You Get What You Pay For With Bargain Socks...

Cheryl saw that there was a "sale" at the Local HyVee store on Socks.   HyVee is a grocery store that occasionally has a few Hawkeye Items and winter gloves/hats.    With Winter Happening around us,  What better time than now to get those thicker socks for Me....  The Freezing Cyclist that rides next to her.

However,  Every bargain comes with a price.   I discovered this today, putting the first pair of socks on my feet. 

A little un-even-ness has occured.  At first I thought I had not pulled them up all the way.   Nope!  They are really mis-matched.   The good news is the other two pairs seem to be matched properly.   So1/3 of the package is a little "off,"  I guess I can still wear them under my winter cycling pants without any problems.   And No one will be the wiser....  Except me.

Speaking of Winter!  It has hit us with a second punch!  This time it looks more like winter and less like "A Freak Snow Event in Autumn."   And Just in time for Halloween!

 

My prediction is that everyone will do their Trick Or Treat-ing dressed up as Spooky Eskimos!  Eskimo Ghost, Eskimo Vampire, Eskimo Pirate...



As For Cheryl,  She ran in this stuff.  At least the path was mostly clear.   It migh be a problem since all of those leaves fell just before the snow covered them.  This may make the trail maintenance folks have to work a little harder to clear the trail... if they even bother at all. 

Hope everyone is staying warm and dry where they are.   If you are in Iowa,  At least the weather is supposed to warm up after tomorrow.  Fingers Crossed! 

Thanks for stopping in.

And Then It Snowed In Iowa...

So...  What happened to Fall?  It was summer for so long and now we have jumped right into winter.   The cold temps are one thing, but SNOW?   Yes, snow.  Last night and it continues to linger even now as I write this. ( 5P.M.)    Looks like it will last at least a day or two.

So yesterday was chilly and I told Cheryl that if there was a prediction of snow, I would believe it.   There was not supposed to be any untill Friday.  But... Surprise! 

It was then supposed to be a "dusting."   Not really.   I think if I have to shovel the sidewalk or brush off the car,  that is more than a "dusting' of snow.  I am very happy we JUST go new tires 4 days ago. 

Even so,  the snow plows were not out and the snow did not acumulate on the roads or sidewalks in town.   Perfect for a run.  At least as far as the sidewalks being passable. But there are other challenges to winter.

Namely:  Clothing!   Cheryl had to dig out her tights to run in the 23 degree weather.  There has not really been much of an aclimation process this year.   First you are too hot... Now:  Too cold!

Even the fall leaves were caught by surprise!   Most of the trees still had a full canopy of leaves that had just begun to turn.   Now, with the snow weighing them down,   many of the trees are almost bare!

So I took this last opportunity to capture Cheryl with some Fall color.   I took a little  over 700 shots and had to select only a handful for the blog.  Even then, nothing really jumped out at me.   I guess we have to settle for what we can at this point.

With a BIG run coming up in Indiana,  and this snow anouncing it's possible appearance,  it only adds to the probability to "expect the unexpected!"  All bets are off at this moment, but we will still hold out for a glimmer of hope.   Perhaps the weather conditions and racing conditions will hold off and actually be "good enough"  or better than expected.   And this post will show that there are never any "givens" when it comes to a late Fall Marathon.   Wish us luck!

Good Times And Adventures With Mike And Julie

Our ( Cheryl's) Family

Another relative visit within a week of the last one.   Talk about exhausting!  So this is why people hate the holidays...  Not because of the food or toys...but family!

So eager to be entertained.

Just kidding.   We love having Cheryl's fam over so they can experience the AWESOMEness  of Iowa. ( That is a joke, for those of you who do not live in Iowa....)  Yes,  Iowa!  Corn, Pigs,  And No Trees.   All of that is a slight exaggeration, but will encompass most of the state.    So you can imagine our dilemma when we are forced to entertain folks.  There is a high probability of failure.  Or at least...  Failure!

Walk along the Mississippi.

But every now and then,  Iowa provides us with a surprise we never knew.  Sure, It is a large state.  And Yes,  we have not seen all of it.  But after living here almost 10 years and seeing the same things  all over the state,  you really have to hunt for the unusual.   With that lead up.... On with the story

A few Grain trucks were running.

Cheryl wanted to show Jules and Mike Muscatine.  Because Muscatine has the Mississippi river and Tee's.    We also enjoy running and riding there, so we have thoroughly checked the places out. ( Or so we thought.)  We knew that it might be a problem if we could not do outdoor activity, but took the risk anyway. ( Because there was always Tee's, and that is indoors.)

And so did we...  From the Wind and
cold.

Well,  The wind and lack of sun left us cold and numb after visiting the River.   There was very little activity by the grain elevator and barges.   In the end,  we ended up running back to the Subaru for some heat and shelter from the cold.  Walk along the Mississippi:  Fail!

On to Tee's!  Warm Food.  Warm
Environment!

But by that time,  Tee's was open and we enjoyed our lunch.   That was a success!   The food was good and they seemed to enjoy their sandwiches/burgers as much as we normally do.   Lunch at Tee's  :Winner!

Wild Cat State Park.

But what now? We were still on the east side of the state,  and Mike and Jules had fun with us last time hunting for Mushrooms.   This late in the year and with the weather being cold and odd,  I had my doubts if the mushrooms would even make an appearance.  BUT.... We did know of a place where there were some trees and wilderness.   We took them to Wild Cat Den State Park.

Are those.... Trees?

Boyscouts and others were there
as well.

Trail leads to some caves.

Totally clueless,  we rolled the dice and hoped for a good time.  We were pleasantly surprised!  There were trails,   a few mushrooms and some really great scenery to take in.  The mushrooms,  mostly, was a bust.   But the Stumbling onto the caves and cliffs was an exciting find and moment of discovery. 

Mike in the "Bowl" 

The boy scouts where there camping and fixing trails/picking up litter.   There were other people there as well.  Quite a busy place for a cold, windy, overcast day in Iowa.

On the Edge of Infinity....

Jules under the ledge.

We took lots of Pictures and brought a few mushrooms home for Identification.  Overall, Wildcat Den State Park: BIG WIN!

Cheryl climbing out. 

Mike on the Roots.

Back home,   We dropped them off at their hotel room to rest and freshen up.   Cheryl and I did the same.   When they arrived at our apartment an hour or so later,  we wanted to make them a Stocking for their cats.

Stanley on a Stocking.

Time for Allenbrite Magic!

They had already brought us a bunch of treats and gifts for our cat and the Subie.   Cheryl wanted to return the favor.  Let's make them something unique!

Mike and Jules with the
cats

Julie looks pleased. 

With Jules and Mike there providing plenty of pictures and details,  we showed them how the magic happens at Allenbrite Studio.   They seemed to enjoy the experience.    Allenbrite Studio Cat Stocking procedure :Success!

But then on to dinner.   We had big plans for French Dip sandwiches with our Panini press with some Sweet potato fries.   But timing and cooking all was rather jumbled.   Cheryl's Honey Mustard Dipping sauce lost its thickness,  Mike and My sandwich got cold,   The au jus was cold as well.  Just not the best experience we could have asked for.   Special Panini  Press Dinner:   Failure!

Hide and seek in the forest...

But other than that, we did have a good time.   Even the disasters have their moments to remember.  ( Usually bad stuff, though.)  At least Mike and Julie did not get SOAKED like Andy and Tanya.  Fun times with Cheryl and Ethan.   I can imagine we have secured a place for ourselves at the Thanksgiving table as the two groups compare their "Adventures" with us over Turkey and Pie.  Hopefully,  we will at least get a laugh or two.  (Hopefully)

The Iowa Colors:  Yellow Brown and green... all represented. 

So that is all.   A bunch of pics with them and I have to narrow them down to fit on the blog.   Perhaps they will check in and read a few of the lines for a chuckle.  We shall see.

Posing with a Mushroom. 

"Artist's Bracket" with a message.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Weekend so far.   The temps are warming slightly today, and the Sun is out at least.  Cheryl just finished a 17 mile run with no problems.  All that Raspberry Pie she ate last night is working its magic

.  ( PIE POWER!)  It's becoming more and more like Fall now,   so I'm sure Snow will be here soon enough.   Thanks for Stopping in.

Hiro The Shop Cat "Helping."

Hiro rarely bothers us in the shop, unless he is hungry.  He is by far, one of the worst shop cats we have had.  (Out of 6 so far...)   He meows unless we give him attention,  he is bothersome, and never sits still.






But every now and then, he shows Cheryl a little love.

But even that can become a problem.  Eventually,   he makes himself comfortable and pushes Cheryl off her chair. 
Not  very helpful.   But Cheryl does not seem to mind and or notice.   I guess that is what happens when you are starved for a cat's affections.

Fun At The Field Of Dreams With Andy And Tanya.

 Andy and Tanya stopped in to Iowa Today.   They  were in the "neighborhood", so to say, so we linked up with them near Dubuque (Dyersville) for a life long dream to see the Field of Dreams In Iowa.   Field of Dreams,  for those of you much younger than me, is a Kevin Costner Movie about a guy who builds a baseball field in Iowa.

Building a baseball field in Iowa might not sound very special now a days, but it was ground breaking back  in the '80's.   All you people who know of no time before Twitter, probably can not imagine such a scenario.... Yet, that is the world I grew up in.

It seemed rather small at first.  But as we walked around the bases and into the outfield,  It began to appear more  regulation.  Everyone wanted to go into the Cornfield and see if they could find James Earl Jones.  They couldn't.

Then we played an imaginary game.  Andy pitched while Cheryl ran the bases.    The entire event took about an hour.   Much longer than I had originally thought.

But eventually,  you do everything there is to do at an unmanned baseball field in the middle of a corn field.   Time to move on to our next event.

Andy loves taking photos of Old and abandoned buildings.   Cheryl told him of a Gothic Church nearby that allowed the public to come in and take in the view.   So off we went.

A Gothic Catholic Church was pretty cool.   I remember a few Lutheran Churches in Saginaw Michigan similar, but only about 1/4 the "bling".  You could really hear the sound resonate.   For this reason, we kept our voices to a whisper and took what pictures we could.   Andy has some really nice photography equip, so I'm sure his pics will turn out far superior to mine.

We ate at a local diner. (Family Restaurant)  The food was... AWESOME!  Prices fair. ( for today's standards)  And the Service was rather ... simple.   Cheryl and I both noticed the Waitresses rather poor attitude, but Andy and Tanya did not seem to  mind.   She gave us our food at least.  And the cook helped make it a positive experience.

On to some outdoor trail time.  Cheryl learned of a trail that linked Dubuque to some other city 26 miles away. (Dyersville)   We thought we would check it out to see if it would ever fit into our running scheme.

The trail was poorly marked at first.  But with the help of a passing runner,  we found the trail head and started our walk.    Everything was going well... until!

Rain.   Light  at first, but soon drizzling fairly steady.   And would you not know it,  exactly when we decided to turn around.   So at the furthest possible point, the rain fell and we all got soaked.   Good times with Cheryl and Ethan.

But other than that last hiccup.   I think things went well.  Fun little visit as they head to Marshaltown to do some touristy things there.  The temps were rather cool, but warm enough for outdoor activity.  and we all seemed to have plenty to chat about and catch up on.   Good times.

So now we are safe at home and enjoying a warm and dry  rest.  We get to repeat the experience in a few days with Cheryl's Other sibling.   Hopefully we can repeat the quality of the experience with them as well.  We shall see.

Thanks for stopping in .