Last Day with Hunter

Up late last night so slept in this morning.  Began playing Crazy Cards around 10 and played four games until 2:00 p.m.  We three love to play Crazy Cards and we knew this would be the last card playing for awhile so we didn't worry about the time.  After we had nearly worn the spots off the cards, we realized that we hadn't eaten any lunch, so we boxed up the cards, packed Hunter's stuff, and drove to the ISU campus to visit Reiman Gardens home of the world's largest concrete gnome.

Only one of the many unusual butterflies in the enclosure.

Another beautiful butterfly.

We were surprised at the beautiful landscape at Reiman Gardens.  It was very relaxing to walk the concrete and sometimes boardwalks through a maze of vibrant colors and patterns the flowers, grasses, and trees made.

These are not tomato planets.  We thought these were very unusual.

 

This Elwood world's largest concrete gnome.

Near the end of the garden paths was a large metal chess set.  Papaw and Hunter played a game and Hunter won this match.

Iowa State University is called the Cyclones and this is Cy the mascot.  He appears all over the campus painted differently with different themes.

We really enjoyed the gardens and would definitely return again.   There was a calendar of events at the Gardens.  Each month they have a theme which changes the look of the Garden.  I would love to see the month of December and the Christmas look. 

After the Gardens, we went to Walmart and Target to pick up a few things for Hunter and us.  Finally, at 5:00 p.m. we found time to eat.  Supper was at Jeff's Pizza for a pizza and cheesy breadsticks...delicious and filling.  In fact, both Hunter and Carol and I took home leftovers.

We got to his dorm around 6:00 p.m. and helped him carry things to his room.  Then sadly, we had to say our goodbyes.  It was a wonderful weekend and we enjoyed every minute of it.  Hunter has high hopes and ambitions and we are proud of him and the effort he is making to accomplish his dreams.  We told him that we could hardly wait to see him in his graduation robe and orange (color of aerospace engineering graduates) tassel walk across the stage.  It will be a proud moment.

A final sunset picture as we were driving back to Ledges.  It is not as spectacular as the one on Friday evening but still nice.  After we got to the RV, we could see through the trees a more beautiful sky but no pictures of that.

Tomorrow we will pack up the motorhome and drive east to Pikes Peak State Park near the Mississippi River.  We will be there for three days before returning to Illinois for another three day stay in an Illinois State Park.  All has gone well.  We have seen the things we planned to see and had a good weekend with Hunter.