Summer in Iowa, Crazy Crazy!!

OK, so it’s been awhile since I posted something on my blog. June, July and August, there gone!!

 How did that happen?

 I feel like we barely got camp set-up and hit the ground running so to speak.  Memorial Day included a visit to the cemetery and the placing of flowers near the headstones.  Kids full of questions about their relatives.  Then a new garden flower project at Mats house.  We moved some old heirloom plants from the grandparents’ homesteads.  Randy made bluebird boxes and we put one in the garden. Amazingly the next day we had a pair of bluebirds make a nest. We have seen two clutches so far, how exciting!!

A relative




Day trips to the Natural History Museum in Iowa City. 

 

 

 

 Took a tour of the territorial capital and first State capital building of  Iowa.  

 

 

 A visit to Burlington Heritage Museum and a walk down the crooked-est street in the country, Snake Alley.

             Labor Day, a camping trip to Old Settlers Reunion in Mt Pleasant


 At noon the steam engines blew their whistles and vintage tractors paraded in front of the grandstand.  (My dad drove his restored John Deere) with grand-kids in tow behind the wagon.

Waiting for the Electric car at the log village..

  How do I describe it? Picture yourself for five days stepping back in time to a rural American farm. Horses being used to operate threshing machinery and, steam engine run sawmill.  Sorghum being cooked down and lye soap too.
 Pioneer village was at one end, a city of campers in the middle, with old western town at the other end.  The Electric cars connected one end to the middle.





 Oh and a real train pulled by a Steam Locomotive that ran around the entire grounds.  Train holdup at old town, and saloon girls too!





Did I mention the Nightly concerts at the grandstand with homemade caramel corn, root beer, and ice cream....
 It was hot, dusty sometimes and then rain with a little mud to.  But the kids had a great time!!!
 All for the price of a $20.00 wrist band and the kids were free!!






 In between that we had a few sleep overs and took in a couple of movies.

Now summer has come to an end, and kids are back to school.

 I'm exhausted!!  It’s time to take a breather and think about heading south and then west.


 Will try to blog more often next time! 

From Tennesee to Iowa!

Mothers Day Amy, Kelsey and Kaylen

We topped off our Tennessee visit by putting on frilly things and having Mothers Day brunch at the lodge.  A real southern style meal!

Emilys Birthday Party with the grandkids

Just made it back to Iowa in time to celebrate two little girls birthdays. Ever decorated a Fairy Barbie and a jumbo cupcake in hot pink?  Its pretty exciting when you get 12 kids together and shout the words:  It's time to open presents, do you want cake and ice cream?   It definitely draws a crowd! 

exploring Tn forest

What do you do with a net, bucket and three girls?  Catch crawdads...!!  29 to be exact. We did release them back to there habitat.  I loved the  morning spent exploring a stream with the girls! We talked about what it was like when the native Americans roamed theses Tennessee hills and how they lived off the land.  Kids are so open to new adventures as I call them.  We made rafts out of twigs and blades of grass and floated them down the rapids. 

Old Oaks

On our route back to Iowa we stopped at Rend Lake in Illinois, with a great campground and 20 miles of paved biking and hiking trails.  You wind around the lake through big oak groves and patches of native prairie grasses.  There is a wonderful visitor center with educational exhibits of the area.  We poked around the local small town and found a cool cafe on the square.  It was originally a Woolworth store and still had the old tin ceiling and wood floors.  The daily specials were  made from scratch and had a warm slice of pie! Of coarse I had to bike a few miles to work it off..

Well summer is now in full swing in Iowa...  So what will we do next.  Mainly just hanging out with the kids until we head out again in the fall for our westward travels to our winter home in Tucson.

Tennessee visit

Original Manson on campus

 I took a ride into Nashville and had a great tour of Amy's school, Belmont. While she was taking finals I wandered through the beautifully landscaped grounds and took in some southern history.
       Relaxing with a good cup of coffee under an old magnolia tree I wandered what life was like here when the first class of women entered in the 1800's.

Belmont college

Hanging out with the granddaughters has been fun and keeping us on the go.
One morning we loaded all the bikes into the truck and rode around Montgomery Bell State Park. We looked thru this log cabin and a small Presbyterian Church on site.   There is a nice campground with full hook-ups and a crystal clear spring running through it.  The kids love playing in the water as it has been hot here!

 

I celebrated my birthday with surprise hand crafted cards, the best kind and ice cream cake with a blaze of candles!
  
I'm spending some time refurbishing barbie dolls and making clothes for our fashion show.  Visited Goodwill, looking for a few toys to have on hand for the kids this summer.  Helped Kelsey make cookies for 4-H meeting and now I think I'm ready for some quiet time.... Or maybe we'll have a sleep over tonight :)

I feel like my summer has had a jump start.  Time to fix some ice tea and pickup a good book to read!

  Thats it for now....

Birthday cards

Tucson to Scott Arkansas

                    What an end to our season at Desert Trails in Tucson!

Christine and her family came to visit with their camper.  It was fun having them camping next to us.  We took a trip to the Sonoran Desert Museum.  I have a family pass that gets the grandkids in free.  7 at one time, what a deal for us!  The museum has desert plants and animals on display along with educational hands on activities.  It was a full day of walking and the  kids were great troopers.




 I took the three older girls to the Reid Park Zoo.  I was surprised at what a neat little zoo they have in Tucson.  A nice elephant habitat with a new baby showing off for all to see.  Unfortunately I accidentally deleted most of them. 







 The final event of their visit was totally by luck.  We wound up camped on the Air Force base the last two days before heading out.  The Thunderbirds were preforming at the air show with a base openhouse celebrationg Arizonas 100yr Anniversary.  We got on a shuttle at our campsite that dropped us off at the flight line. 

Desert Museum

Now we have started heading east across New Mexico and Texas to Scott Arkansas.  Staying in Corp of engineers park along the banks of the Arkansas river.

It is time to catchup

Wow, where does the time go.  At my age I just wish I could slow it down a little.  Winter in Tucson is almost at its end.  Most of our neighbors in the park will be heading out in April to their summer homes  We seem to be busy but not sure with what. There is some activity most everyday here depending on your interests.  We have had great entertainers twice a week preforming at the rec hall. Very talented!  Took a few day trips, one to Agua Caliente (hot water) Preserve.  It is a natural spring located on a historical ranch just outside of Tucson. To see water in the desert is quite a treat.

One of the ponds created by damming the spring.

 

Gammon Gulch

  The photo group went to a ghost town and we tagged along, I didn't see any ghosts but went into the saloon and mom entertained us on the old piano. This area was once home to several mining communities, Indians and outlaws.















Church just north of the Mexican border in the town of Sasabee, only a handful of residents now occupy the area which was once a big ranching valley before all the droughts.  Now the steal border fence divides the territory.

                                                                                                                      

Do You know what this is?  Yes a scorpion,  we haven't seen to many yet but with warmer weather on its way they will be moving around along with the rattle snakes.  I saw this cute guy at the U of A open house for the studies of Sonoran Desert insects.


                                                                                                                                        
 Randy and fellow hiker on our trip up the canyon to the old stone house built and homesteaded by a newspaper editor in Tucson.  The story goes that they came from the east with the hopes that the climate would improve his wife's health.  All the materials had to be packed  in by mules as it was over a mile to the  nearest dirt road.

Mom and Dad, Ruthann and Fred

Family outing to Sabino Canyon, part of the Coronado National forest.  There is a trolley ride that takes  you up to the top of the canyon for some spectacular views.  The mts in this area are rugged, created from volcanic activity.  On the trip up the canyon as we climbed along the trail we crossed over running water with green vegetation and large cottonwood trees.  Mountain lions and mule deer frequent the area.  Some black bears can be found higher up on Mount Lemon which  is at a elevation high enough to have snow . The Tusonians use to pack by horse up here to get away from the heat and play in the pools of water.  

The wild flowers are in bloom! It amazes me to see the variety of spring flowers in the desert.  

 We have purchased a new camper to replace our other one.  ( I think it fell under the Lemon Law category) We  had chronic problems all winter and decides it was a wise move to trade it off.  I hope this is our last move for awhile.  5 campers in 6 yrs?  I know everyone is shaking their heads... 




Sorry I have been so long in updating by blog, will try to do a better job!  Trying to format this blogger thing has been a challenge for this old dog and will be glad when my girls can give me a few lessons. Can someone tell me how to make the print larger?

We will be heading on to new territory in about three weeks.  Going to take in a ball game as spring training has arrived to Arizona.  I have been working hard with physical therapy this winter to strengthen my hip muscles and hope to get rid of the cane and maybe the limp? 

Love to all!

Welcome to Arizona

We have arrived at Desert Trails for the winter! What a view out my back door. We went to a Cowboy Symposium yesterday with Ruthann and Fred.  Real cowboys preforming original songs and poetry, some pretty interesting stories about life on the range.  

My cactus garden outside my door.  We had to do some trimming and removal of dead cactus, of course it didn't take me long to end up with cactus needles in my fingers.  The gamble quail and doves have found the bird bath already.  My little oasis in the desert
                                                                                                                                                                                           




     Looking forward to the return of our winter friends and getting together!  We have had some welcomed rain the last couple of days and even snow up on  nearby Mt Lemon.  I needed a rainy day to catch up on daily chores and up date my blog. 

My home on wheels.

Bisbee, Huachuca Mts, Coronado Nat. Monument

Wow what a busy week!  Drove to the mining towns of Bisbee and Tombstone which now rely on tourism, as the copper and silver mines closed.
Of coarse we had to visit Boot hill and the OK corral, site of the shoot out of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. For you western buffs, do you know how Tombstone got its name?  Ed Schliefflin, a California prospector worked the hills by day and slept by night at Camp Huachuca.  The soldiers told him he would find nothing but his "Tombstone".






Get off the beaten path and walk the side streets of Bisbee and see what you find?  An Eco Sit-In.  Looks like Halloween to be.

 t

 Hiking with Randy and our dog Shelby.  Signs told us to not hike alone and keep dogs on a leash because of bears in the Huachuca Mts. We were surprised to find a stream running down through the canyon and fall flowers in bloom.

 We 4-wheeled up the pass and down through the Valley where Coronado traveled in the 1540's.   Shelby did not enjoy the ride, I think she thought we would slide or bounce off the side of the mountain.
For those of you who know Randy you will understand.

  Coronado National Memorial.  A nice interpretative  visitor center depicting the spanish expedition of Coronado. He first entered today's United States from Mexico looking for the fabled cities of gold. 

One of several murals at the Coronado visitor center.
Which sits at the base of Montezuma Peak 7766 ft.





  The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area which is an important flyway for migratory birds from  Canada all the way to South America.  Usally a popular bird watching area, but to my dismay the river was dry and I wonder about the future of this fragile Eco system.  

 



Halloween day was spent hiking around the town of Fairbanks, a ghost town of coarse!  Established in 1881 as a stopover for travelers on their way to the mining towns of Tombstone and Bisbee. Its only fame came from a train robbery at the depot.

One of Fairbanks Residence?

 Ok I think I've posted enough for this time, need to get to bed.  We're heading to Desert Trails tomarrow for the winter months.