Marv's hoe is usually much larger than this one!!

Yesterday Marv, Judi and Butch and I went to Guthrie Center to help members of the Extension Service plant a garden at the local nursing home. We got to keep our tools.;-)

Biking

Went into Clive (Des Moines suburb) to visit friend Mickey while Butch did some electrical work for his brother Leo. Mickey and I found the Greenbelt bike trail and rode some. It is very close to her house, very canopied and runs along side Walnut Creek. It was a beautiful ride. This trail ties in with the Raccoon River Valley Trail that is 1/4 mile from the new RV park in Yale. So conceivably Mickey and I could hop on our bikes and visit each other instead of driving. That is if we could handle a 38 mile ride one way! I do have plans to rally my biking friends and plan some sort of bike outing. Maybe a a ride from Yale to Jefferson, have lunch at the Tea Garden, yes, in our stinky sweaty biking clothes, and then return to Yale. It would be a total of 36 miles. I think I can handle it. Tell me if you can.

Raspberries- There are oodles of raspberry bushes along the trail. They are not yet ripe but when they turn I will be there with a little berry bucket.

Iowa's Prairie Rose

Mulberry's-There are oodles of Mulberry trees along the trail

Lamb's ears

Trail Sights-Dill weed

Trail Sights-Babbling Brook

We are still boondocking in Yale. I may have to break down soon and go to a laundromat. We have a few more days of clothes yet. I could go buy new underwear!;-) Butch and I have been riding the bike trail going about 12 - 15 miles a day. Yesterday a deer spotted us and ran alongside the trail in front of us for a fair distance. She finally stopped and looked back at us to see if we were still in pursuit. She finally veered off but it was neat to have the escort for awhile. I have been escorted by butterflys before but never by a deer.

RV Park Progress

The RV park is coming along. We have been hung up a bit on water. For some reason we were not getting water in the well and Marv was perplexed as to why but finally decided perhaps he had dug too deep. It turns out he was correct from the conversation I am hearing out by the well pit. So it seems that obstacle has been overcome. We are also waiting for the electrical pedestals that were ordered last Wednesday. They should arrive very soon.Things are looking up.

Plastic bottle AFTER explosion

It took too long to explode so Jason helped it along by shooting it with a BB gun. LOUD

Take one plastic two liter bottle, fill about 2/3rds full with water, add dry ice and put the cap on very tightly, place in yard and get back. It will explode eventually and make a very loud noise

A little dry ice makes its way to the bird bath

Making Root Beer. Dry Ice is one of the ingredients.

Mike and his friend Cody computing. A going away party was held for Mike. He will be going to New Jersey to serve as a YMCA Camp counselor for the summer.

Jason saw this idea and copied it. I thought it made a clever "water feature".

After the parade we went to Boone IA to see 'the kids'. Jason and Laura have several nice displays in their yard this being one of them.

The pooper scoopers

It was cold but bearable.

Threshing Bee July 29th/30th

Jefferson/Scranton High School Band. They have been very, very good for as long as I can remember

Saturday we attended the Bell Tower Parade in Jefferson Ia. It was cold!!!

Reference, Facts, News ... Free and Family-friendly Resources

An all-purpose-search-for-anything site. Thanks Joanna
Reference, Facts, News ... Free and Family-friendly Resources

I took this shot from the driveway of the new RV park. The first yellow sign is a bike sign denoting the trail.

We rode to Herndon the other day. It will be the first time I have been near a bike trail where I had a choice of going either direction.

Angel does want out once in a while but not too often. She must have become accustomed to being confined.

Looking north from driveway entrance. We will be moving up the hill a bit when things are all in place.

This is one of the hydrants in the foreground and you can see the Smith horses across the road. There will be horse boarding ability connected with this RV park. Marv & Judi travel with their horses on a regular basis and are always looking for places such as this to stop.

Looking northeast from the driveway and toward Marv and Judi's house

The work has begun on the RV park so these are the before pics. This one looks southeast from the driveway.

Judi brought me these beautiful roses and you all know what a sucker I am for flower pictures.

In Yale

Butch and I are in Yale Iowa on the Marvin Smith Farm located 1/4 mile east of the Raccoon River Valley Bike trail. We are semi boondocking meaning we have electricity but not sewer and water. Marv is very quickly putting together a small RV Park and Butch is helping him with the endeavor. As fast as Marv is moving on this it will be put together in no time. I hope Butch can keep up!!
Right now our closest neighbors are several large grain bins. I tell you that in case you want to meander this way and find us nestled amongst our neighbors.;-)
Stop on by and watch the progress of a new RV park.

Butch hits one for our team. It was a good day on the course for Butch and I. We shot an 84 for 18 holes and that is 20 shots less than last years score for us. The weather was top notch and the best of company made for a fun and memorable day.

Randy hits a long one.

Sherri waits her turn to putt.

Sherri Clark, Nishna Hills 2005 womens champ, sets up for her last drive of the day.

Picture perfect form for Jenny

In this picture we are on our last hole for the day.

Chaos

Things have been hectic, chaotic but fun the past couple of weeks. We got cleared at the doctors office and proclaimed 'good to go'. We have visited with a multitude of friends and also missed connecting with a few too.;-( Butch went with friend Bill G. to a Seniors Tour golf tournament in Des Moines to watch the big boys play. Today Butch and I play in the Faultless 2 ball tournament in Atlantic with friends Sherri and Randy. Tomorrow we go to West Des Moines to help my most long term friend Mickey move into her newly purchased home. Tuesday we go to Yale Iowa to friends Marv & Judi Smith's place to get going on a new project. There will be much more about that later but count on us being there for the summer. It has been fun with much more fun to come. 

I love trees!

At Lake Anita State Park- She didn't seem to be the least concerned about us.

Main road to Yosemite closed indefinitely - Yahoo! News

Main road to Yosemite closed indefinitely - Yahoo! News

Hmmm-May have to go see what this looks like!

We are back in Anita at the lake. We have doctor appointments in the morning and afternoon which will give us a better idea of where we might be headed from here. I am catching up on laundry and Butch is playing golf so we will be at least half ready for the 2 ball tournament we are in on Sunday.

While we were in Oakland we went to nearby Avoca and looked up my neice Angie and her husband Jeff. We had not seen them for a couple of years so it was good to get caught up on their latest doings.

The past week has been a busy one. We decided to keep a low profile over the holiday weekend and stay out of the party atmosphere at the state parks. We parked at Magnolia friends place outside of Oakland Iowa- Dick & Leslie Cleaveland. We planned to stay a short time but ended up having so much fun we stayed a week! We went to the zoo, and to a couple of ballgames, ate some wonderful meals, and played "Rats". Berwyn and Erma, Dick's folks, shared some garden radishes with us and that was another treat of the week.

Leslie's Cherry and Cream flowers