The end of a long week

Taken from their website - a great place for a great brew

Moving Gabe and Melissa to their new home was a stark reminder of how much stuff we use to own and how glad we are that now all the stuff we own is in one 30ft fifth wheel and truck. We were going to rent a trailer but when we got there and looked at the size I knew if we did that, it would be multiple trips and it is a 4 hour drive one way. They had one of their larger trucks available if we could get it back by morning. Though it would cost significantly more we decided one trip sounded better, so off we went with a large U haul truck. We started at Melissa’s house and by the time we got her stuff into the truck we knew we had made the right choice, these kids have a lot of stuff, and most of it was at Gabe’s. Gabe has quite a few large pieces of furniture from our last house and the rental house he was in is old and getting those pieces out was a challenge. It took more than 6 hours, but the four of us got the truck packed and were lucky we could get the door shut. We didn’t pile things a high as we could have but we didn’t think it would fill up that quickly and I’d say the truck was still 3/4 full. We were exhausted but still had to drive 4 hours and then unload and drive back. We left CR about 3 pm, the drive was uneventful and by 7 pm we were unloading. Luckily unloading always goes faster. We had it all out by 9 pm and were on the road again by 9:30. I brought the camera to take a few photos but because of the time and exhaustion I didn’t even get one photo. I’ll have to do that when we visit. It is really a nice place and perfect for them. As for these old folks, we arrived home around 2 am after dropping off the truck and next time they move they are on their own (at least I say that now).

The beer garden - also from their website

Thursday was a recovery day. We did next to nothing; only ventured out to get groceries. Friday we were supposed to take the trailer to the dealer and get the slides adjusted and then on to the RV park in Amana , Iowa. Next week there is an Excel rally there and we are looking forward to it. Well those plans had a slight change as well. Thursday morning watching the news we found out Dubuque, Iowa where our dealer is had over 12 inches of rain in 24 hours (the final total was 16 in.). The flash flooding was massive. In the afternoon we called the dealer, it took quite awhile to get through. They and been hit hard and the flood water was just feet from there office and they had lost several trailers. Luckily our repairs can wait and we told them we would call next week to see how they were doing. We pray for all the people there that have lost so much, so unexpectedly. Mother Nature has really been taking a toll on so many this year. Some may disagree but I truly believe climate change is upon us.

A great area band - love their logo

We did get the rig down to Amana. The park is really just a big field with hook ups but we knew that. The nice part is this is the first FHU park we have been in all summer so I get to use my own shower, yipeeeeeeee!!!! Once settled we road the bikes into town and down to the Millstream Brewing Company, Iowa’s oldest microbrew. We have been here many times and the beer is great. What we didn’t realize was the RAGBRAI (Iowa bike across the state) was coming through on the way to Coralville for the night. If you don’t know about this event, it is a week long ride of about 500 miles and really is a traveling party of over 10,000 bike riders. The upside for us was that Millstream had the band Dogs on Skis playing in their beer garden. This is a great cover band, so what a way to end a crazy week but with good brew and good music. Ahhhh.......

The group from their website

Happy Trails...........................