Buick Club of America visits Jewell (IA) this evening!

We timed arrival in Jewell PERFECTLY this evening, ate our delicious supper (without a line) on the many picnic tables set up in the middle of Main Street, and then the Buicks starting arriving from Ames, and I went to the corner and took pictures of most of the more than 150 cars that made the trip.

Above is pretty much the car our softball coach had to haul us to the field for practice and games (I can't remember what color it was, white or cream??).

This beige one looks like the '70 Torino my Uncle still has!!

These older ones were fancy inside AND out!!!


I took most of the pictures for my dad, who has owned 5 or 6 Buicks in his lifetime, including a '64 that the three of us kids learned to drive with.

The big red truck was a RAGBRAI sag wagon today!

Parkersburg was the half-way point between Charles City and Waterloo (Iowa) today, for RAGBRAI (Register's annual great bike ride across Iowa #38!), and our niece, Rachel, and John's cousin, Maria, are riding in it this year.

Even though both ladies are in phenomenol shape, it's been a very hot, long bike ride, and one of them wasn't sure she'd make it another 82 miles today, so I met them in Parkersburg and drove them to Waterloo.

It was just going to be one of the 'girls', but then the other had technical difficulties with her tire (4th flat, and this one didn't make it even a mile from the repair shop in town), so she rode also.

We made a trip to the repair shop in Cedar Falls, and hopefully the problem will be solved for tomorrow's ride.

Parkersburg is the place where a tornado went through on Memorial Day weekend two years ago, where 7 people died, 228 homes were destroyed, and more than a hundred more damaged. This link contains the summary (and an aerial picture of Parkersburg after the storm) and information in a NOAA report (pdf file).

We drove by bunches of new houses and the new school, and Parkersburg has definitely come back in a big way from that devastating day.

Alex & Allison wedding pictures, page 2

"Just Married" They walked out to the theme from "Charlie Brown"! It was a delightful change from the traditional, and suited them perfectly.

Allison and Alex having their first 'married' dance!

Allison taking that walk down the aisle with her dad, as her eyes got a bit watery....

This was the 'groom's cake', and it was perfect. (Allison's dog, Oliver, took a plate of 'taste-testing' wedding cake pieces off her counter at her house, finished off the cake, and pushed the plate under the couch!!--so this darling cake was based on this story!!)

Now, Oliver is REALLY big, and he's at our house (Camp Stanhope) this week while the newlyweds are on a cruise!

The second Wedding Weekend!!

It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding. (The weather is a different story!) This shot was taken at the rehearsal in the River Room in the Grand River Center in Dubuque overlooking the Mighty Mississippi (which was a mightier than usual this weekend).

This is Allison and her dad, Steve, at rehearsal.

Their names in the lights!!! (Near the entrance to the Grand River Center.)

From our 'river-view' hotel room on the 7th floor, I took a couple of pictures of the professional wedding photos being taken.

Allison and Alex--from my vantage point in the first row!! I just wanted my own pictures, too, but the angle isn't the greatest!!!

Weather pictures from last week.

I noticed it was lightning (about 30 miles northeast according to the radar page I viewed online) last Wednesday and drove down the road so I could get a clear view for pictures. This is the result. It was an experiment, so the 17 second video is better than the still picture.


(We've been busy this week--yesterday went to Lake View again to enjoy boating and bring the boat home. Thursday we'll head to the wedding rehearsal and Friday is Alex & Allison's wedding!!!)

Wednesday I went shopping with some friends to Mason City and Clear Lake (Iowa still). This is Clear Lake (with the cheap camera--not my good one) on a choppy, extremely HOT day.

Clear Lake shops were having sales, but you can see the outside racks weren't very popular!

Another view of Clear Lake.

This is the storm that came through later in the evening (after pizza at Pickles in Kamrar with friends, too!), but with the cheap camera still.

Lake View (Iowa) views last Sunday

Marty on the tube at Lake View.

That's the view magnified by the camera from the north side of the lake looking south.

While Marty & Samantha were boating with Marty's family, I thought I'd walk out on the dock and see if I could spot them--but there were two Mallards taking a nap on that dock! (Click on the picture of the ducks to see them better.)

The view from (aunt) Mary's deck. NICE!!!

It's been another busy week!

I went and walked some laps with the team from our church (I didn't participate this year--two weddings at our house eight weeks apart--remember???), Team Hope from Stanhope!

Happy 4th of July!!

Scenes from the Sac City (IA) parade (7/3/2010)....





John & Marty (new son-in-law) solve the world's problems while Marty fishes from shore at Lake View yesterday (across from Aunt Mary's cabin).

Marty showing off his catfish (he threw it back in the lake).

A restaurant in Sac City, "The Cattle Company", boasts the state's best burger (by the Iowa Beef Association). (We had the burger recently and it was FABULOUS!!)

(Just wanted to show that the bull was real from the basket above.)

The new roof goes on the old house....

Here's a picture of the house in the middle of getting a new roof. It's been a few beautiful weather days in Iowa.

Below are a couple of pictures of what some of the house looked like when the three layers of shingles came off.


The picture below is of the main part of the house getting new shingles, while the additions still have the old shingles waiting to be scraped off.

These are the new shingles on the main part of the house.