Blogs from Iowa, United States, North America
Day 2 - Orientation then hit the road to South Dakota
Published: May 13th 2012North America » United States » Iowa » Forest City
May 12th 2012
Up early to get things ready to roll. The Winnebago factory sent over coffee and danishes for everyone to the orientation center. We watched the maditory 25 minute video and then met with one of the staff to get our ignition key. Took some pics and WE'RE OFF! First stop was in Fairmont, MN at Wal-Mart to stock up. I made a long list prior to today and decided to split it up into 3 lists so we could get out of there faster. Greg, Joe, and Mark and I each took our assigned lists and hit the store. We gathered all our items and got of there in 20 minutes. The trick is finding a place to stow everything so it won't crash on the floor while driving. Several things could be stored outside underneath ... read more
April 16th 2012
Well - we spent today trying to get ready for our trip> Planned our itinerary, made hotel reservations and bought our train tickets. We are planning to spend a couple of days in London - seeing the sights ... and this time I will go on teh London Eye. Mom says she doesn't mind ferris wheels .. and that is good, becuase I bought her a ticket too! We are going to use the Original Tour Company to tour the prime spots in London - the tower, Westminster Abbey. Dave has us staying at the flagship Marriott neat Hyde Park for the first couple of days. We also hope to make it out to Hampton Court - a great tour, and then to eitherCanterbury and Dover or Salisbury and Stonehenge ... we can decide once we ... read more
October 27th 2011
*walking tour of the universities natural history museum to see the giant sloth *lunch at Oasis Falafel with Caleb's good friends *strolled around the farmers market *picked up treats at the Co-Op grocery store *listened to Caleb's dad play Jazz in mall at Eldorado Mexican restaurant *talked music, gnomes and culture at Caleb's friend Clancy's house *Pub crawl and tortillas on Wed. night with Tucker Klein and Caleb Bissel Long 1st day ... read more
October 11th 2011
I have wanted to go to Villisca, Iowa and visit what is called the Ax Murder House for several years. It is widely believed to still be haunted by the ghosts of the eight people that were killed there and on occasion a figure that is believed to be the murderer makes its presence known. Now I will get my chance to visit the site of the heinous murders that to this day remain unsolved. A Little History of the Murders Sometime after midnight on July 10, 1912, six members of the Moore family and two young girls that were spending the night with the Moores were brutally murdered by an unknown person with an ax. The attack was brutal and the crime scene had been contaminated by a lot of people going through the house ... read more
September 25th 2011
I am heading home as of yesterday. I dropped Denise off at the Denver Airport and headed home by way of Rt 26 to 80. I will take 80 all the way, with some slight deviations now and again. Should take 3 or 4 days to get there. No pictures today, I can't believe it, but I just drove at 75 mph and had to keep my eyes on the road. I did stop at a prarie museum but it would have taken at least 3 hrs to go through so I will so that on another trip west. I am actually in Shelby, Iowa and lost an hour today so I am a little behind with getting dinner and straightening the camper. Love to all... read more
September 5th 2011
After spending 3 days with my family in Indiana being wined and dinned to celebrate all our Sept birthdays it is off to Iowa today. The weather has turned cooler and is a profound relief from the heat of the last few days. It is 40 degrees cooler! I decided to take a secondary road to hook up with Rt 74 and was pleasantly surprised at the short time it took and the scenery I was able to enjoy. It was like going back in time in rural Americana with small farms and blink and you miss em towns. The wind was very strong but was coming from my back quarter so it was not blowing me sideways all the time. It sure was tricky passing trucks but I got the hang of it and ... read more
September 1st 2011
Drove 650 miles in the first 24 hours. Spent our first night in a Walmart parking lot. Reached my cousin's home by evening of day one. Had a wonderful time with them. Celebrated Garrett's (dad) birthday, played with the children, then resumed our driving. Barb did well behind the wheel, maggie adjusted to the road and we escaped accidents and injuries. Having a great time.... read more
August 11th 2011
Hello! Well, a week from today I'll be at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, starting my on-the-road travels. We're doing an expansion there (i.e. starting a new colony of Delta Chi), so I'll be doing a lot of recruiting and holding meetings/doing presentations all over campus. I'm the Public Relations lead on this expansion team with three other guys, so it'll definitely be a good time. I'll be there for about three weeks before I begin my normal chapter visits. For those whom I haven't shown my schedule, here it is: - Aug. 17-Sept. 10 – Eastern Illinois (Expansion) - Sept. 13-15 – Gannon - Sept. 16-18 – Behrend - Sept. 20-23 – Montclair - Sept. 24-26 – Hobart - Sept. 28-30 – Syracuse - Oct. 1-3 – Hamilton - Oct. 6-8 – Gorham State ... read more
Lou Goes to DC 2011.......Day 12
Published: September 2nd 2011North America » United States » Iowa » Burlington
August 10th 2011
I was in 5 different States yesterday, starting in Ohio, briefly visiting Kentucky, drove across Indiana and Illinois and slept in Iowa. I had purposely diverted to the Cincinnati area because I wanted to meet Noah, (of Ark fame!). Actually it was because the builder of my HD-NLE computer (aka The Juggernaut) was ADK, or Advanced Design of Kentucky, located just a few miles south of Cinci in a town called Alexandria. I awoke to cloudy skies and wet leather as I was only partially successful in drying everything out in my hotel room, but I put everything on and headed south. Despite ADK’s reputation and the quality of the their products you’d never know it from their location. Main street in Alexandria is about 15 feet wide, very twisty, their shop is an old Mexican ... read more
August 6th 2011
Left St. Louis around 11am. Had the usual continental breakie and gassed up the 'beast'. As St.Louis borders two states, we had left Missouri and were back in Illinois within around ten miles. Felt weird to be back in the state where we began this massive tour! Headed north through Springfield, which has a wonderful lake, but no yellow people called Simpson! On through Peoria, we stopped in 'Kickapoo' for lunch and fuel! Love that name! We could now stop whenever we wanted, as the eastern temperature was much cooler now. (a bit like a great summers day in Scotland!) Within four or five hours we passed the state line into Iowa: Cornfields everywhere! We had reached a place called Davenport, part of 'Quad cities', which is four cities in close proximity, sharing the Mississippi river. ... read more
