Fun weekend in SE Iowa

This last week was super busy for us.   We made the decision to remove the house from FSBO and interview realtors.  So this last week, we contacted three realtors and arranged for them to review our house as we have had it staged and then question them on their marketing strategy.  Two were very similar, but the third really stood out on her progressive and technical marketing ideas.  We went with the third one.  She made four recommendations for some changes we should make before we go forward.  So in addition to getting ready for the Airstream rally, we would be leaving for on Thursday, we also worked on a couple of the changes.

After meeting with the realtor on Thursday afternoon to confirm we would be listing with her upon our return, we set out about 5:15 for southern Iowa.  The Iowa unit would be holding their Fall Festival rally at the Heartland Christian camp in Birmingham, IA.  It was quite dark when we arrived about 8:30.  Our host, Paul, came and directed us into the site where we had requested full hook-ups.  We were the only ones which had, but I am glad we had them since we have such small tanks on our '74'.  We then joined a few couples enjoying a nice campfire.  

After about an hour visiting, we called it a night.  The next day was a free day as most of the other attendees would still be arriving.  The areas' small villages hold fairs, crafts booths, food vendors and other displays on this weekend along with garage sales and fleas markets.  Friday wasn't crowded as we drove the back roads, as set up prep was still going on. We had breakfast at the "Cup and Cake" in Keosaqua before driving around.  Check it out, it's a nice bakery for a small town.  We stopped in Cantrel at the Dutchman's store, an Amish grocery store that I have to visit when we are in the area.  We also checked out the Lacey-Keosaqua State park, where they were setting up for the Buckskinner Rendezvous.  After driving around the state park campground we determined that it was not appealing to us, so we would not put it on our list of campgrounds we like.   After visiting a few more of the small towns we headed back to camp to join the arrivals for supper.  

The next day after breakfast with the group, it was again a free day to explore on our own.  Us along with two other couples decided our first stop would be the Cattlemen's dog trials.  We watched for about 45 minutes, but the sitting area was so far back from the action it was impossible to hear and not the easiest to see all the action, so we decided to head over to the Buckskinners Rendezvous. 

The Rendezvous wasn't nearly as big as previous ones we have attended, but it was enough to hold our attention for about an hour.  Next we headed to Bentonsport but it was such a mad house and had huge crowds, which I do not enjoy, so we kept driving.  

Finally we headed back to camp to relax and visit with others.  In the evening it was the installation of the new officers for the unit, after another joint meal.  Afterwards we enjoyed another nice camp fire and visit.  

Sunday we headed to Ledges State park just south of Boone, IA. Our future home town, once we get our new house built, hopefully next year.  It was Dan's birthday, so we wanted to spend some time with him and Steph, along with Mary.  After a delicious meal at Red Lobster, we headed back to camp for another fire with cake and s'mores.  

Monday was running a few errands around Ames and then we had a nice lunch with Steph and had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with her.  We don't get to do that often enough.   We broke camp and headed out exactly at 3 pm, check-out time.   

So all in all a very enjoyable weekend in Iowa.  Colors are out a bit, but not as brilliant as I had hoped.  That's ok, God's handiwork is always beautiful!!!!

This is our site at Ledges from the back.  We will definitely stay there again.  

Now it's time to winterize.  Who knows though, it might be coming out of storage for us to live in if we sell the house soon.  If so, somewhere warm is where we will head.   :)

Help needed!

Dear friends, family, and readers of this blog,  I would very much appreciate your help.  

We have our home in Cedar Falls Iowa for sale on ForSalebyOwner.com  It's a great house, lots of room, very spacious with an open concept. Five bedrooms, three bathrooms, huge yard and three car attached garage. 

Please tell your friends, associates or family who may be moving to this area to give us a call and check out a great house at a reasonable price!! 

Iowa Barn Tour

It was a wonderful day with good friends despite the rain, rain, rain. 

The Iowa Barn Foundation was founded in 1997 in order to give matching grants to property owners to restore their historic barns.  This is the only group of its kind in the USA.  Each year a tour is conducted  to encourage barn preservation in the state and to teach young people about Iowa's agricultural heritage.  (Though we didn't see any young people on the tour yesterday, just us old folks). 

The first barn we toured was the most impressive, though the barn was nicely restored; it was the grounds around the barn that were so outstanding.  There was also a restored granary which the owner used as a guest house for visiting grandchildren to hang-out away from the adults.   The barn is called the Gribble Barn and is a Czech barn which has always been in the family.  It is used each year for barn dances.

The Gribble Barn

 



 

The Granary

 

Inside the Granary.

 



The house

 

A few of the yard decorations

 

 

Due to the heavy rain each time we stopped I do not have pictures of all the barns we toured yesterday which were eight of them spread around NE Iowa near Decorah, Hesper, Ft. Atkinson, Waukon, and Waterville. It was a fun and unusual way to spend a day, but if you have an interest in farming, history or old structures I would definitely recommend the trip.  The state is divided up in to eight sections with numerous barns in each section, though some sections of the state have more preserved barns than others.

Restored milking shed

 

 

 

A neat old house and milking shed on another property

 





 

 

 

So these are pictures of only three of the properties we visited, but hopefully give you an idea of what you will see if you want to attend the tour next year.  I would recommend it. 

 

To further enhance our fun day, we stopped for breakfast at Ruby's in Decorah.  Great food!!!  Two of us had Eggs Benedict which was great, one of us had corn beef hash and the last had liver and onions.  Guess who that was?   :)

 

Since the last barn we visited was on the Minnesota border we decided to drive north to Lanesboro and have dinner there at a nice quaint restaurant that sits alongside the Root River and the bike path that runs alongside the river.   It is called the Riverside on the Root.  I would highly recommend it. 

 

I had Grilled Walleye with garlic mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables with White Bean soup beforehand. The guys had Prime Rib and Jane had Chipotle Glazed pork. They all had salads.  She said the pork glaze had a heat that built up as she ate it, though she did enjoy it.  The meal was a very enjoyable end to a great day despite the constant rain. 

 

So if you like old barns we all recommend you consider picking the area in Iowa you would like to tour and enjoy a fall day next year.

 



 

 

 

 

 







 

Fun at the Farm

Had a fun weekend with friends! They own a farm north of CF, and every year they clear old trees and have a huge bonfire.  People bring their ATVs and ride the trails through the woods; it is a fun way to spend a beautiful fall day! 

Here some pictures of Dave as he takes a ride by himself. 

Here's the fire, whoa did it burn hot!

A triumphant start.  LOL.  :)

It was a fun time and an absolutely beautiful day!   Thanks for inviting us Harvey and Jane!

Vermont Trip

Pamela, her dogs, Ringo, Rocky and Ralfie and me with Nacho arrived in Stowe, VT at 1:15 a.m. on Sunday morning September 7.  Pamela and I met up in Williamsburg, IA on Friday afternoon and hit the road.  We had so much fun driving together and chatting away as we hadn't seen each other for a year.  By the time we arrived, we just fell into bed and slept until mid-morning since we didn't need to have our EZ up or xpens set up until later in the afternoon when Camp Gone to the Dogs officially started at 3 p.m.

CGTTD's has their own chef to prepare all the meals, which were very good.  Meals were always one of the highlights of the day as we knew we would be having something delicious.  After each evening meal, they would make announcements about evening or next days' events and campers would submit their "strokes" to be read to the group.  A stroke is a compliment to another camper, a dog or the instructors. Usually they were written by the dog and were quite funny.

Since I had took Nacho only this year, I decided to concentrate on just a few disciplines instead of rushing to event to event. (They have about 30 different choices).  This was our daily schedule:

8 a.m. - jump chute (this was a good way to burn off early morning energy so he could concentrate on his skills in agility class later)  Jump chute consists of 5 hurdles within a closed-in area or run; the instructor will hold the dog on one end and the owner is on the other end.  The owner does a come call and the dog races over the hurdles to be rewarded and sent back to jump the hurdles again on the way back to the instructor.  Nacho was so funny, he would get to me, and immediately turn around and race back to Mayuki and then turn around and race back to me.  After about 5 loops, we had to stop him as he was getting tired but would have kept right on running as he loves doing the jump chute.

9:30 a.m. - Beginner Agility which was a progressive class and each day the dog and owner would learn a new obstacle or sequence.  Each day was interesting as the instructor would give tips and advise on taking your dog through each obstacle and how to successfully maneuver the course.  There is so much to know about handling your dog and communicating by hand signal and voice command to help them to know where you want them to go.  This year was so much fun as something really clicked in my brain this year and I am starting to really understand how to interact with Nacho.  Here's a few pictures:

Coming out of a tunnel and heading toward the A frame

 

 

Through the tire

 

Holding at the jump

 

Over the jump

 

 

 

Going up the A Frame

A good angle of a jump

 



Fierce determination for the tire   :)

 



We  had all extremes of weather from cold and dry, to hot and extremely humid to rain, rain, rain.  This is what Nacho looked like after running his course on a raining day:

At 11 a.m. we participated in Intermediate Focus and Skills class where we concentrated on how my actions, signals and body position effects the dogs performance and how he runs the course and responds to me.  This class made a huge difference in how Nacho and I improved as a team this year.  The things I learnt were very valuable and made a huge difference.  No. 1 tip - the dog NEVER makes the mistake, it's the handler who messed up!!!   LOL!!!

By the time these two classes were over I was exhausted!!!  Great, because it was time for lunch!!
After lunch we had our choices of behavioral classes, lectures or crafts.  Or just resting! 

3 p.m. brought Obedience Rally which I enjoyed as I had some experience with obedience commands and work since I had completed obedience training with two of our Labs in the past years.  Since I really hadn't worked with Nacho much on obedience I was pleasantly surprised on how well he did.  The instructors encouraged me to continue with him and consider novice training and participation in Rallies locally.  I just might do that as it was fun and he responded well.

At 5 p.m. it was on to Lure coursing where a wire is laid out on a 2 acre course and a "bunny" is attached (white plastic bag) and the dog chases the bunny through the course hoping to catch the bunny.  This is another way to burn energy and most dogs love it!!!!  Last year, Nacho lost interest and never finished the course (it's a bit of a long run).  This year he loved it, as he waited for his turn, he would get so excited!!!!  He completed the course on each run and couldn't wait to take another turn.  This course is very exhausting for the little dogs, so usually one lap was enough. 

After a delicious dinner, we had our choice of lectures or an evening class.  Nacho and I participated one night in beginning scenting, which he really took to and surprised me in how well he did.   First timers start with food.  In a large ring various containers such as large or small boxes, buckets, plastic containers in various sizes are distributed around the ring.  A piece of food is hidden under one container.  The dog is brought into the ring and instructed to "find" and allowed to wander and sniff out the food item.  When he finds the food and signals where it is, he is rewarded with the food and additional treats.  As the handler you have to learn to read your dog's body language and encourage them as they search.  This is beginning training to teach a dog tracking which is used for Search and Rescue. 

Very fun, educational and tiring days!!!  Nacho and I thoroughly enjoyed our time at camp. 

If you are interested in finding out more about CGTTD, Camp Gone to the Dogs, here is the website:
CGTTD

A great big thank you to Pamela for letting me hitch a ride with her, her wonderful companionship and conversation and most of all for the wonderful little dog she sold me!!!!  We had so much fun together!!! 

We also enjoyed a couple farmer markets and a cider and maple shop during our travels along with a ferry ride across Lake Champlain. 

A great vacation!!!!  Thanks Dave for encouraging me to go!! 

Hugs and Kisses
Candy and Nacho

Pot pie anyone?

Since we haven't been traveling lately, I thought I would keep in touch by sharing some recipes.  Everyone knows I love to cook and I  sure have been doing a lot of it since returning home from our trip.  But, sadly all of my cookbook collection is already in storage, so I have been using the few books I left out and websites.

Tonight's dish is courtesy of
 http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

Chicken Pot pie; I used her recipe but played with it a bit by adding mushrooms to the veggies, leaving out the cream and not using an egg wash.  
I also added some garlic and

some smoked paprika.  Also, I used my secret crust recipe
( you know in the red box).  :)

 

 Here it is ready for the oven.

 

So check out the recipe and her website, if you never have, as it is

quite entertaining.  I usually get a good laugh, which is pleasant as

you can never have too much laughter.  

 

The pot pie passed Dave's taste test, so it's Dave approved.   :)

 

Have a good weekend!!



Nothing happening

Yes, that's about it around here.  Well truthfully Dave is keeping busy, sending bid requests out to different sub-contractors for bids on the new house.  If we ever get around to building it, which now looks like April 2014 before we can start as our builder Jeff needs an answer by 30 August if we want to start building in September.  Since we don't have an offer let alone a closing date, I seriously doubt we will make that time line. Sure hope it sells by February or March!!!!!

Let me see if I can remember what has been happening around here for the last couple weeks.  Our daughter came home a couple weekends ago and we went for a long (for me) bike ride.  We had fun together and a good workout.  If you ever get to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, bring your bikes because there are over 80 miles of bike paths in the area.   She and I did a bit over 9 miles, so I was pleased.  Here's our route:

 

It was cool with the shade on the route we took, which is nice for a hot day.

Next, this last weekend, dear and long-time friends came up for the weekend.  Since it is a recognized fact that this area doesn't have a lot of choices for entertainment, we were limited to taking them to a Antique Tractor/Thresher show at Antique Acres in rural Cedar Falls.  Whoa, exciting I know!!!!  It is a very small version of the Thresher Reunion held every year in Mount Pleasant, IA.  Maybe, someone has heard of that, (I won't be surprised if you haven't).  :)    My girlfriend was laughing that she grew up on a farm, but had never seen a tractor pull and didn't know what a thresher was; well now she does and has seen one.  

Part of the afternoon's entertainment was a parade, so here's a few pictures:

 

 

Silly me, I didn't even take a picture of a thresher!!  I sure thought this old truck and old teardrop trailer was pretty neat though!!!!

We had a good visit and time to catch up on each other's lives.  It's so nice getting together with long time friends!!! 

That's about it from here.  This week we are replacing the carpeting in the house, with hopes that having new carpeting will bring on an offer.  The house is pretty move in ready, with the entire home being freshly painted including the garage, now new carpeting and due to hail damage a new roof and gutters. 

Thanks for checking in and will update again soon.  I should have lots more to post as Nacho and I will be heading for Vermont to "Camp Gone to the Dogs" with our friend Pamela and three of her dogs.  It should be a fun time, so check back for updates from camp.  

Hugs to all!

Biking along the Great River Road

Friday, August 2, we headed out to Thomson Causeway, a Corp of Engineer campground along the Mighty Mississippi in Illinois. 

We arrived in the late afternoon and got set-up at the campground.  Just as we finished up my brother and sister-in-law arrived.  After they got set up, we decided to have a simple supper of roasted hotdogs and mac & cheese.  Seriously, what's camping without hotdogs!!???  Right?

We had an enjoyable evening sitting around the campfire and catching up until the mean, nasty mosquitoes had to start attacking me!!!  Off to bed we went with plans to go for a bike ride after breakfast.

My son should be so proud of me, we did approximately 15 miles or a bit more on our ride from Thomson to Fulton. I wasn't sure how I would do but obviously with the walking I have been doing and the stationary bike has helped a bit as I handled the ride just fine!!!  Yeah me!!!!  :)

A much needed stop at Dollar General was needed because I always forget something when I load the trailer, even when I make a list.  So everything on my list was packed, I was thinking good job Candy!  Only to realize on Saturday morning I forgot to pack underwear!!!!  Gee!!!!  But my dear sister-in-law informed me that she was sure the Dollar store would carry Ladies Hanes and whoo, she was right!!!  Thanks Chris!!!  :)  LOL!!!!

Then my sister and her family, my parents and brother and my niece and her hubby and new little boy arrived for our evening cookout.  It was so nice to have all of them drive up for the afternoon and having the opportunity to see them.  Thanks for coming!!!

The next morning after a leisurely breakfast we headed out going north out of Thomson.  The ride was along a back county road and not nearly as scenic as the bike path, so after just a couple miles we made the decision to head back into Thomson and check out the bike shop.  Good thing, as about 3 blocks from the shop my bike broke!!!  Actually, the chain came off the track and neither Dave or Kevin could get it fixed.  Chris rode up to the shop and called the number on their door; they said they would open in just a few minutes.  So up to the shop we went with Kevin carrying my bike for me.  Thanks brother!!!  It only took a few minutes and the owner had it fixed and adjusted so hopefully it won't jump off track again.   Well, this particular bike shop is known for recumbent bikes, so we just couldn't leave until we learned a bit about them and of course tried a few out.   I thought I would like them, but have riding one, I'm happy to say I am quite satisfied with mine.

After a lunch of leftovers and more river viewing, we packed up to head home.  Another great weekend!!!  

Better late than never

Last week, we took a drive to Decorah, Iowa with friends and had a great time as usual with them.   We had lunch upon arriving at the Angry Pickle; they had decent sandwiches so we all walked away full, no need for dessert.   :)

After walking around and viewing a few shops, we headed to our ultimate destination, "Seed Savers".   This was a first time visit for them and a second visit for us.  Walking through their gardens and inspecting all the variety of plants, both vegetable and flowers was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. 

I'm including a few pictures:

Vegetable garden plot at front entrance

Spider Flower

Another garden

Chicken house

Love these, want some planted at the new house when it is finally built!

 

 

After a short drive to view the orchard section and the greenhouses, we headed to Whippy Dip for ice cream, yum!  Great end to the day. Then off to home we headed with plenty of conversation to make the trip back go fast.

 

If you ever get to the Decorah area, check out Seed Savers, even for a non-green thumber, like myself it is very pleasant, educational and you will walk away wanting to plant many things in your yard.   :)

 

Thanks Friends for a wonderful time!!!