Behinder I Am

It is a rare day when I am not at my computer keyboard but this weekend was one such time. Saturday morning bright and early Butch, myself and Colleen drove to Redfield Iowa with my bike to meet up with my friend Sherri Clark from Atlantic Iowa. Colleen drove Sherri's car back to Jefferson and Butch went on the Highway 141 garage sale excursion while Sherri and I happily rode our bikes from Redfield to Jefferson (40 miles) with a side trip to Jamaica Iowa for their famous tenderloins. That is the short of it.

The trip was perfect until it heated up and the fact we had not ridden that far for many years invaded our muscle memory. But we endured and quitting was never an option. The first half was really the best as that was the coolest time.  I called Butch when we reached Herndon so he could meet up with us in Jamaica. Herndon was where my Grandma Zimmerle lived and where we and my cousins went for Sunday dinners for many of my childhood years. Her house is no longer there but the spot where it was and the memories of those times lingers on and always will.
 The tenderloin was great! Sherri and I shared and I do believe we could have shared with two others besides. I know Sherri took a picture so the second edition of the trip story may include a picture of a whole one for your viewing pleasure. Make your way to ToJo's in Jamaica Iowa to enjoy one for yourself. They will happily split a meal and put the toppings each person desires on each half.

The scenery is always a pleasure on this section of trail especially when the river is close by as it is in the beginning and the end.
In Panora we happened to meet up with a friend of Sherri's that she had rode on Ragbrai with a few years back and had a pleasant rest and conversation.

Colleen and Butch joined us at Tojo's and then we were off again for the second half. We stopped more often on the second half and by the time we reached Jefferson we were very ready to be home!
We started off a bit past 8:00 AM and arrived back in Jefferson at 3:00PM.
Here are the biking pictures:

Believe it or not we only had 2.5 miles left to go when this was taken and we could both smile!

This is when we started out and the section from Redfield north has always been a particularly pretty part of the trail.

 This part runs alongside the Raccoon River.

 The water tower at Linden Iowa. This town has memories for the Brooker side of the family.

 An interesting old log along the trail

After we returned to Jefferson Sherri wanted to look over more of Jefferson that she had missed the last time she and Randy were here two weeks ago. So our first stop was the Mahany tower. We rode to the top to get a whole different view. It had been many years since I had been to the top. and here are the pictures I took from up there.

Okay, the picture of Lincoln was taken before we went to the top.

This is the new Jefferson Garden feature in Jefferson. Many of the seeds were from the original home of Thomas Jefferson. He is a bit hard to see but there is a bronze figure of Jefferson seated on the bench.

This is a northward looking shot and the new overpass is visible if you know where to look. The white patch in upper center is where the new Hy Vee grocery store will be located. Our house is out of picture on the right but it will be a mere 3 blocks from the new store.

An east side view.

The Jefferson Water tower.

Looking out the window and up to the top. 168 foot tall.

Our next stop was the RVP1875 woodshop. http://rvp1875.com/ Robby Pedersen and his wife make furniture with the tools of 1875. Robby explains why it is 1875 and not earlier but you need to stop by and ask him for yourself. It is a fantastic place and has recently had state wide recognition for their tourism facilitation.

My words cannot do it justice so please put it on your bucket list of things to see.

 This kitty is a year old and they picked him up at the threshing bee in July of 2013. Sorry I do not remember his name but it was also the name of the saw he is sitting on. He is a big boy!

 They also have the History Boy Theatre and put on 3 productions a year. We DO plan to make it next June.

 Robby demonstrated how all the machines worked. They all work by man power of course.

Sherri will have to return again because she once again did not see it all by a long shot.

And there you have it for this blog entry. When Sherri sends me her photo's I will share her version with you.