Iowa Bound

 We don't usually drive to Iowa during August - in fact, I have a note in my day-timer that reads:  Don't go to Iowa in August - it's hot and humid and there are chiggers!   HA!  SO what do we do this year?  Of course, we drive to Iowa in August!

But there was a reason behind this - Teri was flying in from Michigan and what better way to get the 3 sisters together than to head to Iowa so we could spend time with them!  We left on a Tuesday morning - hit 8 different construction zones on the way out - and the decision was made that we MUST be getting older doing this drive as it gets harder every year!  I even brought lunch so we could eat at a rest area and not take the time to get fast food, hoping it wouldn't take us 11 1/2 hours to get there - no luck - it STILL took us that long with all the construction!

But everything was nice and green out and we had some cloud cover so that always helps!  AND I located a Scooters Coffee in Ogallala so I didn't have to wait until Kearney to get my coffee - that was a plus!  Anyway, we rolled into Patty's and it was great to see everyone!

After a couple of wonderful tasting dips and drinks, Jim and Brenda stopped by so we visited with them and almost forgot to eat dinner!!  Leonard and Patty have been working on finishing off their basement and had one bedroom almost completely done and that's where Glenn and I slept - it was nice and cool down there and we slept great!

Wednesday was busy!  We all headed up to Don and Nadine's that morning - it's always so good to see them and they're both doing well in their 90's!  We talked and talked!

Patty had brought a cherry coffeecake up and Nadine had her yummy oatmeal cookies so we enjoyed more visiting during coffee time!  It's always fun to hear their stories!

We relaxed back at Patty's house for a while before Glenn and I left to head to Onawa - we went to Geri and Carl's house for dinner with the local relatives and were surprised as ever when we walked in and saw Dusty, Glenn's brother whom we hadn't seen for 15 years!!  Glenn and him talk on the phone but just hadn't seen each other!  Dusty has a new wife, Janis.

It was fun to catch up with Nedelle who is switching colleges and now has a boyfriend!!  Neal's were there and Chance and Maggie are BOTH taller than me and already into sports for the fall season!  Sherry and her guy Gary were there - I sat with them at dinner and enjoyed visiting with them!

Love this picture of Nedelle, Chance, Glenn and Maggie!!

And the whole crew!  Carl and Geri, Sherry and Gary, Becky and Glenn, Janis and Dusty!

After saying our goodbyes to Nedelle and Neals' family, we headed over to the local nursing home where Glenns' sister Deanna is - she is doing fairly well and we enjoyed visiting and hearing stories from all of them growing up - always fun to reminisce about those memories!

We were both exhausted by the time we got back home so we didn't stay up very late that night!

To be cont'd...