We also met Nate and Mason there and spent a little time with them.  Mason loved the oreo.   This particular Saturday just happened to be when all the republican candidates (or at least most of them) were there to speak on the Soapbox Stage.  Trump flew over the fair in his helicopter and walked through the streets.   All in all we had a great time.    The fair lasts for 10 days, and on 8/21 while I was at work, Kirk rode his motorcycle back to the fair to see Nate and his band (Nate Nelson and the State Street Band) play on the Bud Light stage early afternoon.  Earlier in the day, the band had an interview on the television morning show in Des Moines.  Kirk said they did a great job.  They were allowed to play for 45 minutes which is typical of the bands playing at the fair and had a good amount of people attending.

 Riding over the Iowa St Fair; kinda nervous on this ride

 Selfie at the State fair

 Yummy fried oreos

 Mason enjoying his first fried oreo

 Look for the red hat....Trump!

 Three generations of Nelsons.

What's a fair without a butter cow.

 Kirk and grandson, Damon enjoying Nate and band playing at the fair.

Nate and the State Street Band at the Iowa State Fair.

That same evening after I got off work and Kirk was home we ate out in downtown Albia at the Albia Brewing Co.  I had my very first "flight".  It contained 6 samples of the beers made there.  There was only one of the six that I really could have done without.  Sure glad Kirk is my designated driver.

My first "flight", and that would be because I'm not a big beer drinker.

On 8/25 Nate met Kirk in Pella, Iowa where they spent the day golfing.  Kirk says they had a really good father/son day.

Bos Landen Golf Course in Pella

On 8/28 Kirk and I drove to Wonewoc for the weekend to Chapparal Campground.  Dennis and Diane (owners of the campground) have been good friends of ours since we first stayed there 5 years ago.  We were able to visits with Kurt and Laurie, Tracy and Michelle, and several other seasonals.  We also made it a point to visit with Ron and Arlene at their home.   Ron took us to his garden and gave us some of his homegrown tomatoes, and jalepeno peppers.   We stayed in one of the cabins as we didn't take the RV this trip.  Also that weekend, Ben and Nicki were DJ'ing at her cousins wedding, so we took Bella and Isaac and had them spend the night with us in the cabin.  We had a great time.  Those kiddos love to camp.   On our way home to Albia, we stopped at the Costco in Coralville, Iowa.  This was a neat Costco as ALL their customer parking was in a single floor garage. Great concept.  Especially since they get lots of snow in the winter.  Costco treats their customers right.

 Breakfast with our good friends from Chapparal Campground.  Sure do miss those guys!

 Got our cheese fix.  Nothing like Wisconsin cheese, especially with these ladies!

 One of two favorite things these kiddos love to do at Chapparal.  The other is having blue moon ice cream.

My first batch of pickled jalepenos.  Thanks Ron and Arlene.

Our last weekend in Albia (9/12) we drove to Monmouth for the day to see Robyn and Ady.  They were staying with their grandma/great grandma for a couple of months.  It just happened to be the weekend of the Prime Beef Festival.  When I was growing up in Monmouth, the PBF was a huge event, starting with the parade on Wednesday.  We did have a good day.  I ran into a couple of old school friends, had ribeye sandwiches, and enjoyed a ride or two.  I was really looking forward to the Industrial tent, however, it was a huge disappointment.  Anyway, this day was about Robyn and Ady which we ended with dinner at Petey's.  As always, it was hard saying good-bye.  We would be heading to Texas in a few days.

 Stopped at the church tent for pie...ate it all up!

 Ady trying to win at bumper cars

Robyn having fun at the PBF.

More of St Cloud MN 2015

While in St Cloud, Kirk found a good deal at the Territory Golf Club just down the road from us, that allows him to play all the golf he wants for $20 including cart before 1300 on weekdays.  One of the seasonals, Jim, at the campground is also a golfer, so him and Kirk hooked up many times to golf together. They became pretty good buds.  They are going to miss each other.  Territory also has a pretty good restaurant with excellent prime rib Saturdays.

 People size guitar inside Rollie's and below is stage where many"used to be" big name bands play.

Our favorite place to go out though, was a fun honky tonk called Rollie's Rednecks and Longnecks.  They had the best pizza that we found in the area (of course, we didn't try them all).  We enjoyed going there, especially on Friday evening when Rollie and a buddy would sing from 5-7.  They sang a lot of old country and some new.  Great voices.  During the time he was singing, that guy could throw back shots of Jagermeister like no one I've seen and act like they didn't even phase him.  I highly recommend this place if you are ever in the area.  One other thing I had never heard of was the meat raffle.  Apparently this is very well known in the north.  Kirk and I actually won one of the meat raffles.  

 Below is our site at St Cloud and above is the view across the street.

May and June were both unseasonably cool and rainy.  We had a few nice days in there though.  The park workers (and there were many) would hold Taco tuesday every other Tuesday at the office.  We joined then a couple of times and had a good time.

On Mother's Day, Kirk and I went to the Cities to be with the girls.  The girls and I attended the Peter Pan play at the Children's Theatre.  Kirk joined us to eat lunch at Burger Jones (fun place), then we went back to Kristy's place.  Kristy and I made some roller blends with our essential oils. 

 Our side and back yard on our site in St Cloud.  

On 5/16 the city tornado siren went off around 2100, and all the campers and our animals had to seek shelter at the laundry room/bathroom.  This was our first time in our five years on the road that we've ever had to take shelter because of weather (not that we haven't seen some scary weather in those 5 years).  The tornado missed us.  Just lots of rain, AGAIN!

We took a our first motorcycle ride up here to Mille Lacs lake on 6/2.  This was about a 200 mile round trip ride.  Nice day, but was very windy.   We stopped for lunch at a little cafe in Isle.  This was recommended to us by a local.  Well,  let's just say that you can order whatever you want on the menu as long as it's a reuben sandwich.  The lady was out of the first thing I ordered, so I gave her another choice.  After waiting about 20 minutes (they weren't busy), she finally brings out our sandwiches.  She then asks if I like reuben's, and then sits it in front of me.  We were so shocked (and hungry) that Kirk and I just looked at each other and laughed.  We were worn out when we got home.

Did I mention that there was a Costco in Baxter and Maple Grove, MN?  Each were about an hour from St Cloud.  Of course, we visited both of them.  Our favorite was in Baxter though, as it was a new one and never very busy (Costco's tend to be crowded).

 Kirk, Damon, Heather, and Kylie above.  Below, Mavis and me in a selfie.

Kirk and I took a weekend trip to Gladbrook 6/13.  We stopped at a little hole in the wall in Beaman, IA and split a yummy tenderloin sandwich.  We stayed in the guest room of the apartment building where Kirk's mom lives.  They let you stay there for free if you are family or friend of one of the residents.  Very nice.  Queen size bed, dressers, bathroom with shower, and you have access to their kitchen if needed.  Mavis' apartment was just down the hall, so very convenient.  We all met Kirk's daughter, Heather, her boyfriend, Charlie, and kids Damon, and Kylie for supper at the BBQ place in Marshalltown.  We had boarded Chuy in St Cloud at Granite City Pet Hospital, which was okay, but rather expensive.  We did find out we could have our dog in the guest room, so he will go with us next time.    I also had my first bout of laryngitis for the first time in 1.5 years (since taking essential oils).  I used to get laryngitis about 3 times a year.  This one only last a day of totally having no voice, and several days of a hoarse voice.

Red Bay, AL. Again!

Kirk was in Red Bay from 4/7 to 4/16.  We had anticipated that he would be there at least 3 weeks.  But, if you know Kirk, and some of you do, he was able to have the needed work done and finished a week earlier than expected.  Of course, while there, he was able to do some of the smaller things himself.  He was also able to get a couple of motorcycle rides in and some golf.  Kirk left Red Bay on the 18th and drove to his moms in Gladbrook, Iowa.  He spent a couple of days there and was able to also spend time with his kids and grandkids    They are getting so big.  Kirk finally arrived in St Cloud, welcomed by a small snow blizzard, on 4/21.  I said my goodbyes to Cassie and Vince at my Airbnb and went home to Kirk at the campground after I got off work.  We are staying at St Cloud Campground and RV Park.  The weekend before Kirk arrived I made another trip to the cities and this time stayed with Robyn and Ady.  We attended a fun cookout hosted by Suzie and Dimas.  They are good friends of the girls. Suzie used to be their roommate and they are getting married May 30th on a boat.  So glad Kirk is here.  I missed that man!

Working on the ceiling in Red Bay

I'm still finding styrofoam in the motor home 

Kaylee, Mason, and Damon visiting Papa Kirk in Gladbrook. 

Grandma Mavis, Lindsey, and Heather playing with the kids.