Vacation Interrupted

We left our nice little campground in North Liberty, IA Monday afternoon and drove 30 miles and stayed here.

Nice view, don't you think?   Let's take a closer look at where we stayed.

Yep, that's us on the end.  What are we doing here?  Well, grab a cup of coffee or a snack and I will tell you the story.  BOL!

We were all ready to leave Iowa on Monday morning.  We went for our last walk as Dad got everything ready. We loaded into the RV and waited to "ride the slide" as we call it.  Ride the slide is when Dad brings the slides in and we lay on the couch and ride it.  BOL!  He brought in the bedroom slide and then brought in the kitchen slide and silence.  The slide quit working.  YIKES!  That has never happened before.  He checked out fuses, etc.  Mama got out the manual and checked online for a solution.  Dad determined it was the motor of the slide.  The slides can manually be brought in, but the kitchen slide has to be pushed in. The manual said to call a tow truck and have them push it in with their vehicle.  Dad said no to that and he said that he didn't think anyone would do that even if he wanted to do it, which he did not. The other slide had to be manually cranked in.  Dad asked the park manager if she knew a mobile tech that could come out and she said there was one in the area.  He called him and was told Thursday was the earliest he could come. Thursday?  We would miss boot camp provided he could even help us.  Dad then called Good Sam's.   It took about a half hour, but they found someone who could come out.  The man arrived about an hour later.  He also determined it was the motor.  He told us that we were lucky because the factory that makes the motor we need was just 30 miles down the road.  He said he works there part-time and he could get us in. He called and sure enough he got us an appointment for 7 a.m. on Tuesday.  The next step was to get the slides in.  Mama and Dad had tried to push in the one slide and didn't make much progress, but luckily, it was almost in.  The repairman and Dad manually cranked in the other slide.  That took at least 30 minutes.  It was a lot of work.  Finally, it was in and we put things away to leave. (Dad had set us up again because we thought we would be stuck there for a while.)  Mama followed us in the car and kept an eye on the slides to make sure they didn't open while we drove.  She said the one that was out a little did seem to open when we took the first turn out of the campground, but it stayed in place for the rest of the drive. We arrived at the factory and plugged in so that we would have electric. Unfortunately, Dad forgot to fill our tank with water, so we didn't have water for showers or washing dishes.  We had bottled water for drinking.

I saw a mouse while we were walking.  Yep, Mama thinks she might have stepped on part of it.  She felt something squishy and then this mouse took off across the parking lot.  BOL! 

Tuesday morning, Mama and us pups said in the customer lounge while Dad watched them work on our RV.  We all think that he had more fun than us.  We had a heck of a time getting into the lounge.  There were steps and the door opened out which meant we had to back down the steps to get in the door.  Scout refused to go up the steps, so I had to back down and Mama had to push her up.  It was quite the event.  We had to go out a few times and Scout did the steps like a pro after the first time.

Finally, our RV was fixed.  Dad had a few other things he wanted them to fix, but the major one they couldn't because it is not a part they make, so that will have to be fixed at another time.  We set out for Indiana at 10 a.m. 

See, we made it!

Carriages are every where.

The signs are quite graphic.  BOL!

Our new campground

We have a few days before boot camp begins, so the folks have a lot of things to do.  We are disappointed that we lost a vacation day, but it could have been a lot worse.   

Friday morning, we move to the place where the rally is being held.  That is when we think it will be crazy!  BOL!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Wonders Who Cleans Up The Horse Poo That They Leave On The Road

A Whirlwind Tour Of Iowa - Part 2

The folks visited the Amana Colonies on Sunday.  The Amana Colonies are a group of settlements of German Pietists in Iowa, comprising seven villages.  For eighty years they maintained an almost completely self-sufficient local economy, importing very little. The Amanians were able to achieve this independence and life style by adhering to the specialized handcrafts and farming occupations which they had brought with them from Germany.

The folks began their visit by eating at Ronneburg Restaurant. Mama expected the lines to be long because Maifest was being celebrated at the Amana Colonies, but they only had to wait about 15 minutes.

Music was played for diners.

Mama ordered Weiner Schnitzel which is veal and it was served with Spaetzle, a German type of noodle.

Dad ordered the sausage platter which had a variety.

The food is served family style. They had coleslaw, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cottage cheese, pickled beets, sauerkraut, stuffing, vegetables and bread.

 The folks said the food was really good. This was Mama's third time having German food.  Her Great Grandparents came from Germany, but she did not eat in a German restaurant until last year. She even liked the stuffing and normally she hates stuffing.  I cannot tell you how the food tasted because leftovers were not brought home!

After the folks ate lunch, they shopped at some of the stores.  They bought bacon, German mustard and popcorn.  I will give you a full report on the bacon later this week after I try some.  BOL!

There were carriage rides.

The leather shop?  Mama can't remember now.

There were dancers.

 Mama said she enjoyed visiting the Amana Colonies, but it was very crowded due to Maifest.  The stores were all crowded, so it was hard to shop.  They have cheese shops, wine shops, general stores, meat store, coffee house, various gift shops, etc. and that was just in the small section they visited.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Anxious To Try The Amana Bacon

A Whirlwind Tour Of Iowa - Part 1

We left Missouri yesterday and arrived at our new campground outside of Iowa City, IA yesterday afternoon.  Our campground is small, but nice and quiet.  It is a family owned business that opened in 1988.  The owner planted each and every tree as this was a pasture from their family farm.  Sadly, the husband died in 2010 and his wife and daughter just sold the property.  The campground will close next month.

The office building was built (in 1988) from parts of one of the old barns on the family farm.

Our site.

Back view of our site.

This is not a great picture, but there is a maze in tall grasses.  It is really fun to walk through.

The folks visited the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.  Mama bought the Passport To Presidential Libraries today.  It is like the Passport to National Parks which she already has.  You get it stamped when you visit the Presidential libraries.  Now, they are going to have to go back to get them stamped at the four they visited before today. BOL!  It will be easy to get Truman's and Eisenhower's, but the Bushs' may be more difficult because we don't know when we will be in that area again. Once you have it filled up, you receive a crystal paperweight as your prize.  The folks did a passport camp program in Missouri many years ago and had a fun time doing it. 

The folks enjoyed the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. Mama said she learned a lot.  Did you know that he didn't collect any pay while he was in office?  Instead of having a regular inauguration party, the party raised money for charities.  He and his wife actually donated over $450,000 to charities while he was in office. Pretty amazing.  He was always giving back to people.  Unfortunately, the stock market crashed just months into his term and people blamed him and called him a bad President.

 

 The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library 

He and his wife, Lou, are buried up the hill from the library.

His childhood house is located near the library.

Herbert Hoover's childhood home.

Hoover's Father's Blacksmith Shop

The grade school that he attended.

He was a Quaker and this was the meeting place.

On top on the hill is where he is buried.  It can be seen from his boyhood home.

The folks left the Hoover area and drove to the Amana Colonies.  I will tell you about that tomorrow.

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Thinks Iowa Is Pretty Nice

Has Someone Turned Back Time?

Our campground has been invaded by the Midwest Gampers!  It looks like someone has turned back time.  This is a fun group!  They really know how to decorate their sites.  We look so boring compared to them.  They are very friendly too.  Scout and I have gotten a lot of attention.

Love the chairs!

This is a new camper that looks old.  We talked to the lady who owns it for quite a while this morning.

 

Scout is feeling much better.  She was sick for about 12 hours, but seems fine now.  We took a walk through the woods and saw a turkey.

Do you see him?  He is the black thing in the at the end of the path.

  

We are hitting the road and starting our three week vacation.  We probably will not be around as much as Mama says we are going to be really busy.  We will take lots of photos and will post when we can.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Going On A Long Vacation!