 |
| Ron is surrounded by sumac in various reds. |
Cynthia prefers the "Beatty handsome guy" to the sumac reds. Smooch!
31 Oct, Sunday: Happy Birthday Dean! Sunrise this morning was briefly glorious. We celebrated your birthday with Don and Ann by going to lunch at Guzmans, and we all belted out the birthday song. Unfortunately, the video is too big to go through email. Cynthia returned to the hotel to finish packing while the rest enjoyed the a scenic drive to several locations around Lake Carlyle. We even saw that quick brown fox of typing skills fame. Granddaughter Corrie sent a cute photo of her three little ones holding pumpkins next to a very tiny little pumpkin with an announcement that a new pumpkin is in the pumpkin patch with delivery expected in July, which will be Cynthia's ninth great-grandchild. She is sad at the thought of being apart for five weeks. 8 miles today. Yaay, this brings our ten day mileage total to 81.6. Hmm, only 19 more miles to 100. We can easily do another 20 in four more days, so that’s Cynthia’s personal goal while she is in Texas.
30 Oct: Sat, the countdown begins... This is TWO days before departure. We got off to a late start because eating vegetables in the evening causes Ron to awaken every hour throughout the night - so he dozed after dawn. Two hours after Cynthia finished breakfast we walked into Carlyle to the Old 50 Cafe, another small town restaurant. The cook did not have cooking spray, but was able to cook our egg white omelets without oil. I'm guessing that his grill is well seasoned. Ron received an email addressed to His Lordship about his property in Scotland (a 1 square foot gift from his WeeFee). We walked again across the dam and enjoyed a marvelous sunset of off-red fluffy clouds. Our mileage today was an exceptional 9.0 miles. WOW! 73.6 total. Will we reach 80 tomorrow?
29 Oct: AHA, We awoke to rain blessing the earth. Fortunately by the time we were finished eating breakfast, the rain stopped so that Ron could ride to the NAPA store which accepts boxes for UPS to ship. (Cynthia’s motoccycle helmet and heated gear will ride in comfort to Texas.) Thereafter we walked across the dam again but were disappointed that Los Amigos is closed for three days. Towards 4 in the afternoon, Cynthia was looking for alternative places to eat with Don and Ann on Sunday and discovered that Guzman's is only a mile away, so off we went (walking) to check it out. They agreed to our dietary restrictions and gave us good meals. The rain, however, returned as an intermittent drizzle for our walk "home." 7.6 miles (64.6 total since ?)
 |
| Baby Blair, a cute pumpkin |
 |
| Baby Noah entertaining parents |
28 Oct: The rainy forecast did not happen. Nope, that forecast shifted to Friday, but it did rain last night, so the grass is too wet for us today. We will have to stay on the asphalt and concrete and hope our bodies tolerate it. Yaay! We trekked 4.0 miles this morning. One of the blessings of hiking is the people we meet, like delightful, effervescent Kris S. today, someone we immediately liked. This evening we hiked the dam, now that the workmen have opened the gates. Ron has been busy trying to understand what he has seen, and decided that the crane lifted huge bulkheads that slid down guides to block the flow of water into a spillway while the workmen inspected the spillway for damage. WoooHoooo! 8 miles today! Yaaay! 57.2 miles this week.
 |
| Carlyle Lake dam and gates |
27 Oct: We did get in a quick walk to the suspension bridge before noon (3.5) before we departed towards Collinsville to meet Carol, Bill, and Lisa for a 1:30 lunch at Denny's. We all participated in an animated conversation touching on our individual early histories and philosophies. Eric, Denise and Kyle joined us for dinner at Los Amigos next door at 5:30 PM. Despite eating two meals, Ron was still hungry enough to finish a bag of sourdough pretzels, and despite best intentions, he spent too much time on DNA projects to get to bed "early."
26 Oct: Don and Ann S. will join us for lunch here at 1 pm. Can we walk 2.5 miles before lunch? Yes, we did! We outdid ourselves with 3.5 miles by lunchtime and a grand total of 6.2 by eventide. Ron and Don walked while Ann and Cynthia talked.
25 Oct: begins a week of walking. Well, due to 20 MPH gentle breezes propelling brrr temps deep into our bodies, we walked only one mile this morning. The evening walk must improve (according to Cynthia). Aha! The wind had indeed died down considerably so that the walk was merely cold rather than frigid. We had a grand total of walking five.
24 Oct, Sunday: We slept in a little late, considering that we had arranged to meet Kevin for lunch at Ruby Tuesday in Litchfield at 11:30. Despite a full breakfast (of oatmeal), Ron was still able to down two plates of salad at Ruby Tuesday. We enjoyed Kevin and Jennie, now Chicago residents, in a safe part of town (lower crime rates than Peoria). Delightful duo, Kevin and Jennie! Ron, Carol, Bill and Cynthia performed their normal conversational comedy routines to the amusement of all concerned. We walked 4.5 miles upon our return Yaay for us!
23 Oct: Our 5.1 mile morning walk was enervating. We ate a baked potato with steamed veggies for lunch, followed by frozen mango and grapes respectively. Cynthia ate a lot of grapes, so much so, she fell asleep. ZZZzzzzzz. Ron discovered new DNA insights for a Bankston cousin. Up before dark and off we go, 7.4 miles Yaay
22 Oct: Morning has broken, and we have good news that Brett and Family are anticipating in July. Cynthia suggested they name him Cynthia. We moved from the third floor, room 301, to the second, room 211, because we could not get good wifi in the previous room. We still have a nice lake view. We did four miles on the morning walk. We will repeat at 4:30. Maybe. WooHoo… 8.1 miles today!
21 Oct: We are awake on Thursday and surprised by the commotion two youngsters can create when indoors for breakfast, especially during piano lessons. We were too full to walk immediately and Ron spent an hour in the motel lobby, where there is a better internet connection, to research Camblins. Cynthia requested that our walk be limited to grassy pathways, so we were unable to walk across the dam. Ron supplemented by walking to Walmart for frozen mango and veggies. After another two mile walk together on grass, we dined on baked potato and veggies at the Mexican restaurant next door. 2 miles
 |
| Moonrise over Lake Carlyle |
20 Oct: We were up early enough to leave Litchfield at 10:30, heading east on IL 16 to Hillsboro, where we turned south on IL 127. Both of these roads were smoother than Ron remembered, so the day went by pleasantly until the winds cranked up after we passed through Greenville. For the last 20 miles, the wind tried to push us off the road into the furthest ditch. Cynthia has us booked into Mariner's Village in Carlyle, Illinois for 11 days until Nov 1, and it was a delight to resume acquaintanceship with our genial hosts. After unpacking luggage, we immediately resumed riding to GNC in O'Fallon to get strawberry-flavored Isopure protein powder and melatonin. Once we had those in hand, Cynthia revealed her true reason for accompanying me - lunch of egg white omelets at Denny's. At sunset we walked across the dam for 5+ miles today, a good day all around.
19 Oct: Another tomorrow is today! We were sorta lazy until noon when Sistah Carol picked us up for a ride through rural Illinois with a re-introduction to Eric's rough, narrow, gravel driveway. (Carol's is much longer). Carol's mission for the afternoon was to retrieve five buckets of walnuts Eric had collected for her to plant on her tree farm. Carol and Bill met Ron and Cynthia at Ruby Tuesday for a meal of hearty laughter, accompanied by food.
18 Oct: Another marvelous day in Litchfield, Illinois! After a four mile hike on loose gravel yesterday, Cynthia opted to not go to Carol’s tree farm, but instead to walk on grass nearby. Interesting to consider that our readers have to deal with our focus on food and feet. We are forever foraging for food and looking for places to walk. Ron rode the motorcycle on the loose gravel to Carol's house and back. The only snafu was going into the ditch briefly (because he was a bit chicken to make the sharp turn off the newly graveled driveway onto the paved Panther Creek Road, also coated with recent loose gravel). Ron and Carol walked several trails on her property, especially to see "mud slide hill." We then ate salads at Ruby Tuesday, and Ron walked to Dollar Tree to get pretzels. Munch, crunch, munch, crunch.
 |
| Rambo descendants all with 375th reunion tees. |
 |
| Ron and sistah |
17 Oct, Sunday: Litchfield, Illinois is a small town that boasts the only Ruby Tuesdays Restaurant in all of Illinois. Unfortunately it is now closed from 2 PM to 4 PM, which is when we are most likely to desire to eat. This is still better than most others of that wonderful chain which are closing their doors. Carol and Bill picked us up at 10:15 for our second breakfast at Denny’s. Then, being too-much-over-full, we sat for an hour discussing the incredible lack of common sense in today’s world before walking four miles to test new loose gravel on the road. It’ll do. Carol prepared a salmon feast with fresh squash, baked sweet potatoes, and a lovely salad. Mmmm! Carol and Bill ferried us back to our Hampton Inn early enough that Ron was able to go for another walk to see if ALDI has frozen mango - and they do. Goodie - - - and goodnight.
16 Oct: Again we got on the road early, leaving Keokuk at 9:30, so we arrived at the Hampton Inn in Litchfield, Illinois at 1:59 PM, whipped by wind, but still upright. Carol and Bill joined us for lunch at Denny’s. We were hugely disappointed that Ruby Tuesdays is now closed between 2 and 4. At least the Ruby Tuesdays in Litchfield is still open for business. Cynthia’s final Lea YDNA research report is complete and is now being sent to participants. Our route for the day utilized many smaller roads that were quite pleasant until we turned south at Jacksonville: US 136 E across the Mississippi River, immediately south on IL 96 S to L on county road 1120, R on county road 850, L on county road 900 through Bosco to R on IL 110/ 94 S through Bowen continue US 61 S to L continuing IL 94 S to L on US 24 E through Clayton to Mt Sterling to R on IL 99/ Pittsfield Road through Versailles to L on IL 104 through Meredosia to R on US 67 S towards Jacksonville and south to L on Woodson/ Winchester Road (missed this one) to R on IL 267 S through Greenfield to L on IL 108 E through Carlinville to I-55 S to Litchfield.
15 Oct: We left from Ottumwa early and arrived in Keosauqua to visit Ron's cousins. Gorgeous day until it rained, unbeknownst to us, while we were visiting with cousin Scott and his wife, Nadine. Cynthia’s helmet and gloves were outside, and they got soaked. Regardless, we rode into Keosauqua and had a terrific time visiting with cousins Doris and Marvin at the 1st Street Grill. We then surprised Rex and Susie by walking a half mile from downtown to their lovely home for another cousin visit. The helmet and gloves did not fully dry out by the time we left for Keokuk before dark. The pink cotton candy clouds and golden sunset were spectacular; the wet gloves and helmet liner, not so much. Route US 34 east to Fairfield, then south on Iowa 1 into Keosauqua. Visits, then Iowa 1 south to Iowa 2 east to US 218 south to Keokuk.
14 Oct: We got an early start out of Atlantic and took the simplest route: US highway 71 south, then US 34 east to Ottumwa, Iowa. The cornfields and bean fields made delightful scenery at this harvest time of year. Iowa has many, many more rolling hills than we remember. Since we arrived early enough, Ron rode alone east on US 34 to a right on Iowa 16 through Eldon to Selma and Douds crossing the Des Moines River on highway 98 to catch a left on county road V64 all the way to Lebanon to visit cousin Ken. Ken and I looked at dozens and dozens of old postcards addressed to great aunt Alma Mechem in Selma in 1912. We shot a couple of baskets in his garage before Ron hustled back to Ottumwa as darkness fell. This was the first Hampton Inn ever to not have oatmeal in the morning, but the manager did run out to buy us some as soon as we requested it. Now that is service.!! No wonder we like Hampton Inn.
 |
| Leaving Elkhorn |
13 Oct: We joined Bob in Atlantic, Iowa for a noontime luncheon. Heavy storms were forecast for the morning, but had dissipated by the time we walked ten blocks to lunch. Our B&B is in a 122 year old mansion; the master bathroom was added 110 years ago; Cynthia was unable to turn on the ancient faucets, because the washers must be a thousand years old. No way would she climb into the yellow-stained tub. This spacious house, once a grand-old-lady, looks mighty tired, in need of paint, new bath appliances, and an owner not starving for someone to listen to her. Our dinner in Anita, IA with JoNell was delightful.
 |
| Cynthia and friends in Elkhorn. Much fun !! |
12 Oct: We rode from Des Moines to Elk Horn, Iowa to visit Cynthia's friends for a few hours before leaving to spend the night in Atlantic, IA. It was a marvelous, comfortable day with wonderful Iowa harvest scenery, cornfields, bean fields, cleared fields, forested streams and more hills than Ron had remembered. The variagated scenery was quite enchanting and traffic was light. Lots of grain haulers full of harvest or empty driving to and from elevators. Lots of combines attended by grain haulers. (The big ones hold enough produce to fill a semi.) The route was I-35 from the hotel to north on Iowa 141 two miles to west on IA 44 to IA 173 south (18 bumpy miles) to Elkhorn.
11 Oct: We enjoyed a pleasant visit all afternoon with cousin Sandy in Des Moines. The rain paused at 10 AM long enough for us to drive the 7 miles on mostly dry pavement. It rained off and on … all the live-long day! Fortunately it stopped raining by 6 PM when we headed "home" to the Hilton Garden Inn for the evening. Poor Sandy hadn't been told (oops) that we would be lodging elsewhere, so she had no idea what to do about feeding us. Spaghetti was a wonderful choice as was fresh fruits. We enjoyed it all.
10 Oct, Sunday: Tanna, Melissa, Kole, and Bria came to watch Ron eat oatmeal this morning. After entertaining them (and visa versa), we mounted the motorcycle and rode on south county road 828 to west on county K38 to US 69 south. There are not a lot of towns on that route, and we were on fumes by the time we reached Jewell, Iowa where a Casey's convenience store was open. Ron enjoyed being on smaller roads with virtually no traffic. The wind from the southwest was a bit bothersome, and the sun was blindingly bright for the first 60 miles, but it hid behind clouds by the time we rode through Ames (where Ron was born) and on to the Hilton Garden Inn in the Des Moines suburb of Johnston. Eureka, there is a Ruby Tuesdays nearby, and we are now stuffed totally full.
 |
| Photo from last year when Ron visited Carol. |
9 Oct: Upped, exercised, but no oatmeal at breakfast, so we had to use some of our private stash. Ron is supplementing with bread that Annie baked. 9:30AM Cynthia is awaiting Jane and Dick. Fun, fun, fun to talk with Dick and Jane - endearing because they agree with our views. Sad to see the country going down the tubes with this "entitled to everything free" society and the self-centered "I'm right, you're wrong" divisive discourse. We stopped to see Ann and Dale at 2:00 PM; what a relief, they look great and new meds seem to be controlling Ann's arthritis. Misty's wedding at 4:00 PM was lovely, officiated by their years-long youth director. We did not stay for the reception although we did enjoy seeing Penny and Paula.
8 Oct: And it was indeed lovely to enjoy lunch with Danny, Deanna, and Julie east of Kensett, followed by a couple of enchanting hours of conversation and photo opportunities. Climbing the stairs to the second floor was not as risky and exciting as portrayed. Now we are sauntering out for our evening walk towards dinner. Maybe we can discover the location of Cynthia's ancestral Turvold farm on the road south. Our second walk at sunset took us nearly there. Now I know where Cynthia's incredible memory comes from.
 |
| Ron & Cynthia on the trail. |
 |
| Happy couple closer. |
 |
| Thanks to Tracie for photos. |
 |
| View of Diamond Jo's from the Holiday Inn |
6 Oct: Cousin Ray was a mere trifle late at 11:00+. He drove to see us at the Holiday Inn and took us to lunch at the Bean and Bistro in Northwood, where they were forewarned and prepared to serve us (Cynthia and Ron) egg white veggie omelets. Good food and good conversation were enjoyed by all. Ron even ordered a second omelet. At 4 PM and again just before dark we walked on the "closed" highway 105 for a total of 6.5 miles. Ron is heartbroked that he could not find a photo of the incredible vase of flowers that Annie gave us last year. Thanks again Annie.
 |
| Ron & Cynthia w/ Dave between |
 |
| Pat & Dave with Ron between |
5 Oct: We checked out of our Hampton Inn in Eagan by 11 AM. Isn't that a miracle? Ron had planned a route east on Lone Oak Drive, south on Minnesota 149, southwest on Minnesota 3 to county road 9 west (and here we found our first ever stop sign at a railroad crossing !!) We then crossed I-35 to a parallel highway, turned south and merged onto I-35. Traffic there was fast, but not heavy, and the road surface was pleasantly smooth, so we stayed on it all the way to Diamond Jo's Casino and our Holiday Inn, arriving about 1:30 PM. The hotel clerk had packages ready for Cynthia and remembered us. Not only did she remember us, but as soon as she saw our name, she checked to be sure that they had adequate "Original Oatmeal" packets for our breakfast. When I remarked about her excellent memory, she mentioned the gorgeous bouquet of flowers that Annie had delivered to us last year. Dave and Pat arrived shortly after three, and we were elated that the Wood-fire Grille was open so that we could enjoy a salmon dinner. A marvelous meal and great conversation constitute an excellent evening. We posed for one photo in our Rambo teeshirts with cousin Dave and a second photo with Pat. Ron went for a long walk after dark on the country highway adjacent to the hotel (Hwy 105).
4 Oct: Lance called in sick for our planned walk today, so Cynthia and I walked through Eagan Central Park and around the Delta building this morning. We are now trying to eat everything available so as to reduce bulk and weight on the motorcycle tomorrow. Our second walk helped us reach 6.5 miles. Gorgeous day! Cynthia did not shut the washing machine door tight. 38 minutes later, she was puzzled when the clothes were not washed. The desk clerk was equally mystified until we inserted another $2.25 and started the machine. It displayed the same 38 minutes timer but made no noises until Cynthia banged the door shut. Then the water began filling the machine. Problem solved.
3 Oct, Sunday: in Eagan, Minnesota, up, exercised, oatmealed, but too late to walk before Ron rides off to Hastings to see Greg & Donna again. Because it was a bit chilly, we sat inside today, looking out, until we decided that the four little songbirds were more entertaining and turned to face their cage. They were even more noisy and hyperactive than a three-year-old. After three hours of feathered entertainment, we said our goodbyes, and Ron returned to the hotel, stopping at three groceries without finding suitable bananas. In consequence, our evening walk proceeded through Eagan Central Park over to HyVee where suitable bananas were finally corralled. The Sperry Tower was a brilliant red this evening, signifying what I do not know.
2 Oct: Exercise, Eat, Exercise again by walking to Eagen Central Park and trimming overhanging branches from above the sidewalk. Cynthia is responding to condolences. The forecast is absolutely uncertain. Half of the forecasters call for rain, the other half forecast no rain. Since we have dinner this evening at 4 PM, it doesn't make sense for Ron to tempt fate by riding to Hastings despite the rain/ no rain forecast. At 3:30 the color radar forecast predicted downpours to soon engulf Mendota, so we rode to Axels early and were very happy that we did because the downpours began soon after we arrived and were seated snugly inside. Also, along the way we passed within ten feet of a couple of turkeys foraging alongside the roadway. Carolyn thoroughly enjoyed the dinner, and we thoroughly enjoyed her company. We even answered many of her questions about bro-in-law Ron that she was too considerate to ask.
1 Oct: Somehow getting to bed early last night backfired in that we both woke up at 3 AM unable to get back into a sound sleep. We did doze off several times and felt fine enough to go for a long walk after breakfast (and sudoku). Then Ron rode off to visit Greg in the nursing home. We walked again in the evening before Ron called Lance first and Carolyn second to make arrangements for dinner Saturday and a hike along the river on Monday. There is something about this month, about the air, the fall colors, that cries change. An unwanted change is that Cynthia’s sister Merrilee did not recover from Covid pneumonia.
Merrilee Vold Reid, 21 Feb 1944-1 Oct 2021, RIP.
 |
| Yes, the tree is much taller than Ron. More colorful too. |
