Yesterday, to change things up in our boring lives, we decided to head to Ottumwa, Iowa to ride on some bike trails. I know, "Ottumwa".... How can this be the first time ever visiting such a place? Well, we have passed through several times and have seen a few trails from the road. We downloaded a map of the place to see if they had others. In all, we discovered 12 miles of bike path around the Des Moines river. We even skipped the part in the park because Cheryl was getting hungry. Some of the trails even connected to the "Strip Mall" area... where apparently, there was a carnival going on.
Though you would never know if by what we witnessed. It looked like a post apocalyptic scene from The Day After. Cheryl simply could not resist riding through the area where the rides were set up. I'm sure if there had been people around, we would have gotten a talking to... But there was none. For a Saturday, the entire city seemed abandoned! Even the HyVee was easy to navigate. It did make biking on the trails seem a lot easier.
Other than that... Our overall view was ... "that was nice..but.." Yeah, I doubt we will have to revisit that place any time soon. I'm not sure what was missing, but the scenery was nice. The trails well groomed and maintained. But.... it lacked something. Perhaps it was just a little too far to travel for a typical outing. Or that the weather was sunny and hot. Or the people were just slightly tipping on the creepy side of weird. And that is saying a LOT from the people in Iowa.
But today we decided to try to write that day off the books and headed back to Muscatine. Where... We fooled Mother Nature!
How? Well, the weatherman said it was not supposed to rain today...until about 5 P.M. But. Nature has a way to defying predictions. And the clouds were rolling in. A pleasant change from the endless sun, but neither of us wanted to get soaked in the process.
Usually, the rain holds out until we are out on the trail, far away from any shelter... then it dumps on us. And that is just what would have happened today, had we not taken a bit of a break. We waited in the car for the squall to blow over.
It took a bit of time, but eventually, the rain stopped and we squeezed in a few miles under the grey skies. Still, the heat and humidity climbed back up in no time. Currently, it is very hot and very humid outside. Hurray for AC.
The "neighbor" cats. with Hiro.
Rocket the Glutton.
Other than that, we have been discovered by the neighbor's cats. They come over to play with Hiro sometimes and eat all of the food we have to offer. The peach colored one ( Rocket is the name) is a total glutton! Oreo..( the black and white one) only samples a bit and then harasses me to play with him.
Oreo, the Rodent catcher.
Hiro with "Leo" the farm cat.
Both of those are fixed males ( so no territory disputes here....Thank goodness) but he little orange one... is a stray farm cat. Or so I think anyway. He is not fixed, not very fond of the other cats, and LOVES humans. We gave his some worm medicine and I think it has done the trick for him. Perhaps some flea treatments and a trip to C-snip will make him a little more social to the others. But for now, he eats like Rocket ( a lot!) and sleeps on the bench sometimes. Possibly because he has no where else to go.
Hiro helping Cheryl read her book.
Hope everyone is having a fine Sunday. I'm hoping things cool down this evening so we can go back outside. If for no other reason than to play with the cats. And Hiro enjoys his outdoor time with his friends. Thanks for stopping in.
If is amazing that there were not many people around. I know that people don’t all go to the fair. I have not been to Ottumwa. I guess it gives you more room when you visit there.I went through your home area about three weeks ago. I never did do eastern Iowa until my son and wife moved to Chicago. Three grandkids now so we will be going through more. Our youngest son actually graduated at Iowa U.
Yesterday, to change things up in our boring lives, we decided to head to Ottumwa, Iowa to ride on some bike trails. I know, "Ottumwa".... How can this be the first time ever visiting such a place? Well, we have passed through several times and have seen a few trails from the road. We downloaded a map of the place to see if they had others.
In all, we discovered 12 miles of bike path around the Des Moines river. We even skipped the part in the park because Cheryl was getting hungry. Some of the trails even connected to the "Strip Mall" area... where apparently, there was a carnival going on.
Though you would never know if by what we witnessed. It looked like a post apocalyptic scene from The Day After. Cheryl simply could not resist riding through the area where the rides were set up. I'm sure if there had been people around, we would have gotten a talking to...
But there was none. For a Saturday, the entire city seemed abandoned! Even the HyVee was easy to navigate. It did make biking on the trails seem a lot easier.
Usually, the rain holds out until we are out on the trail, far away from any shelter... then it dumps on us. And that is just what would have happened today, had we not taken a bit of a break. We waited in the car for the squall to blow over.
It took a bit of time, but eventually, the rain stopped and we squeezed in a few miles under the grey skies. Still, the heat and humidity climbed back up in no time. Currently, it is very hot and very humid outside. Hurray for AC.
1 comment:
If is amazing that there were not many people around. I know that people don’t all go to the fair. I have not been to Ottumwa. I guess it gives you more room when you visit there.I went through your home area about three weeks ago. I never did do eastern Iowa until my son and wife moved to Chicago. Three grandkids now so we will be going through more. Our youngest son actually graduated at Iowa U.
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