Adventures in Iowa

More family time! I got to spend almost two weeks at my mom’s house. I was able to visit with my dad every day. I got to see my niece before she went off to college at Syracuse, I was able to get some time with my nephew. A couple of days with my younger brother and sister-in-law before and after they took my niece to NY. I hadn’t seen my dad in over a year, same for my brother and his family, and I hadn’t seen my mom since January.

Aaron sent me Murphy pictures every day. When we talked each evening, I got to hear about their adventures (lots of walks, bird chasing, and bone finding), and I shared my adventures with him.

Mom and I did have some fun adventures! Mom may be retired, but she is a busy lady!

We joined members of her church filling meals to assist an international group in fighting starvation in third world countries. It was very special to be able to do something meaningful and helpful with mom.

Monday seemed like a really good day to do some tourist type stuff. It was also a really good day to visit the cemetery where my grandparents are interred. I was grateful to be able to pay them my respects. Eldon, Iowa was not too far from there and I had never been to the Gothic House. This house is featured in a world famous painting by Grant Wood titled American Gothic.

There is a museum on the property that I was excited to see. There is also a restaurant there that has wonderful (so I was told) tenderloin sandwiches. I don’t think anyone can ever make a tenderloin as good as my grandpa made, but I really wanted one! To me, that sandwich is an Iowa classic.

We made it to Eldon and the Gothic House, and the museum was closed. We were both a bit disappointed, but, I got to see the house and get a selfie or two. Since the museum wasn’t open, it was early for dinner. Mom mentioned an Amish store in a nearby town, so we headed over to see what that was about. The best description I can think of is an Amish Walmart. Groceries, clothes, furniture, sundries, shoes, material for sewing, and all sorts of other things were in abundance. It was a great place to stop.

After our shopping, it was time to go back to Eldon to get that tenderloin sandwich! Well, it was Monday, and the restaurant was closed. Mom and I just giggled and headed back towards Burlington. Mom knew that in Fairfield, where she grew up, there were a couple of restaurants that would suit our needs. One option was family style and the other was a cider pub that served food as well…

I had told mom that I really missed pizza delivery. So, after option 2 and 3 were closed, she mentioned a pizza place back in Burlington that had really good pizza. As we got closer to town, I called to place a pick-up order.

We ended up ordering 1 sausage and pepperoni pizza from a Casey’s gas station. When we got there to pick it up, they had made 1 sausage pizza and 1 pepperoni pizza. At that point, I was happy to have food, so I didn’t complain. We made it back to mom’s house and enjoyed our 5th choice of a meal.

Another evening, we want to Salem, IA to enjoy a reputedly great prime rib dinner. There was a festival in town, and the restaurant had a limited menu. No prime rib for me, but I was able to get that tenderloin sandwich. We just laughed and laughed.

My brother was planning on visiting Gettysburg on his truck to NY. Most of the national park was closed for maintenance. It must have not been our family’s week.

Overall, it was a great 2 week trip and some special time with my family. We went to high tea, unboxed my mom’s wedding dress for the first time since she was married,and I had a surprise visit with my Uncle Darrell! He had a few cancelations happening in his world and was able to make it down to Burlington for a day to spend with mom and myself. I hadn’t seen him in far too many years. It made my special visit even more wonderful. Mom and I checked out a few campgrounds in the area and kicked up dust on quite a few gravel roads.

My time was up, and I was ready to get back to my Airstream, my husband, and the dog. The day after I got back to California, we were going to head to Shasta Lake near Mt. Shasta. It was time to get back to the house on wheels and start rolling again.