2019 July 05 Friday

rvingfulltimewithtomandella.com

2019 July 05 Friday in Cutty’s, Grimes, Iowa

70° and cloudy.

Work was nuts today. And tomorrow promises to be even crazier.

And to quote Forrest Gump, “And that’s all I got to say about that!”

God bless and g’nitem

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

day 34/60

2019 July 04 Thursday

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2019 July 04 Thursday Independence Day in Des Moines, Cutty’s, Grimes, Iowa

Some Red, White, and Blue inn this morning’s sky.

I didn’t sleep well. I had some stomach issues that kept me moving until 2:30 when I was finally able to lay still long enough to go to sleep.

Bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast before going to the cafe fore coffee with friends.

Some toadstools popped up this morning in the ultra shady spot next to the patio.

Cookout at John and Dawn’s in the late afternoon/early evening.

God bless and g’nitem

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

day 59

2019 July 03 Wednesday

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2019 July 03 Wednesday in Cutty’s, Grimes, Iowa

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About 4:30 in the afternoon the clouds stopped threatening us with rain. Instead it came through with gale force winds and driving rain that moved like curtains all astound us. It dropped from 88° to 78 ° in 10-15 minutes. It continued to cool off until it reached 70°.

Our Village Inn and one in Ankeny closer their doors forever this week. But that couldn’t keep the gang from congregating around pies. There is one vi left in West Des Moines. It happens to be where I proposed to Ella. I’m such a romantic!

Shortly after we arrived the storm passed through.

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I was truly surprised to find this much reason in the gauge. I knew it rained hard but it was such a short lived storm that I didn’t expect an inch I the gauge.

After the rain there are still some low hanging clouds

God bless and g’nite

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

day 58

2019 July 02 Tuesday

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2019 July 02 Tuesday in Cutty’s, Grimes, Iowa

I don’t think that the sun had enough strength to throw off her quilt of clouds and get out of bed today. Let’s just let her sleep in … she has been working extra hard lately.

There is a very drained sun in the sky today. Around eleven she opened one bleary eye, stared blankly around, and then want back to sleep.

May and June are gone to whereever abandoned months go when they are off duty. Maybe they just sit around in a daze.

We have only tasted a tiny bit out July, and so far, I don’t like the flavor. It’s a little too well done for my taste.

Maybe, I’m just feeling too rushed and over worked because of the madness surroundings the Independence Day festivities.

I get tomorrow and Thursday off. I should be glad that I don’t work I the fourth. But truely the fourth will not be our busy day this year. Saturday the 6th is when 99% our Cutty’s activities will be held … including the fireworks. All of the fee booth employees and some volunteers will be working that day (and night).

Spaghetti and rain drops this afternoon. Shortly after returning home from work around 3, I browned some ground beef and startedsome spaghetti sauce simmering. I let it slow cook until 5 when I started some angel hair pasta.

The local Subway sandwich shop donates unsold bread tho the Grimes senior center. Ella brought home several loaves today. We had the Italian herb acc cheese bread with our spaghetti.

While we were eating there was a loud boom … sonic boom loud … clap of thunder, the wind came through like the devil was chasing it … but our was only the rain. The rain hit the RV roof hard and steady that sounded like we were under attack.

The storm hurried on its way like the white rabbit in Alice’s adventurer. Perhaps it too was late for a very important date. Whereever the rain went it drug the heat of the day after it. The outside temperate dropped 20 degrees in the blink of an eye..

God bless and g’nite

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

day 33/57

2019 July 01 Monday

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2019 July 01 Monday in Cutty’s, Grimes, Iowa

Today started at 71° and reached 91 that felt like 98°.

Mostly cloudy but still too bright to stare at the sun directly. However, through a lace curtain of leaves, it it’s viewable.

I worked 8-2:30 today. Jim arrived at 11. We had very little traffic. Which isn’t surprising when you consider the few number of sites we have remaining. We kept busy making special passes forthe campers who will be here on the 6th. That Saturday is when the bulk of our Independence Day celebrations are. That includes the fireworks display. Last year we had over one thousand guests in the resort park the day of fireworks. To had some semblance of control and safety, guests and non-camping members will be required to park just inside the entrance gate. Only registered campers will beallowed tho drive into the park.

{Ella wrote} We picked up Great Grandpa after work. Time for ice cream.

We treated great grandson William and ourselves to some ice cream after i left work.

The setting sun continued to pump out heat into the nearly cloudless sky.

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God bless and g’nite

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

day 31/56

2019 June 30 Sunday

2019 June 30 Sunday in Cutty’s, Grimes, Iowa

It was still hot and muggy at midnight.

It barely dropped below 80° overnight and the sun rose white hot this morning. The humidity is at 85% so that is a tiny amount of relief.

91° in the shade slightly after 11 pm.

Coffee at the cafe, with the usual group, before setting up for worship at the adult center.

Though our service was small in numbers, we had great fellowship and joined together in worshipping our Lord. I felt good about the message and our small “choir” sounded pretty good.

Hotdogs on a hot day. We came home from worship and stayed home. We read, played games, watched YouTube and Netflix, napped, and basically chilled … well maybe chilled isn’t quite the proper term to use today

The air conditioner put up a good fight. However, the blazing sun forced its way through the meager insulation in our RV anyway. It was upper 70s to lower 80s inside when my thermometer said it was 97° outside.

10 pm at Cutty’s in Grimes, Iowa It is 81° and feels like 84

Meanwhile

It is 77° that feel like 77 in our Texas home. Go figure!

God bless and g’nite

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

day 55

Portrait in Sleep apnea and insomnia.

2019 June 29 Saturday

rvingfulltimewithtomandella.com

2019 June 29 Saturday in Cutty’s, Grimes, Iowa

70° humid and mostly clear

The sun hadn’t cleared the horizon, but the heat was already rising.

95° and humid for the high today. This is sweat in the shade weather and I can’t say that I really care for it.

Here is a fun trivia fact from an Iowa State University study. At the height of growth, an acre of corn will release almost 6,000 gallons of water into the air … per day. Multiply that by an estimated 13.3 million acres planted in Iowa each year.

So if anyone wants to know why we have high humidity in Iowa, blame it on the corn.

The coffee group occupied two tables this morning.

Have you ever wondered how far apart the walls in Home Depot are? Or how long it takes to drive one of their electric carts from one end to the other? Okay. Just me, I guess.

After coffee, it was a trip to Home Depot for a couple of floor registers. Our Destination Trailer* has four floor registers. Two of them were broken from a decade of being walked on. The manufacture, with an eye on cost cutting, didn’t install top quality vents from the beginning. The new ones appear much sturdier. If there had been 4 registers on the shelf, I would have replaced all of them.

Home Depot was having a customer appreciation day with free hotdogs and cold water. (Even though the sign read “free hotdog water”) So, that was lunch.

Supper was 2 Arby’s Classic Roast Beef for $4.

I should have been working on next week’s sermon today. However, I’ve been procrastinating. No that’s not right. I’ve even been putting off procrastinating. Or as we say in Texas, I’m fixin’ to get on they one of these next days. I’ve got more reading, praying, reading again to do.

God bless and g’nite

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

*Destination Trailers are RVs designed to be towed and parked at a campground, RV park, or other destination for a season rather than short-term camping or long-term hauling. Unlike Park Models, Destination Trailers, are self-contained. They include waste holding tanks and freshwater tanks.

day 54

2019 June 28 Friday

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2019 June 28 Friday in Cutty’s, Grimes, Iowa

74° humid and cloudy to start the day. Today topped out at 83°.

Another day when the sun had to climb over the dark clouds to glow through the hazy clouds.

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Pranked by the great grandkids.

{Ella wrote} If we didn’t already know the great grandkids are in the campground, the placement of our chairs and tables this morning would have told us. They love to leave signs of their visits. Last night it was the chairs.

Flowers at the rear of the fee booth are still looking good. The rains this year have kept the whole park green and lovely.

Look what showed up about 10 a.m. today. It was pushing a lot of wind in front of it.

Unless that nasty looking storm moved passed to the east of us without a drop of rain. And, for a short time, the temperature dropped dramatically. Butt then quickly shot back up to the 80s.

Julie and I during a brief break in the madness. We are full! Out of 500+ sites there were maybe 20 spots left in the campground and only a couple of them were full hookups. The rest were water and electric but no sewers. We do have contingencies in case every site is filled. There are places that we can put campers with no hook ups at all, at no cost, … if they choose to stay.

The usual suspects gathered at Cutty’s Cafe and shared pizza this evening. It started when Ted won two pizzas (1 large, 1 medium) at bingo this week. He invited everyone to share. Ella and I and someone else also contributed a couple of pizzas.

Friday night just isn’t complete without playing Card Jackpot.

And so ends another day in paradise.

God bless and g’nite

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

day 30/53

2019 June 27 Thursday

rvingfulltimewithtomandella.com

2019 June 27 Thursday in Cutty’s, Grimes, Iowa

So much for sunrise. The photo makes the white sky brighter than it appeared to my eyes. Just brightness without the sun. Slightly after this the sun did burn through that haze.

I knew last might that I wanted pancakes for breakfast. With that in mind, I mixed the batter last night and let it marry overnight. They turned out very light. I do like pancakes that rise high. As a prediabetic, I forego any syrup and have it with over easy eggs.

{Ella wrote} I had the pleasure of sitting with these young men, great grandsons William and Henry. Daddy needed to make a quick run to his trailer and, as luck would have it, I was eating at the cafe right next to the pool at the time.

The lake and campground look so nice in the early morning light. We didn’t go for a drive along it today, however just stopping to let the beauty soak in was still a calming way to begin the day before going to the fee booth and work.

{Ella wrote} 86 degrees in Grimes and still getting warmer. A good day for swimming. Me, I’m washing clothes.

After work, I walked the few short steps to the Cutty’s Flag Island also known as the traffic circle. Also known as the traffic circle that is often ignored. People zip along the wrong direction quite often. It may have something to do with the fact that it is more of a triangle than a circle.

I waited there for Ella. She had taken the truck to Grimes and the senior center in the morning. In the early afternoon she had gone to the laundry on Cutty’s Main street to wash clothes. As soon as the last load was dry, she came and picked me up on the way home.

After unloading the truck we took some very short naps.

We had supper with friends at Cutty’s Cafe. Every Thursday they serve a family style meal. This week it was chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, and a roll. It was good enough … but it made me long for REAL Texas style chicken fried steak.

In lieu of a sunset photo here are pictures of some of our flowers.

God bless and g’nite

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

day 29/52

2019 June 26 June

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2019 June 26 Wednesday in Cutty’s, Grimes, and Johnston, Iowa

I waited a long time for the sun to appear through the cloud cover and this is as close as it came. That yellow spot really isn’t the sun. It is only a reflection of sun on the clouds. Shortly thereafter even that faint hope of sunlight was swallowed up by clouds.

Our home has been invaded by tiny-tiny ants, what my mother always called “sugar ants”. So this morning, as we were leaving for the day, I set off a bug bomb.

I haven’t actively looked for ants but at the same time I’ve not seen any ants since returning home in the evening. No flies either.

We took a drive along the lake this morning. It is a calming way to settle my soul for the challenges of the day. If I were a smarter man, I would also spend time, after work, along the lake.

However, after my day of work, Ella, who had lunch and games … including bingo today … at the Grimes senior center, picked me up and we went to the Village Inn in Johnston.

The Cutty’s Cafe coffee group moved to Village Inn for pie in the afternoon. There were four more that left before I thought to take photos.

This evening Ella went to Cutty’s adult center to play Mexican train with four others.

During that time I worked some on the message for the July 7th worship service.

I missed the sunset but was able to capture some of the afterglow.

God bless and g’nite

All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams

day 28/51