Iowa Bound

We left home at 7:15 because we needed to get gas before we picked up Keegan at 8:00 a.m.  Keegan would be taking this trip with us to see Hunter.  Hunter is taking a summer class at ISU and hadn't been home since March so we decided to make a short visit to him.

Across this bridge I-80 west leads to Iowa.

The trip to ISU Ames cannot be complete without first stopping at Iowa 80.  It is about the half-way point so we always stop to stretch our legs and get a bite to eat.  We usually spend a hour and a  half and it refreshes our bodies.

We took a different way to Ames this trip.  We turned north on I-380 to Cedar Rapids and got on US 30 which is known as the Lincoln Highway.  It was the first transcontinental highway which stretches from Astoria, Oregon to Atlantic City, New Jersey.  It is 3,112 miles which makes it the third-longest highway in the U.S.  It is a very nice four-laned highway through rolling hills of farmland.  The traffic is mild.  We like it much better than the bumper-to-bumper traffic of 18-wheelers on I-80.

This marker indicates that the Youngville Cafe (pictured below) is located on US Highway 30.

This is the Youngville Cafe

  Originally this building was built in 1931 as a roadside business with gas station and cabins and known for it classic comfort food, especially homemade pies  It was a "one-stop" business  on US 30 that travelers of that time frequented.  The business was closed in 1967 but was restored and is now run by volunteers who open it on Tuesdays for approximately two hours.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Unfortunately today is Monday so it was not open.  Maybe another trip to ISU will be on a Tuesday and we can stop.

The old style gas pump.

This is the main street of State Center, Iowa....the geographical center of Iowa and is located at the midpoint of Iowa's first railroad.  It has a population of 1,400 and the main street looks like so many other small town main streets that have been emptied by Walmarts and internet buying.

Our destination:  Iowa State University.  We arrived around 3:00 p.m.  Hunter picked us up from the motel and took us to his apartment.  Keegan will stay with him the two nights we are here.  We played a game of Crazy Cards and then we went out to eat at Wallaby's.  It was a good place to eat.  No one left there hungry.  We returned to the motel to play another game of cards.  Keegan was tired so he went to the room to rest while the three of us played cards.  The boys left for Hunter's apartment around 8:00.  They will be back her at 10:00 tomorrow.  We plan to spend the day in Des Moines touring the capitol building and a monument display in a park.  I am sure we will play at least one more game of cards!!

The Party's Over....Home We Go!

 We were on the road by 7:30 a.m.  The visit was over and we needed to get back to Illinois.  We decided to take I-75 south to Toledo, Ohio and then get on US 24 west to Illinois.  For part of the way, the road was four-laned but then it became a two-lane and the go was slower.  We had a detour which took us about 20 off track.  It was a nice drive but not one to take if you wanted to make time.  We decided that we didn't need to make time, so we took US 24 all the way to Gilman, Illinois where we got back on an interstate.  It was a nice drive.

In Toledo, Ohio, we picked up US 24 west.

A view of US 24 west.  It was a beautiful drive.  It was a change from driving interstate highways.

We arrived back at Lakeland Road around 4:00.  It was a nice visit and we were glad to be able to be a part of Aidan's graduation from high school.  

We will have two days at home for laundry and to catch our breath before we leave for a visit with Hunter at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowal

Graduation Party for Aidan

Today was a relaxing day spent with John, Katie, and Aidan.  Linda trudged off to work and the rest of us spent the day relaxing and talking.  We ate lunch at a Michigan staple; a place named Leo's Coney Island Diner.  According to their web page, Leo's is a massive part of Michigan culture.  It offers a unique mix of midwestern diner food and authentic Greek dishes.  There is one Leo's in Chicago but all the rest are in Michigan.  They have a full menu but breakfast can be had any time of the day.  Everyone chose something different.  I had the Chicago-style hot dog with kraut.  It was very good.

Linda came home at 4:00 p.m. and she and John were kitchen-bound fixing a graduation party supper for us and Linda's Aunt Mary.  It was delicious...Kentucky Fried Chicken, potato salad, baked beans, mac and cheese with bacon.  Of course, dessert was chocolate cake with strawberries on top.  John had baked the cake earlier in the day.

My piece of the graduation cake.

Aidan with his graduation gifts.  He was excited to dig into the pile.

This fall Aidan will enter a vocational program for students with disabilities.  He will be learning to be a baker.  The speciality of the class is cookies.  Linda says the class sells the cookies and the cookies have a reputation in the area for how good they are.  In case it can't be read, his shirt says "May the forks be with you."

We enjoyed the graduation party.  Linda's Aunt Mary is a funny lady who kept us in stitches of laughter all evening.  We left them a little after 8:00 p.m.  Back at the motel now.  Tomorrow we begin the eight hour trip back to Decatur.  The weather is supposed to be sunny so it should be a nice day.  We were so glad to be able to make the trip to be a part of this special time in Aidan's life.  We have seen three of our grandkids graduate from high school.  Keegan will be the last.  Then we will have Hunter's graduation from college.  Good times!

 

Graduation Day for Aidan Matthew Mulvany

 Today was a beautiful day for a graduation.  We ate breakfast at the motel and about 9:00 a.m. headed for the graduate's house.  Aidan and Linda were in school but John and Katie were  there so we spent the morning talking with them and enjoying their company.  We ate lunch at Culver's and then went back to the motel to relax and change clothes for the graduation.

Aidan attends Theodore Roosevelt High School.

This is the school.  It looks like an old, traditional school.

The invitation/ticket for the graduation.  There were approximaely 250 graduates.

 

Traditional gradution pictures before the graduation.
Mom, Aidan, John

Mom and Aidan

Mom, Aidan, Katie, Dad

Grandma and Grandpa and Aidan
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get Aidan to look at me for these pictures  Fortunately, I was able to get some candid pictures from the graduation that show him looking at me (or someone).

Aidan waiting patiently for things to begin.  We were all very proud of the way he sat quietly for a nearly two hour gradation service.

The entire class.  Notice...no one had any messages on top of their caps!

A great picture of the graduate.

Aidan Matthew Mulvany receiving his diploma.

New graduate with diploma in hand.

The lady with the red hair is Aidan's teacher.  

The day ended with a beautiful sky.  

We now have three grandchildren who have graduated from high school....one more to go!

Headed to Michigan

Hello, Michigan!  Our first trip of 2026 is to Michigan to see our grandson Aidan graduate from high school.  Aidan's life has come full circle.  He was born in Michigan when John was assistant director of the Michigan Baptist state camp (Bambi Lake).  In the years since Aidan was born, he has lived in Illinois, Colorado, Florida, and back to Michigan.  While they lived in Michigan, we made several trips to Michigan but it has been years since we have been back.  Michigan is a beautiful state.   Interstate 94 passes through tall trees on both side of the road.  It was enjoyable.  There was a lot of road construction and it took longer than we remembered to get here.  Arrived around 6:00 and then ate supper with them all and made plans for tomorrow.  Aidan and Linda will both be in school.  Katie is staying home so we can spend time with she and John.  Aidan's graduation is at 7:00 tomorrow evening.

The grasses were very beautiful along the highway.

After we left the interstate we drove on a two-laned highway to our motel in the town of Woodhaven.  It was refreshing see the rural side of Michigan.

After driving through the countryside, we made it to the Best Western Motel in Woodhaven and lots and lots of traffic.  We are now relaxing in our room.  It feels good to not be in the car zipping through traffic.    Tomorrow is Aidan's big day.  John and Linda have warned us that Aidan may not walk across the stage to get his diploma but I hope to get a quick picture of him in his cap and gown.

Bridges and Dusty Roads

On Friday, we decided to return to Bridgeton and Rockville to pick up a few food items.  We discovered the strawberry jam and bread from the mill was so worth a second buy.  Then we went to Rockville to pick up spices, kettle corn, and eat lunch.  The old store we like on the square at  Rockville has large bottles of spices for $1.50 and I always restock my cabinet when we come here.  We had ham and beans for lunch with crullers for dessert.  Each town offers something different.  Mansfield is mostly flea market stuff.  Bridgeton is a combination of crafts and flea market stuff.  Rockville on the square is all crafts and homemade items.  The food vendors at Rockville are all church groups and civic groups.  There are no chain food vendors.  It is a great place to get a good, homemade lunch.

This is the Crullers Shack operated by the congregation of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Rockville.  They have had this cruller shack for over 50 years.

After lunch we traveled some rural roads back to the camp.  This picture and the ones below were taken on those roads.

Back at camp we rested and about 6:00 p.m. we burned the last of the wood we had brought.  It was our last campfire of this trip.

Sunset picture.  The trees keep the skies at a minimum but I could tell it was a nice sunset.

Final embers of the fire.

Saturday, we drove to Motezuma which is a small town that participates in the Festival.  The old buildings on main street are nice and like other small towns, the businesses that once occupied these buildings are long closed.

We drove to some covered bridges.  After all that is what the festival is called, "Covered Bridge Festival."  There are 39 covered bridges in Parke County.  Some like this one is no longer useable.  Others like the one below can still be driven through.

More tree-lined rural roads.

The last town we visited was Tangier.  It is known as the "Home of the World Famous Buried Beef."  We have driven by this town many times during the last 16 years we have been coming to the festival but never stopped.  Today we stopped.  What a mistake we have been making by not coming here to have a buried beef sandwich.  They are the best BBQ beef sandwiches we have ever eaten.  If we are ever back here again, we will stop for a sandwich.

Tangier used to have a high school on the spot where the buried beef is made.  The high school has been town down but this marker contains a time capsule of historic materials that was buried in 1916.

The bell from the high school.  Inside the community center which is located on the land the high school sat are pictures of each graduating class of the school.  Most classes contained between 15-20 students.

Here is the sandwich for which we stopped.  It doesn't look like much but it is delicious.  In addition to the sandwich they had sides and homemade pies.  Carol has a rhubarb pie and I had a coconut cream pie.  Both were very good.

This is the pit in which they bury the beef.  There was a young man (he said he was 39) who helps with the preparation of the beef.  It is quite a process.  He told us that his grandfather and his father and brothers began the first buried beef nearly 60 years ago.  It is a family operation and he hopes his son with carry on the tradition of making the buried beef.

The first step is building a fire and letting it burn down to ashes.  Inside the pit the fire reaches a temperature of over 1000 degrees.  Once the fire burns down, it is covered with two inches of sand.  The sand is covered with burlap.  Then the large chunks of beef roast are wrapped in three layers of foil and set in the pit on top of the ash, sand and burlap.  Two men wearing fireman garb for protection from the heat climb into the pit...one of each end and are handed chunks of beef roast to place on top of the heat.  When they can no longer reach far enough form the ends where they are standing to place the meat, they are pulled out and then lowered head first into the pit to place the remaining meat.  Then the meat is covered with more sand and a large metal plate covers the pit to seal in the meat and heat.  This process begins late afternoon and once the pit is sealed it cooks for 12-15 hours.  Then the cover is removed, the meat is brought out of pit, shredded and some is made into BBQ and other is left in its original form.

You could tell that the man who explained the process was very proud of his family and the tradition of the buried beef.

Sand for the pit.

Lumber and wood for the fire.

Metal plate to seal the pit.

Today we spent traveling dusty roads.

The clouds began to roll in during the day.  We got back to camp around 2:30 and by 4:00 the rain began to fall.  We packed up everything outside and put it away for the trip.  It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow and we won't have rain soaked chairs, etc to pack away on Monday when we leave.  So far tonight it has been raining.  I am so glad to have a motorhome in which to stay dry.  Camping in a tent in the rain is no fun.  Over the last 50+ years of camping we have spent many rainy nights in a tent.  We have done the time and now we stay dry in a motorhome.