A Birthday and a Bug

Monday October 3, 2011
Millpoint Park
Peoria, Illinois

 

First thing I did today was to call my father to wish him
 
HAPPY 91 ST BIRTHDAY. 

He sounded great!
Unfortunately he can’t see to
read this but I know he’d love it if he could. 
And anyone who reaches 91 in such great health
should get a shout out!
His health is excellent other than the macular degeneration
which has sadly impacted his quality of life
to a very great extent. 
But He has no high blood pressure,
no high cholesterol and is in great shape. 
Last year on this date  we were with him in Largo Florida
having a Happy Birthday Party.
Here it is if you want to see what you have to
look forward to at 90.
See 2010 Birthday Blog

 

That was definitely the best thing that happened this morning.
Within an hour I had some
sort of intestinal bug and a fever which reached
102 degrees. 

But because I didn’t have to drive
AND
because we have a motor home,
we went on down the road
while I lay on the sofa with a blanket
and a thermometer
helping with directions.

I did manage to get up for the momentous
crossing the Mississippi going East.
First time in over 6 months we’ve been east of
the Mississippi.

 

 

and our welcome into our 2nd of three I states in a row.
The sign is all you get
“from the people of Illinois”.
We were hoping for a welcome center so we
could pick up a state map.
But not on I 74 at least.

 

 

We managed 175 miles from Iowa City
to Peoria Illinois where we pulled into
Millpoint Park on the Illinois River.

It’s about 8 miles off of I 74.
Not too far but far enough to feel remote. 
I’m anticipating
Very quiet. 
Lots of natural “night sounds”.

They have someone meet you at the gate and
guide you to your site.
In our case a great pull through.

 

This has been a family owned campground for 27 years.
It’s just what I love.   No frills, big trees,
close water, full hook ups, Passport America
for however long you want to stay.
None of this Monday through Thursday stuff.
$13 a night for 30 amps or 50 amps.

The Illinois River definitely floods and those
floods they told us have been on the increase
in the past 5 or so years,  The campground is
right on the water so it floods too and they
have done serious battle with damage but
they are winning the war.
This is one
of the most welcoming and accommodating
parks we have been in.

AND
check out this site.

 

The river is just beyond the tree line.

 

 

Home sweet Home.
Pretty sure I’ll have a swift recovery here.

 

Although mine isn’t the same virus based on
my symptoms and remembering David’s,
I’m hoping it is just a 24 hour bug too.

I’ve got some kayaking to do tomorrow.
J

Last Sunday in Iowa

Sunday October 2, 2011
Sugar Bottom Campground
Coralville COE Park
North Liberty, Iowa

 

On Sunday we had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.
Very YUMMMY and eaten too quickly for a picture!!

Thus fortified we went off to the Farmer’s Market
which is in the Recreation Center parking lot
in North Liberty from 11 to 2pm every Sunday.
I thought Iowa was a big church going state
so I was surprised at the hours.
But I guess they catch a lot
of folks on their way home from church.

When we got there, about 11:30,
there was only one vendor.
He had vegetables and his wife had baked goods.
He told us that there was some sort of festival close by today
and everyone else was over there.
Sure wish I’d gotten a picture of the smallest
farmer’s market I’ve ever seen.

 

But we did get some lovely end of the season (boo hoo) tomatoes,
some potatoes and a bag of fresh green beans.

We then went on to the grocery store
to fill in the rest of our needs
but it WAS closed on Sunday. LOL

Really beautiful day to be outside here at the lake.
I sat around reading in the warm sunshine.
Later in the afternoon I went back over to Prairie Lights
to pick up Donald Hall’s memoir,
Unpacking The Boxes,
which I’d seen on
the SERIOUS SALE table
when I was there previously to meet up with Jude.

I needed something more appealing to read
after trying over 400 pages of Songs in Ordinary Time
and just not being willing to go the distance
with all these dysfunctional people.
If any of you have read and liked this book
could you tell me what I missed, please.

.

I was very sorry I hadn’t taken my camera on this trip
since I parked around the corner  from Prairie Lights
and there were literary quotations
written in swirls in the cement sidewalk
all around decorated bronze plaques
also in the sidewalk.

Here are a couple of the plaque quotes that I particularly liked
and have been pondering.

We are all of us sentenced
to solitary confinement
inside our own skins.
Tennessee Williams
Orpheus Descending

and

We are what we Pretend to be
So we must be careful about
what we Pretend to be
Kurt Vonnegut

 

Both sides of the street had these two different types of quotations
in the side walks and at the corner, there was a
GIANT book sculpture
with open pages and print so large you could read it.
It was The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
Talk about a literary town Iowa City is apparently one.

Until I saw this, I had assumed
that the quotations were perhaps
all from writers who either attended or taught
at the famed University of Iowa’s
Iowa Writer’s Workshop
one of the premier creative writing programs in the country.

But Steig Larssen was from Sweden
so there went that theory.

But it’s fun having theories anyway isn’t it?
If we pretend to be smart and happy then
according to Kurt, we will be. 
Works for me!!

 

On the way back, on impulse, I stopped
and had a German Chocolate Blizzard.
Definitely good tasting junk food.

No junk for David, he was getting healthy while I
was consuming those chemicals.
He went out for a run on Cedar Valley Nature Trail
and took the only pictures of the day

 

Every trail here goes somewhere near the lake.

 

In case you want to do this hike, here are the rules.

BUT be careful what time of year you are here.

 

He also ran by the Frisbee golf course.
I guess we need to get official golf Frisbees
so we can play
since we have seen a fair number of these courses.

Do any of you play frisbee golf and have advice
on its “equipment”??

I don’t think pets are allowed to catch
the frisbees though probably a penalty.

 

And the bike trail

 

which had the first bike wash station
we’ve ever seen.

These engineers think of everything.

 

and the beach

 

where those same engineers are apparently
going to get to play with their toys.

I’ll leave you with a last look at Sugar Bottom’s
summer flowers.

We’ll be movin’ on tomorrow!

Following Fall’s Lead

Saturday October 1, 2011
Sugar Bottom Campground
Coralville Lake COE Campground
North Liberty, Iowa

This is my first entry for October.
It’s been several days since I’ve posted
and there are several reasons for that.
Here’s the first one.

Today we went out for a paddle on the lake.
The sun was sparkling on the water.

It was a lovely fall afternoon.
Things are just beginning to change color here
in Iowa.

It’s been just over a week since Fall Equinox
which this year was Friday September 23rd

I always mark the four quarters of the sun’s yearly rounds. 
On Equinoxes (Mid March and Mid September)
day and night are equal in length.
But after the Fall Equinox darkness will be increasing,
taking over little by little
until the Winter Solstice in mid December.

 

Each day will be a little shorter,
each night a little longer until the longest night.
And then the circle begins again.

 

Fall is a beautiful time of year
as nature winds down and prepares for winter.
She turns the grasses,
the leaves, the trees and her flowers
beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red 
as they shed what is not necessary
in anticipation of the coming dark and cold.

Time to slow down she seems to be saying.
And every year I feel this.
Slow down.
Get ready for a nap.

But working in a university for years,
my pace actually had to speed up.
Fall was the beginning of the school year.
Everything was starting, not ending.
Those with children know just what I mean.

And then gear up even more,
get prepared for celebrating holidays.

But this year, I don’t have to do that.
I can follow nature’s lead and slow down.
And that’s what I did.

I spent a few hours on the water
and hardly went anywhere.

 

The sun was warm and cozy.
Although there were few boats on the lake,
I wanted to be out of and away
from the main stream.

I paddled slowly across the lake
and down two or three inlet coves.

Beside the rocky shores.

I paddled into a marshy wetland

and saw the last of the summer’s flowers
in the shallow waters

and this interesting flora on the rocky shore.

I sat and listened and watched.

I noticed the yellow trees reflected in the water.

The last of the flowers blooming.

I took a few pictures, paddled a few strokes.
But mostly I sat and drifted and looked.
I took it all in.

I watched for a long time a
very patient heron stalking his dinner.
Slow step by slow step through the weedy wetlands.
I didn’t want to interrupt his concentration or
my solitude so I didn’t take his picture.

And when the temperatures dropped to the
point where my hands were getting cold,
I took that as a signal to paddle back to the
shore and head back to the coach.

It was a wonderful afternoon and felt so much more
“right”
than the gearing up I had to do for so many years.
Hope you are able to follow nature’s lead
and that your fall is a relaxed and slow one too