Hot Weather, Random Downpours, And Running with Wildlife!

Today in Coralville. 

Quite the Popular spot!  See the cars?

The Iowa Summer has begun; And the rain that was supposed to happen earlier this Spring, have finally arrived.  Along with that awful summer heat.   Did I mention the bugs?    Yes!  Gnats, June Bugs, and eventually,  biting Black flies will all welcome us to our outdoor activities.  So much to look forward to.

Downpour on the way to Muscatine.

Downpour this afternoon. 

The rain has been intermittent.  Cheryl says there is a 50% chance of rain every day this week... it just is not certain when it will happen.   Sometimes overnight,  sometimes in the middle of the day.   Today, it happened and less than 10 minutes later, the sun was already shining.   Bringing all that wonderful humidity.

20 minutes later...SUN! 

I should probably switch gears here as I'm sounding like an annoying complainer.   There are so many OTHER things to complain about, lately.    Seems like the weather is an opportunity to avoid the elephant in the room. 

Wildlife sighting:  The Iowa
Milk Snake!

Not the best lighting, but his colors
are very vivid!

But things are not all bad!   Today we were finally able to capture the Milk Snake on Camera!   He was located in nearly the same area where we first saw him last time.

He was not very happy when I pulled
his tail...

 I would like to think it was the same one, but I'm sure there is a possibility that there are more.  And the lighting did not show off his colors like it did back when he was in a more shaded area.  Still,  Fun catch!

A Large Fruiting of Ink Caps. 

Cheryl in Muscatine. 

Yesterday, we went to Muscatine again and were not only able to get completely soaked by the rain, but we also found a large cluster of Ink Cap Mushrooms near a dead tree.   These are edible, but Cheryl refuses to experiment.  And I don't wan to take the risk that they are of the "Tipper's Bane" variety.   ( They make you sick if you drink any alcohol within 72 hours of eating them... which would be very sad since beer and Mushrooms go so well together...)

Not tipper's Bane, but I still
don't want to take the chance. 

Cheryl totally Soaked in Muscatine.

We also captured a blast from the past:  A Ford Pinto!   My family had one of these back in the 70's   Being a ford, it basically sucked.  My Mom totaled it when she ran a red light...with both me and my brother inside the car at the time. ( running late for school....  and Mom was the Worst driver in the world!  Shocking we managed to survive our Childhood.)

The Ford Pinto.

 Ours was a yellow hatchback, but this one looks like a station wagon, complete with that circular rear, retro, bubble window and rainbow stripes.   Gees,  the 70's were the worst for color schemes! ( No one liked avocado, blaze orange,  and chocolate brown.)   But the Pinto was one of those cheap cars that families could afford... and so we had one.   It was fixed up after Mom's reckless driving    er... "Accident. "  From there, it completely rusted out to the point where My Brother would fall through the floor boards.    Pinto's also were noted to explode on impact!  Which, I can attest that that was Totally made up Media Hype... as I was there when we were side struck by a car and did not explode. 

Retro Cool!  With a Trailer/camper.

All this to note that someone has taken car of such a crappy car and managed to outfit it with a spam can camper.   Such a lovely little Easter Egg to find in Muscatine.

Wildlife sighting:  Rabbits...

Under the Blazing sun. 

And finally,  The Coralville Bathrooms are Open!   The bathrooms in Iowa City Trueblood Trail and the Coralville trail have been closed because of this stupid Pandemic.   Now,  things are beginning o open!  I'm just happy I no longer have to Pee in the Poison Ivy...  in front of a crowd of spectators on the trail!    We have not visited the Trueblood Trail yet, but that IS Iowa City, and the Mayor hates Trump and the Republican Governor. Meaning:   We stay closed until AFTER the Election in November.  I'm hoping that is not the case, as I do not enjoy dodging Families and dogs on the Trail so I can heed the call of nature.

Hope everyone is having a fine day where ever you are.  And thanks for stopping in and putting up with me.   Have a good one!