Off to College

 Today is a special day for two guys in our family....Carol's 79th birthday and Hunter heads to Iowa State University and move him  into his new dorm.

The great thing about my blog is that I have a new, much faster computer.  The bad thing about the new computer is that there is a learning curve to getting my blog done.  I discovered that some of the pictures did not download and those that downloaded where in reverse order.  So here our day starting with the last pictures I took and ending with the first pictures of the day.

We toured Iowa State after it got dark and Hunter took this one.

We rode a railcar for two and one for four.  This is the one for four with the oldest people and the youngest.  Even though the railcar is battery power, some pedal power is necessary when going up hills and to get started.  The way back was mostly up hill slightly so Hunter really got a workout keeping the car going up the hill.

There was a beautiful full moon tonight and a nice sunset.

Part of the track went across streets in Boone.  At rail crossings, a guard would flag us to stop when a car was ready to cross the track.

This little house was set up along the track.  

This is the end of the line.  Everyone exited the car and the crew put the railcar on a roundabout and turned each car around.  We then got back on to return to the main station.  This is the view from that turnaround.

The turnaround was named "Rose's Landing."  I liked that because it reminded me of my mom whose name was also Rose.

View of the river from Rose's Landing.

A small part of the railroad track passed farms but most of it was forested.  We saw a total of  four deer.  One of the deer crossed the tracks in front of us.  It moved too  quickly for me to get a picture.

That is Kara and Jason ahead of us.

Jason and Kara in a two-seater.  Only one of the riders actually  controlled the speed and stopping of the car.  Jason and Hunter were the lucky ones in our group.  Their legs and knees got a workout.

Our group waiting for time to pass to board our railcars.

After taking this trip we are official "rail explorers."

Our usual stop when we take I-80 through Iowa is I-80 truck stop.  

Hunter's best friend, Mason, came to the house to say his final goodbye to him.

  Hunter is blessed to have such a good friend as Mason.  Mason is a sophomore at Millikin University so he is staying in Decatur.

Three of these cars formed a caravan to Iowa State University.  This is loading up.  Tomorrow we will unpack and move him into his new dorm room.

This is the happy group before they left Warrensburg, Illinois and drove to  Ames, Iowa.

It has been a good day.  The weather was perfect....not too hot or too cold...no rain...only blue skies and large, puffy white clouds.  Hunter and Kara drove a car, Jason and Keegan drove another, and Carol and I brought up the rear.  We got to the Best Western around 4:00, unpacked, and then drove to "Ride the Rails" in Boone, Iowa which is less than 10 miles from Iowa State University.  After riding the rails, we drove to campus town for pizza at Brick Pizza.  The pizza is handmade and brick oven-baked.  It was very good.  Now we are back in our rooms and all but me is asleep.  This blog has taken longer than usual because of the learning curve of the new computer.  I do love the fact that it is very quick.  I am sure I will adjust.