Carole and I saddled up the camper to the new van and hit the road again last Tuesday. We were on a mission again....the same as we always are on this time each year. The mission is to stay in another "new" Iowa state park, this time was Geode State park in SE Iowa, 40 miles away from my pet destination in NE Missouri where I pick up the 4th of July's visual effects, complete with an elevated noise level. Its ironic how this travel route takes us right past the front door of Do-It Molds. I had to stop and say "Hi" to the crew there. Ryan and Jerry both took a few minutes to chat and then we were back at the monotony of highway stripes.
Actually we make this run to shop for antiques for the shop and again we hit on some really unique stores in out-of-the-way places. We did very well on the antique end of things. On Friday morning Ma couldn't find any more niches to bury her treasures in so we packed it up and drove up to the Quad Cities where we stayed a night with a cousin and his wife and stopped just before getting there to visit another cousin and his wife. We came back home yesterday pretty well rested and feeling like the little jaunty was a success on all accounts.
I love the camping during the week when the campgrounds are relatively empty. The quiet evenings with a fire to read by or just sit and look at the stars when its dark. One night we saw the International Space Station pass overhead....horizon to horizon in three minutes. Its good to be back home too with lots of things to do. The garden is in and growing, but so are the weeds. I have a lawn to mow that looks like a wheat field again, but the weather says rain for most of today so it'll have to wait and I'll bag it this time. Work with the antiques tomorrow and again this Thursday and maybe even fish on Weds. And as always, I have plastics on the brain for those moments when I can sneak away.
