OH NO! RRVT Bridge Collapse

BRIDGE COLLAPSED ON RACCOON RIVER VALLEY TRAIL IN GREENE COUNTY

A portion of the Raccoon River Valley Trail in Greene County will be closed until further notice.

Greene County Conservation Director Dan Towers tells Raccoon Valley Radio that the recreation trail will be closed from 252nd to 265th streets, due to part of the bridge over the Raccoon River that collapsed. He says large chunks of ice slammed against the wooden pilings that support the 600-foot bridge and he estimated that when a couple of those were taken out, about 30-40-feet of the bridge collapsed into the river.

Towers adds that the repairs to the bridge will be expensive and that they will apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds. Towers says there’s no timeline as to when repairs will be made. Raccoon Valley Radio will bring you more information as it becomes official.

This is MY trail! And I am heartbroken. This was my minimum destination point while biking. This trail is heavily used and will be a big change for many of us. I have taken numerous photos of and on this bridge.

Lark Sparrow

Battery-leveling panel-6 new tires

We have had a busy and productive week. It started off with Butch deciding it was time to exercise the generator. These chores can get away from you very quickly if you are distracted or busy. And that is usually what happens. So Butch started the MoHo in preparation for starting the generator and it did not want to start. So he had to add in the house batteries to get enough power to start it. That worked but was disconcerting because it should have taken right off since the coach batteries were only two years old. So he let it run quite a while to let them charge. A couple of days later he tried to start it again and the same story. So he borrowed a battery load tester and one of our batteries was shot. Nothing to do but buy a new one. So we did buy one at Costco for $98.
Butch had also been tire-shopping for the MoHo and he got a quote from Pueblo Tire for $1,997. That is $2000 less than for Goodyears in Iowa. The difference is these are China made. Since there was so much difference in price we started on a fact-finding mission And as hard as I researched I could not find any bad reviews on these tires and I looked in many places. These are RoadLux Commercial tires and we decided to give them a try.
So knowing we would be taking the Moho to the tire shop Butch decided to make sure the Moho would start and the leveling legs would retract...uh, wait a minute the leveling legs would not retract! So after a couple of phone calls and some online diagnostics, we have ordered a new leveling panel from HWH. He did wiggle things around and get it working but wiggling around is not usually a long term solution so we are glad the new $200 panel is on the way.
Now you might think this was a sad tale of woe but actually, we are glad we checked things when we did and have everything in good working order for our trip north. These things will happen on occasion and it is good for it to be in familiar territory when it does.
The tires were mounted today and it took all morning. We had very interesting conversations with several local people and a couple of fellow Rvers and the time went quickly.

Teaching Anger Control

I enjoyed this article very much. It is a little too late for me to adopt the idea but certainly thought new parents could benefit from it.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/685533353/a-playful-way-to-teach-kids-to-control-their-anger

Can't Help Myself

If you know me by now you know that I like recipes. I do not always make them but if they appeal to me for some reason I will share it. This one may be what's for supper. After all, the Fresh Veggie Cart is due in the park today and I plan to buy a cabbage and I have the rest of the ingredients. I plan to add some ham to it.

LOW-CARB TWICE-COOKED CABBAGE WITH SOUR CREAM AND BACON

yield: MAKES 6-8 SIDE-DISH SERVINGS. total time: 45 MINUTES prep time: 15 MINUTES cook time: 30 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

4 slices thick-sliced bacon, cut into thin strips (or more)

2 tsp. olive oil or bacon fat (more or less, depending on your pan)

1/4 yellow onion, finely minced

1 large head of cabbage (2 pounds) core cut out and cut into thin strips

1/2 tsp. sweet paprika (see notes)

salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

1 cup sour cream (Daisy full-fat sour cream preferred)

3/4 cup grated Mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Slice the bacon. Cut the core out of the cabbage and cut it into thin strips. (We used a mandoline slicer to slice the cabbage.) Mince the onion.

Heat a small frying pan over medium-high heat, add the strips of bacon, and cook until the bacon is browned and very crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels.

Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil (or a little bacon fat if you prefer) in the largest frying pan you have, add the minced onion and cook over medium-high heat until it’s barely starting to brown. Add the sliced cabbage, season with paprika, salt, and pepper, and cook just until it has softened partly. Then add the crisp bacon pieces, stir to combine with the cabbage, and cook 1-2 minutes more to combine flavors.

Spray a glass baking dish with olive oil or non-stick spray. (The oval glass dish I used was 13″ x 10″ at the widest parts.) Put the sauteed cabbage in the casserole dish and spread the sour cream over, then sprinkle with the grated Mozzarella.

Bake about 30 minutes, or until it’s bubbling hot and the top is nicely browned. Serve hot.

NOTES:

I love Szeged Paprika, but any sweet paprika will work for this recipe.

This recipe was adapted from Joy of Cooking, discovered via The The Kitchen.

What the hey!

I have been doing so much of this and that and not as much of what I should be so once again I am going to let this sit while I go for a quick walk...Done! Should go again but it hurt enough (back) the first time that I think I will wait a bit.
Yesterday we had the RV washed and waxed by Steves Wash and Wax for $135. I keep telling Butch he is old enough and we have enough money to let others do the job and not take the chance of injury that would keep him from doing the things he loves. On the other hand, he has reached the saturation point on one of the things he loves. Pool. This happens every year at about the same time. And on another hand, other people do not do the job to his satisfaction. Personally, I think that is an unattainable goal. It all boils down to frustration on many levels by more than one individual.
 
The washing of an RV: The team of 6 workers arrived and set right to work. They all knew what to do without discussion so it all happened very quickly. They were here for 65 minutes and then they all hopped into the van and were on their way to the next customers. One time I looked up and there were 3 scrub brushes working on the windshield at the same time. I tried to capture a photo but was not quick enough.

This afternoon at 4:00 PM we are invited to a shindig at Dave and Liz at their place welcoming people who came for a visit that we do not know. They must have been very popular because there has been a lot of excitement about their arrival. Don and Sandy are their names...I think.

We have paid our deposit for next season at Trophy Gardens and on the same lot. We like our tree and the shade it provides.

Last night we conducted Tuesday Trivia as usual. We have been meeting in the Craft Building due to other events being held in the main hall. Last night there were 3 teams of 8 and it ended up in a 3-way tie with each team having 106 points. Team SmartyPants came in first in the tiebreaker question and Team BooBee came in second. We have never seen a 3-way tie before. Next week we will be back in the Sunrise room/ Main Hall at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, March 19th and with the big avalanche of seasons end activities done I am hoping to have more attending trivia night in hopes of dusting off the cobwebs. Next weeks hint about one of the questions will be "US State Borders" and also if you would like to know one of the sites I like for finding questions and answers it is www.quizhive.com. Butch and I will be here until Mid-April and will continue as long as there is interest.

"Don't Let the Old Man In"

Listen to the song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLp9pkWicdo

These are the lyrics:
Don't Let the Old Man In
Toby Keith

Don't let the old man in, I wanna leave this alone
Can't leave it up to him, he's knocking on my door
And I knew all of my life, that someday it would end
Get up and go outside, don't let the old man in

Many moons I have lived
My body's weathered and worn
Ask yourself how old you'd be
If you didn't know the day you were born

Try to love on your wife
And stay close to your friends
Toast each sundown with wine
Don't let the old man in

Many moons I have lived
My body's weathered and worn
Ask yourself how old you'd be
If you didn't know the day you were born

When he rides up on his horse
And you feel that cold bitter wind
Look out your window and smile
Don't let the old man in

Look out your window and smile
Don't let the old man in

Songwriters: Toby Keith
Don't Let the Old Man In lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Missing Sunshine

It is a double-edged sword. The sunshine is missing, especially in the morning. That also happens to be the very best time to take pictures. On the other hand, it lessens the heat as the temperatures are on the high side. The middle ground seems to be unattainable.
I took a quick half-mile walk just now. Feels good!

An artwork in Trophy Gardens main hall

The pool players milling about while getting ready for pictures

Butch in the morning before he gets put together.