Truck Stop

One of the trucks on display. There are shirts and gifts of all kinds too.

I was only on one floor, ate at one of the many restaurants. This sign is very large pointing to the upper level.

Have you ever been to the trucking museum and restaurants on Iowa's Highway 80 in Walcott, Iowa? This place is HUGE.

Iowa

Iowa can boast some famous people sprouting up there. Andy Williams is one of them. Anyone remember him? His childhood home is much larger than where some other famous people lived.  Some of the other childhood homes we visited can be seen in upcoming posts.

Road Trip Through Iowa

Two weeks on the road with a lifetime friend turned out to be the best vacation ever. I cannot explain how we did it, because there was no plan or rules except that we agreed to keep it simple. Every other night was my turn to pay for a motel and every other car gas fill up was my responsibility. The car Shirley rented was a new Dodge Avenger and it was so comfortable that I would like to buy one.

Over the next couple months, I will post some photos of things I saw on the road trip.

This is the first installment. How many people remember Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson?  I remember when their plane hit the field outside Clear Lake, Iowa.  I was a fan of all three musicians. The day we arrived at the Surf Ballroom the place was buzzing with preparations for a dinner for Iowa Hawkeyes. The television crews were setting up equipment and the tables were set for dinner. We were given permission to roam and take photos. This was another check off my bucket list to see the Surf Ballroom in person.

Mothers

If there were not a copyright on the words in the book Don't Put Headphones On The Cat by Rose Godfrey, I would add a couple quotes from that book. 

Rose's descriptions of the everyday life of a mother are accurate. 

I wish I had written this book. 

Becoming a mother is life changing. Raising a child to adulthood is a miracle. Speaking for myself, I know I made mistakes along the way, but no one could have loved their kids more than I did. I understand the meaning of unconditional love because I am a mother.

Happy Mother's Day to all my blog friends. I applaud each of you no matter what your circumstances are. Some of you are role models to nieces and nephews and just as important to them as a mother. God bless you for that. God bless all of us, our mothers who bore us, each of us in the next generation, and our children who are mothers doing their best to raise our grandchildren. One day a year just isn't enough time to celebrate the love of mothers.

Yesterday

This band played all morning. Singing and music and dancing = Fun.

Yesterday was Sunday. Four of us drove the hour trip to Lincoln, the capital of this great state, for the Czech Festival there. Two of the friends are Czech. In fact, most of the people in this area are Czech.

Two live models in front of a group of mannequin models.

Book Sale

Collecting books from the folks in town this past week has been fun. Thursday and Friday we sorted the books and had the place ready for the sale on Saturday. We put all children's books on a section of shelves that was bottom three shelves, perfect for little people to see and handle the books. Five large sections of shelves were designated Fiction, and one large section of shelves for young adult. For Non-Fiction we used five tables, and one table for audio books and CDs. I am a member of the Friends of the Library committee and we held the book sale to collect funds for the Friends. That is an appropriate name for the group. We are helpers to the librarians and have lots of interesting ways to be of assistance to them.

We held the book sale at the same time an author was at the library signing books. The illustrator of the book was on hand to sign books and visit with folks so the day was another way to celebrate our lovely library.

There was a great turnout. We had suggested prices but it was donation only, so lots of gracious friends donated extra money. One dear friend even wrote a check for $500. Another thing I love about this town is how much the residents love our library.

Salad Suppers

About once a month I can find a salad supper to attend within a fifty mile radius. Not just lettuce and tomato and dressing. I'm talking SALAD. Vegetable salad, Grilled chicken salad, Beef and veggie salad, and a ton of dessert salads.

The latest salad adventure was at the parish hall of the church across the street. Last year there were a couple hundred women packed into the hall and there were enough salads for us all to make return trips to the salad room.  There was entertainment and raffles and lots of visiting and laughter. This year the entertainment was different but the food was excellent. Mini sandwiches on homemade rolls (which I can't eat), thin pieces of ham rolled up, and tables of salads.

After each table had visited the salad tables, a five piece group took their places and we were entertained in fine style. All five sang in harmony, two played guitars while singing, and they took turns telling jokes between songs. Some of the songs they turned into humorous songs, like Ghostwriter in the Sky became a funny song about chickens headed to Kentucky Fried Chicken getting revenge.

The event lasted a little over two hours and we all arrived back at our homes before the storm came. Good timing, don't you think.