Summer in Iowa often has warm and humid days. This year we have had some of those, but the majority of the days in July have been very pleasant. We even have had some very cool days. The week we decided to take a motorcycle trip to Yankton, South Dakota, was cool. We had lived in Yankton about twelve years before we moved to Des Moines Iowa in 2002. I had worked there as a Physician Assistant in the Federal Prison Camp. After retirement in 2000 we started to travel a lot, mainly on Missionary Support trips. Some of these I have blogged about.
Because of the size of property at our “lake house,” we opted to move to a town house in Johnston in the spring of 2002. It is very difficult to keep the grass mowed and the snow removed on extended trips. We were gone to the YWAM base in Kona, Hawaii, about three months in the winter of 2001 and again in 2002. Although spring usually comes late in South Dakota, we still had a lot of work to do trimming the overgrown grass. Because we were living “in the country” snow removal was not really necessary during the winter; no-one needed access to the house.
Anyway, we rode to Bronson, Iowa on a windy cool Monday, July 14. On Tuesday we went to Yankton, taking the scenic route through northern Nebraska. We crossed the new bridge across the Missouri river into the city center, after we had spent a few moments of reminiscence at our old house at the lake. After visiting some of our old stomping ground, we decided to go back to the Sioux City area and spend the night in Bronson again.
On Wednesday we tried our hand at some farming skills to help our friends store their hay and help remove some dead scrubbery and ground cover. The ride home on Thursday continued to be on the cool side. This made for a very memorable ride, especially since the weather cooperated; other than the stiff wind on Monday, it was really great be out there on our “super-scooter.” As we continue our year of relative slow-down, we are doing some renovation around our “new” town house. We have lived here over twelve years. This is the longest period we ever lived in the same location - in our entire life. Even in my growing up years we moved in less that 12 year increments. I guess I am actually getting used to this place, it is becoming home...
