Summer of 2008 - Part 2

Summer activities continued with Jo and I traveling to Henderson, Texas to pick up two storm shelters. We now have a safe place to go in case of severe weather at the farm. When completing the well work, we installed the shelter and our new flag pole. This put a finishing touch on the farm entrance. We raised the flag with pride and enjoy watching the colors fly. We gathered with family at the Kaune Reunion. Jo and her brothers and sisters enjoyed the day together. We had a charity tractor ride go by the farm and it was fun to see the tractors as they left town and returned. We entertained the Drewes family and were glad that Eldean and Audrey, their daughter Carol, and my Dad's sister, Irene, could enjoy time together. We traveled to Wisconsin to see Ryan and spent the day with him, touring the town of Neenah and having some great Mexican food. Jo and I spent several weeks completing the landscaping around the well, shelter, and flag pole. Getting the grass established brought the yard back to an appearance we like to share with others.

Summer of 2008 - Part 1

Our summer began with participating in the West Union Dairy Days Parade. We shared our Farmall 656 tractor which was bought new in 1967 by Vaughn's Dad. We restored the tractor to original condition and what fun we had sharing it with the community. We then traveled to Brooksville, Florida to pick up Nellie Bell, the 1951 Ford tractor we had purchased. Tom and Denise served us some sweet corn and barbecue while we were there for a short time. Then it was back to West Union to spend time with family and friends. Tim celebrated a birthday and did receive the soft tub he has been asking for many years. However, it may be a little smaller than he wanted. RuthAnn also had a birthday and her family planned a surprise party to celebrate with family and friends. Keith and Bernie spent a few days with us at the farm as they were traveling a circuit to the northeast in their motor home. They celebrated the 4th of July with us and our family. The kids were given tractor rides and everyone posed with the tractors and enjoyed a great evening of fire works.

Drill Baby, Drill

You would have thought we were drilling for oil when we ended up going 832 feet to establish a new well on the farm. With the spring rains our old well, of 155 feet, failed by opening fractures in the aquifer, allowing sand and soil to enter our water system. This ended up being nearly a 5-week process this summer to get water. Not having good drinking water made us appreciate what we take for granted in turning on the tap and getting quality water. The equipment used to drill a well of this depth is impressive, including the bits used, the number of drill rods used, the number of times the well driller would trip in and trip out, the power to drill at this depth, and the expertise to know what to do when issues are encountered when your work is out of sight and done with feel and seeing the stone chips that are floated to the surface. During the drilling process, they collect a sample every 5 feet and send these to Iowa State to be logged. Our new well of 832 feet is in the Prairie du Chien aquifer. It was a very interesting process and we learned a lot about well drilling with Shawver Well Company doing a great job to give us safe water for our well being.

Fun Facts of Our Chapter One Adventure

We arrived back at the farm in northeast Iowa and have been enjoying doing the yard work and watching the spring season begin. We have assembled a list of fun facts from our year long trip that we want to share with everyone. Hope you enjoy them. If you are in West Union and you see the lights on, please stop in to say "Hi". We would enjoy visiting with you.

Fun Facts:

Number of miles driven in Winnebago motor home - 12,576

Number of miles driven in Jeep tow vehicle - 12,136

Traveled to - 3 countries

Traveled through - 30 states (this trip) all 50 now completed

Traveled through - 9 provinces of Canada

Price of fuel - Diesel - start of trip May of 2007 - $2.79 per gallon

Price of fuel - Diesel - end of trip May of 2008 - $4.27 per gallon

Price of diesel in Canada - June of 2007 - $.89.9 per litre

Price of diesel in Canada - September of 2007 - $1.09.4 per litre

Number of photos taken - 12,329

Number of blogs posted - 125

Longest stay - Brooksville, FL - 132 days


Favorite activities: (not in any particular order)


Branding in Montana

Collecting agates on the Pacific and Atlantic shores

Canadian Rockies

Calgary Stampede

Tuna catch on Prince Edward Island (PEI)

Tide changes in Maine

Light houses

Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway

NASCAR Shops in North Carolina

Sunsets at Treasure Island, Florida

Fresh oranges in Florida

Horses and gophers at Brooksville, Florida

Walmart and Taco Bell

Taking memorable photos and blogging

Visiting family and friends (making new friends along the way)

Texas and Kansas NASCAR Races

And many more too numerous to mention!

Coming home to Iowa!

We have gone full circle on our first adventure since retirement and have arrived back in Iowa. We stopped to visit Jo's sister and husband, Marilyn and Tim, in Iowa Falls. As you can see, the weather was cool but spring flowers were peaking their heads from the cold winter soil. Vaughn collected on his bet with Tim on last winter's local basketball game for state. On the line was a jar of jelly made by Tim's mother. What a treat this will be! We arrived at the farm to windy and cold conditions. Vaughn's brother, Steve, had collected snow in buckets from the harsh Iowa winter in hopes it would still be snow upon our arrival, however, it was in liquid form. Throughout this chapter of our travels, we have seen many beautiful sunsets and wanted to share another one with you from our farm in northeast Iowa.

Spring Race at Kansas Speedway

We attended the races at the Kansas Speedway in late April. The weather felt more like late fall with cool temps. With these conditions the track was fast. This created some exciting racing. The races included the ARCA/REMAX race, the Craftsman Truck race, and the Indy Racing League (IRL). We spent the weekend with friends from Iowa, enjoying eating at Famous Dave's and going to the track. Danica Patrick had just come off a win in Japan and was expected to run well in Kansas. She had problems with the rear axle and had a Did Not Finish (DNF). The weekend was fun and we enjoyed being with our friends. From Kansas City, KS we traveled together to Iowa, the last leg of our travel venture.