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.

Flowering Dogwoods in Missouri

We enjoyed spending some spring time at our acreage near Blue Eye, Missouri. There has been plenty of moisture this year bringing lush green color to the hillsides. The neighbor's cattle were grazing the pasture ground in the warm breezes. The Dogwood (Missouri's state tree) and Redbud trees were in full bloom, which we took advantage of, and marked them with pink tape for future reference. We like to hunt for Morel mushrooms and were surprised to find some fresh ones growing on our hillside. We trimmed some trees and took time to enjoy the view from the ridge. Rain moved in and the moisture in the air created a beautiful sight in the valley. What a relaxing two weeks we spent in this beautiful area of southwest Missouri.

Friends and Camping

Traveling and camping have given us great opportunities to see beautiful places in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Along the way, we have met many wonderful people. We have shared time with these friends and look forward to meeting them again along the roads we travel. Bill and Lola are park attendants at a Corps of Engineers Park in Missouri. Folks take part in these types of programs as volunteers to help manage and operate the campgrounds, state parks, national parks, and Corps of Engineer Parks. We always enjoy meeting and getting to know the people who greet us at these parks.