Summer Vacation

Iowa

 

 

Dallas Center, Iowa could be called our second home town.
We have never lived there nor have any particular call to move there
yet it always seems like a second home to me.

It's probably due to all the good memories and lovely
relatives that come from that area.

 

 

 

 

Uncle Wilbur and Aunt Kate were our gracious hosts.

 

Uncle Wilbur's hobbies are horses, wagons, and making
hay the old fashioned way.

He treated everyone to a wagon ride.

 

First, Tiana helped him hitch the team up to the wagon.
She was very brave and rode the horses down to the wagon shed.
(Remember, this is the girl that was scared to death of animals four years ago.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loren Reed's family stopped by on their way home
so they joined the group in the wagon.

 

 

While they were out for their drive, I continued to tackle our piles of laundry.



 

Soon my friend Brenda, and some of her children, arrived for a few hours.

We had a good time visiting and soon the wagon group arrived

back home, along with my aunt Mary Sue, and we all had lunch together.

 

Our afternoon was spent at a park that surrounds a reservoir.
This is where the aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered for supper. 

 

 

The water feature was a nice place to cool off.

 

We finished off the day with a long walk along the High Trestle Trail.

This is where the trains carrying coal crossed Iowa on their
way to the Mississippi River.

 

 

 

 

One afternoon this group

 

 

 

 went to Des Moines to the...

 

where we spent a couple of hours of purposefully playing around.

 

 

 

 

 

When we exited, the skies looked very ominous, and by the time we
pulled out of the parking garage there was a massive deluge.

Aunt Kate was very glad she had not pre-purchased tickets for the baseball
game that night since it would now be cancelled.

 

Our time in Iowa was filled with family, friends, and fun
but it was time to head further east to experience life along the
Mississippi River.