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TRIP TO IOWA!! |
| The trip started off driving from Des Moines
to Grinnell, IA to meet up with friends. We ate lunch and headed
off to Oskaloosa, IA's Southern Iowa Speedway. The track is a
big half mile track and while the car count was down, the racing was pretty
darn good. A 13 year old finished 2nd in the modifieds and the
hobby stocks put on a great show battling for the win. On the
way back, I was driving and had to use my maneuvering skills to avoid a
family of raccoons who were wandering aimlessly on the two-lane highway.
Awoke to heavy air (80% humidity) on the next morning and toured two race
tracks during the day. First was a trip to the new 7/8ths mile
Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA. After a personalized tour we headed
down the road to the famous Knoxville Speedway. A ton of midget
cars and sprint cars were spead out on the grounds and in neighboring
parking lots and hotels. A huge event was taking place.
We arrived on Thursday which was to be "practice night" later that night.
With plans to watch another race later that night had us on our way back to
Grinnell to get ready for the next race. The 114 mile trip to
Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri was a nice ride down country
roads with the occasional interstate thrown in here and there.
Our trip wound through the town of Ottumwa, Iowa the town of bridges and the
hometown of NHRA Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson, Jr. Further along we
drove through an Amish community and were treated to seeing several Amish
men in full garb walking down the road. We also saw their
buggies parked on their properties, but none of them were on the road.
Guess it was too late in the evening. The weather was
threatening and we arrived at the track and met up with other friends.
While waiting in the parking lot before going in I managed to look through
the clover patch and found 2 four leaf clovers. We passed by on
the "fair" activities and headed into the stands. The stands
stretched down the entire front straightaway of the 1/2 mile track.
(3/8 that looked bigger actually) Only 8 rows of seats were there and
above us ceiling fans were used to help ease the heavy weather.
Kind of neat!! The racing was FAST and I was really getting into
it when the rains came. Good thing the stands are covered!
After trying to pack in the track, the races were cancelled. We
did take time to check out the local 4H animals on display.
Neat! On Friday morning the rains came and I woke up to take in
the activity. Met up in Nevada, Iowa and headed over to JR
Motorsports to see Pat Graham. Toured the towns of Boone and
Ames for a while and returned to the hotel. While we waited in the
hotel room for the races in Des Moines, a tornado warning came across the
television. The rains came and so did the thunder and lightning.
Des Moines cancelled so we met up with Pat for dinner at the Dublin Bay
Irish Pub. After dinner we contemplated going to Fort Dodge IA
to take in another race but with the threatening weather we headed to the
hotel. On Saturday morning we headed to a park outside of Boone,
IA, checked out a pole that chronicled the water levels of the great floods
that have affected the area over the years. In 1993, a sign 22
feet off the ground showed the water level of the time. HOLY
COW!! About 10 signs adorned the pole at various heights.
Scary actually. We ended up taking a hike to "Lost Lake" and
returned to town for lunch at the local DQ. From there we
boarded the train tour. Chose the "open air" car for the tour and was
warned that the "steam engine" was pulling the train and that we "may" get
coal on us. We did! But the trip was well worth it.
I enjoyed my first train ride as much as a young child would.
The view was beautiful. Afterwards headed over to the Wal-Mart
to get another shirt as mine had quite a bit of soot on it.
Bought the shirt and stopped by the DQ for a frozen treat. After
taking my fingers through my hair I realized it was full of soot as well.
YUCK! With the hotel miles away and the races at Boone getting
close, I had only 1 option. I decided to go to the local car
wash and vacuum my hair. It worked really well and actually
styled my hair pretty well! LOL! From there we headed over
to the Boone Speedway for their regular show. With rainouts in
the area the pits was full of cars looking to get in a night of racing.
Pat Graham raced and had a rough night. However we had a great
time watching from the VIP booth as well as the famous catwalk.
The racing was 2nd to none. Made me realize that I am nothing
compared to the guys back there. They can race! Had
me thinking that I need to either step it up or step out of the sport.
But I had a great time and am now home contemplating whether to continue on
the Wild West Tour or just take some time off to regroup. We'll
see. |
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PHOTOS FROM MY VACATION IN IOWA! |
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| Four-leaf clover! |
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Des Moines river |
hiking path |
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| Lost lake |
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| My caboose & a real caboose! |
Bird's nest built on the trail |
Steam, steam! |
The "view" car |
Big feeling? |
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Here comes the coal! |
Iowa corn |
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| More corn! |
Boone! |
Coal in my hair |
Big feeling again! |
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| Look out!! |
UGH! |
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$19?? odd right? |
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| IRL @ Iowa Speedway |
Chopper for the Iowa Corn 250 |
Me "running" at the famous Knoxville
Speedway |
View of Iowa Speedway from the motorhome
area |
Iowa Speedway from turn 4 |
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| First beer on vacation! |
First train ride |
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