Monday, October 7, 2013

Autumn Camping Weekend in Iowa

While the biggest news of my late September weekend trip to Iowa was coming home with a new RV, the rest of the weekend was quite enjoyable as well!  The original plan for the weekend was to attend the Midwest T@B rally at Sugar Bottom COE campground near Iowa City.  We last camped here with the same T@B friends back in 2010 when we still had our T@B trailer.  That July rally had been miserably hot and humid, so all subsequent Iowa rallies were planned for the more hospitable weather of early summer or fall.

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I set up my View near my T@B friends, but not so close that I’d ruin the effect of their cute little campers all parked in a row--

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My friend Kathy had mentioned at the Rock Creek rally a few months ago that she wanted to take up kayaking and was thinking about buying a Sea Eagle.  When I checked with her before the weekend and found out she still had yet to buy one (but still wanted one), I knew she’d be the perfect recipient to donate my original Sea Eagle SE330 to.  I’d not had the SE330 out of it’s bag in a couple of years, but it pumped up just fine and seemed to be in perfect shape.  Kathy was thrilled to get it, and David and I were excited to get another kayak partner for next summer’s planned paddling at the Rock Creek rally!

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The winds were a bit too strong to do any kayaking this weekend, so we just admired Coralville Lake from the shoreline.  Millie woke me up early enough to take a few sunrise walks.  The first morning was partly cloudy with a wonderful colors over the lake--

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While the next morning, the lake was shrouded in ground fog.  It still made for some interesting photos!
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The gang gathered around the campfire both day and night--

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Saturday afternoon brought a few soaking thunderstorms, so a few of us decided to head out to the local pizza pub for a nice warm dinner and conversation.

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On Sunday, Millie and I packed up camp and headed up to Forest City, Iowa to Lichtsinn Motors RV, where we’d trade our ‘08 View for the new ‘07.  It was a beautiful sunny fall day as we zig-zagged along the farm roads past the countless acres of corn drying in the fields.  One last silhouette of the ‘08 View!
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Forest City is home to Winnebago’s headquarters and main factory.  We had a wonderful rally here back in 2010 with the View-Navion Skinny Winnie group.  The courtesy parking at Winnebago’s visitor’s center was pretty full today --

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so Millie and I decided instead to stay at the pretty little town campground, Pammel Park, along the banks of the Winnebago river.  We had the place all to ourselves!

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Millie insisted I pull her swimming towel and water toy out of the closet so she could make a beeline to the riverbank to do some late afternoon swimming.  If her muddy paws are any indication, she had an absolutely fabulous time!

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After dinner, we decided to cross the suspension bridge to the trails on the other side of the riverbank.  What a neat little park!

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After a quiet and peaceful final night in the ‘08 View, we packed up and did a final drive a few blocks up the street to Lichtsinn.  So long, ‘08 View, you served us well!

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2 comments:

  1. Good thing the group got that rally in before the shut down.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, indeed! The campground reservations were ending as of Oct. 1st anyway, so at least those who had booked a site in advance did not have to be out of luck, but sorry for everyone wanting to see the beautiful fall colors of our national lands and not being able to because of this ridiculous situation in DC.

    Hope you are able to get your fridge working again and start flappin' your wings south!

    ReplyDelete

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