Iowa in August 2008, Part III

I woke up t0 56 degree weather on August 17.... 62 degrees by noon - will need a sweater to set outside in the breeze! My Favorite Thing! Another terrific day -- a little rain and some "above the ground" tornadoes in the area late in the afternoon. Lots of wind in the early evening.

The picture was taken by the Marshalltown Times Republican newspaper. These 'rope' tornadoes come in groups -- guess they don't like to travel alone!

Woke up on August 19 to someone on the radio talking about the Big Treehouse in Marshalltown. Sorry I missed what they had to say -- the greater Des Moines Tourism group was discussing things to do during a "Stay-cation" in the Des Moines area. So many vacations have been shortened due to fuel prices. The popularity of the Treehouse is amazing.

Started making breakfast and no propane! Damn! Hate it when that happens first thing in the morning! Well, considering I didn't crawl out of bed until nearly 9AM, I guess it was BRUNCH! I mess with propane so seldom, I'm always glad when I can remember how to flip tanks. I really need to take a magic marker and mark my tanks so I know which direction is open and which is closed. I should develop a little 'propane check list' for such things. I have a check list in this RV for everything else!

The park is almost full again -- still a lot of road and construction crews. New neighbor moved in with a 5th wheel -- moving back to the area from Bolulder, Colorado. Heavens! Can't imagine moving here from Boulder! Of course, this is where his family is.

I finally took my ice maker out of the box and plugged it in -- I'd heard the horror stories about the noise they make. I was surprised. It was on the picnic table right next to me; I was reading. Other than the sound of the water moving from the reservoir up to the ice maker, the noisiest part of the cycle was the clunking of the cubes into the plasic holding basket. Of course, I wasn't making big cubes. I put it on the smallest size cubes so it would cycle through quicker and I could make sure it was working.

I think I could tolerate the ice maker inside. Not really any need for me to keep it running since I'm not having wild parties and I don't have a big family. Now I need to find a place for it to "live." Of course, I still haven't found a place for the grill to "live" -- what's the hurry! As soon as I get the truck back, that problem will be solved!

Forgot to do the dishes before I went to bed so had those to do in the AM -- of course, just me and the critters -- there aren't many dishes. I had all the critter dishes to wash before I could feed them. They were not happy having to wait. Coffee is made so I guess the day has sarted.

Going to try using my electric grill as an oven -- picked up some ground ham at the market the other day to make ham salad -- then, I decided to make a ham loaf. My sister brought me some really nice tomatoes and banana peppers that her friend Jan had sent to me. A ham loaf is the perfect place for them! I enjoy grilled vegetables, so I'll put some of them on at the same time. If I can figure this 'oven' thing out, it will save heating up the RV with the oven.

Bea came by on the 19th with chicken sandwiches....just enjoy visiting with her and being outside -- that's what picnic tables and sisters are for!

August 20th - great news today! I may have a truck in a few days. The engine work is complete and they just have to check the rattle in the rear end. YIPPEE! Bet Cathy's dad wishes he had never sold me that truck -- two accidents, engine and rear end problems! That was his baby -- he maintained that thing like a gem.....then Helen got ahold of it!

I haven't been out and about sight seeing -- wonder if I would have done more if I had brought my scooter - probably not. I have the scooter lift on the back of the RV since I cannot tow the RV with the lift on the truck. But when I wanted to go somewhere and take the scooter, I would have to move the lift to the truck and hook up the electric -- then move it back to the RV to hit the road. It may be more trouble than it is worth. Will have to work on that.