Hawkeye Nation

It's been quite a week. We were in Minnesota for seven days and on every one of them spent time with our extended family. We spent time eating chicken wings on National Chicken Wing Day, with a side order of a hamburger, a dinner that Uncle Bill found quite delicious!

A day trip to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin found us in one of the largest rocking chairs we've ever seen!

Sasha was a bit miffed at being left so much of the time, so she went to never-never-land.

On Thursday, we met some friends for lunch in Hastings, Minnesota. Dave and Sue have lived in this lovely town on the banks of the Mississippi for many years. We took the opportunity to walk along the banks of the river and look back at the bridge going into town.

Where we saw a bunch of Turkey Vultures sunning themselves.

While gazing at Mississippi River Lock Number Two, we had the pleasure to see a trio of eagles! Only one hung around long enough to get a quick photo.

The new bridge across the Mississippi was preceded by a spiral bridge back in the day. It was abandoned when it was discovered that school buses could not navigate the curves. A friend of Daves has a machine shop and did the medallions that decorate the new bridge and the city riverwalk, one of which commemorates the Spiral Bridge.

On Saturday, our nephew Chuck (black shirt in the photo) and his lovely wife Jill (opposite Chuck) hosted a birthday party for Uncle Bill (back to camera) and his wife Linda (opposite Bill). Donna was engaged in a serious conversation with Jill while our granddaughter Hanna pretended to be interested in what the old folks were doing.

At one point in the afternoon the humidity went up along with the temp, so several of us got a little carried away trying to keep cool.

Our son, Jeff and his daughter Hanna flew back from California to enjoy the festivities. Hanna had never met this part of the family, so it was fun for all.

And of course, some knife throwing was involved!

After a huge meal of pulled pork sandwiches and a variety of salads, Bill and Linda prepared to open their gifts. Great fun with ice cream and home made cake. Ya gotta love this family!

After Saturdays birthday festivities, we spent some relaxing time in downtown Stillwater, MN, looking at Caras artwork in the Artists Guild, and even making a small purchase. Somewhere along the line, we had time to stop at Starbucks for a cool drink and discovered "Pupaccinos", a special treat for our canine friends.

Alas, our visit came to an end. We renewed friendships with our family and enjoyed them immensely. Our niece, Cara and her husband Bruce were unable to attend the birthday festivities, but they went to a great effort to see us a number of times during the week, and we appreciate it. Love them all.

Heading south out of Minnesota brought us into Iowa, home of the Hawkeyes, and corn, and soybeans, and corn.....soybeans...

And plopped us into the 3 Fingers Campground just outside of Forest City, IA. Of course, this is where Winnebago motorhomes are manufactured, and we intend to take the factory tour, but our primary reason for stopping here is to see our Florida friends, Larry and Debbie. Since meeting them some three years ago, we've managed to cross paths for a few days every summer as we both travel about the country. So Cool!

At about 7:30 in the evening a tremendous midwestern thunderstorm blew through, with lightening, thunder, and the most rain I've ever seen. Then, poof!, it was gone, leaving us with a beautiful double rainbow.

We have a couple of things to do while we're in the area, but mostly we'll enjoy our friends company. It's been a long time!