The Balloon 10 K At Lake Red Rock.

No Balloons this year...

No morning Launch.... Too Windy?

Only the Balloons were not there.   They canceled at the last minute because of wind... apparently,   And that was the Whole reason we went to that place!   Oh,  And to run a 10 K.   But really it was to see the Balloons and eat cake on the Beach.  Or so that is what sold Cheryl on it.  Why else would she possibly want to run in  85 degree heat?

Someone misspelled
business on Google Maps.

Arrive early. 

We woke up incredibly early this morning so as to beat the heat.  But the race officials delayed the race about 10 minutes.    10 minutes may not seem long, but it was enough time for the clouds to disperse and begin the heating process.   But I'm getting a little ahead of the story.

Picking up Cheryl's Bib and Shirt.

Eat Hotcakes!

We arrived at around 6 A.M. and picked up Cheryl's packet and shirt.  We had some time to kill, but the race was having a pancake fundraiser.  And Runners ate for free!   Cheryl got in line and grabbed some hotcakes and sausage for me...  while she nibbled a bit on the ends.

Shaky, clumbsy, and twitchy are the
cooks..

The Lion's Club volunteered to do the flipping.   Three old guys in blue shirts.   Talk about the three stooges!   Putting three old guys together is like watching clowns without the makeup.  I know they were volunteers, so the standards are very low, but seriously!   Who can't flip pancakes?   I figured everyone learned how to do this task proficiently after working the breakfast at McDonald's.... But perhaps my assumptions do not apply to Rural Iowa. 

They even had a device to help
them, Yet they still overlapped
the flipped ones...

Volunteers!  And worth every Penny.

These guys were seriously challenged by hotcake flipping.   Grown men!  With A grill and spatula... Unable to figure out the wrist twist involved to flip hotcakes.  They all shook so bad the hotcakes often fell off the spatula before reaching the plates.   I did like the three cake dispenser though.   It mostly kept the hotcakes equally sized. 

Rainbow, promise of rain? 

Clouds, Promise of  Overcast skies?

And the Hotcakes and sausage was all good...  so even though it was frustrating to watch them cook the food, it sill managed to taste just fine.

The Race Starts...10 minutes late.

Nope,  Sunny and heating up

On to the race!   The course was an out and back, so I only caught Cheryl at the start and finish.   They ran with the 5K-ers.  Meaning,  most of the people were not foolish enough to run 6 miles in this heat!   And so the 10K-ers were going to run into the walkers eventually.

Cheryl looks good. 

Waves to me. 

Has to run on Grass and gravel. 

Follow the trail.

Cheryl managed to finish 4 place female.   and win the Master's medal after all that complaining.   Her plan was simply to run the race casually, and watch the balloons while eating cake. 

Coming in for the finish. 

Chasing a rabbit man. 

Cheryl aims for the finish. 

He sure was fast... 

Funny how things did not turn out that way.  But she DID win an award!  And $50 bucks on a gift card for a shoe place.  There were no finisher's medals at this race, AND she ran against the cross country team that sponsored it,  ( high school athletes)   So winning the medal made up for all that competition a lack of bling.

Master 1st place award.

For the Balloon race with no
Balloons...

With the Balloons missing,  the cake absent, and the heat bothering us terribly,  we decided to head to Pella and see if we could score some food and beverages on our own.   Turns out,  Pella was having an Auto Show! 

And $50 Bucks!  Yeah Cheryl!

Car Show in Pella.

I love Auto shows.   I took many pictures of lots of old cars.  Too many to show off on the blog, but the two cars that most captured my attention was the AMC Spirit,  and the Oldsmobile Delta 88.  Here's why:

My first Car.   Ah, the Memories. 

AMC Spirt...  Looks like my old
Gremlin 

The AMC spirit looks just like the AMC Gremlin... my first car.   It had a straight 6 cylinder engine and lots of pep!  Funny how nostalgia creeps up on you. I could not find the owner of the car to chat with.   It begs the question:  Why restore an AMC Spirit/Gremlin at all?  Not a very sexy vehicle... not a muscle car or rarity.  Did he have some long ago attachment to the vehicle as I did?   I may never know... but that car seemed a little strange in a place filled with GTOs, Mustangs, Corvettes, and Novas...

My Dad's Favorite car. 

His was 4 door and Brown.  With a Diesel engine

The Delta 88 was my Dad's favorite car.   He LOVED that car.   Ever see a grown man brought to tears because Mom made him get rid of it?   It stays with you.   Dad took the Delta 88 ( 4 door, copper brown, with a diesel engine.) all over the US when he was an electrician.  Boston, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania...etc. It was his sole companion for many lonely miles, I'm sure.   It blew 3 engines and 2 transmissions over its lifetime.   And I think he was happy as a clam to get over 250,000 miles on it.  ( If he had only known about Subarus at the time....)
Mom made him give the car up rather than get a minor repair fixed.  Dad took it personal, but probably saw the writing was on the wall for the car's lifespan;  so he conceded.

Restored Police Car.

Seeing a Delta 88 at the show was a cool thing.   Someone else in the world though that was a cool car as well.   Cool enough to keep it running and resorting it to it's former glory.  I'm sure if my Dad had the money and the time, he would have liked to do something like that  in his retirement.   Then again,  maybe he was happy to finally get a new car.   One he did not love or care about too much. 

1964 Volkswagen Bug Restored.

Chevy Impala.  How things have
changed.  ( SO much space in the trunk)

One final note,   A 1964 Volkswagen Beetle.   Pimped out and detailed with flames and purple/blue paint.   Mike,  my brother-in-law, is trying to restore a beetle he acquired from a friend.   He lacks the time at the moment, ( don't we all...)   but from hearing his plans,  this is the image he paints when he describes what he has in mind.   Perhaps it will inspire him to put the plans on the front burner.

BBQ Cook-off in Oskaloosa.

The Smells were intoxicating. 

Then on to Oskaloosa... where they were having a BBQ festival!   All these festivals on the same day!   We skipped the BBQ samples, but the smells were intoxicating.

Cheryl thinks about running through. 

Tempted by cool water

Cheryl thought about running through the water fountain to cool off, but we decided to head out for Ice cream instead.   The heat was pretty bad by this time, so getting home into some AC seemed like a better plan.   I feel for the people cooking on a day like this.   They had some serious Hardware for the BBQ contest.  It would have been cool to see how things went, if the weather had been nicer.

Turkey Vulture Hanging 10 on the
Heat vents near the Dam. 

So now we are home and showered up.   At least the Apartment is cool and we can enjoy the rest of the day in comfort.   Hitting three events,  even though one fell through and the other two were unplanned, takes a lot of energy out of you.  I doubt we will be going out for a bike ride this evening.   But Cheryl mentioned S'mores later tonight...  We shall see what she has planned.

Thanks for stopping in.

Cleaning the Subie Engine Bay.

I should do this at least once a year.   Subie gets so dusty here in Iowa, that I think it should be a routine.   And besides, if I have the time, I actually like making the Silver Bullet Subaru sparkle.

Actually, there was not too much that needed to be done.  Mostly it was just dust.   Not much grime or oil gumming things up.  Still,  while reaching my hands around inside, they get dirty. ( I hate that!)  If my hands are going to get dirty,  it should be because I'm doing something like changing oil.  Simply removing a part or replacing a belt or hose should be an easy and "dirt Free" affair.  But it never happens that way.

So after removing a few components and scrubbing a few things with a toohbrush,  the difference is hardly noticable to the naked eye.   But,  I can now reach into the back of down into the engine and come back with a clean hand.   Good enough!   

I'm sure it will not last.   Possibly less than a week and it will be covered in dust and bug goo again.  But at least it sparkles for now.

Hope everyone is having a fine day and keeping cool.   The clouds around here are at least keeping the sun at bay a little.  Cheryl even hung outside for a while, while I was tidying up the car.  As long as the Iowa Death Sun does not have a clear sky to flame away,   Iowa can be tolerable in the Summer.   Thanks for stopping in.

A Morning In Muscatine.

Bike Ride Morning In Muscatine. 

Barges being loaded. 

Today was a "Muscatine Morning."   Where we travel to Muscaine,  Exert a tremendous amount of energy exercising, and then celebrate (assuming we survived it,) at the Local Ice Cream place....Tee's. 

Grain trucks filling the bin. 

Each barge being loaded with Grain.

Now for the train to make a delivery. 

So arrving early to beat the sun as best we could,   we watched the Barges coming in and loading up with grain.   At the same time the Trucks and trains were dropping it off at the grainery.  It never gets old watching that mush corn/soybeans moving out.

Check out just how much is actuall in
them! 

We rode our bikes today, because the sun was bound to be hot, and Cheryl was not feeling a long run in the heat.   The heat did indeed arrive!   And both of us looked like melted wax people after it was over.

Trains in the Morning sunlight. 

21 miles and some change. 

By the way,  Tee's did not open up until 10:30.   So we have to kill an extra couple of hours.   This meant we had to ride our bike a little extra...  21 miles to be exact!   21 miles all in one sitting.   Speaking of sitting,  riding 21 miles on a bike will make you NOT want to sit the rest of the day.

Some Origam Tips. 

Time to Celebrate at Tee's

But we survived it.   I guess we could have tried to kill 2 hours at HyVee or Harbor Freight...  but we chose exercise.. because of all those "health benefits" that exercise is supposed to have.  I don't know about Cheryl, but I sure felt like I was dying.   I only felt better after it was over.

Cheryl enjoys her Sundae. 

Some routie kids make staying inside
unbearable.   (Yes, there were...
"ineffective" adults there.) 

But then on to Tee's,  where Cheryl got her Sundae and I had my two burgers with everyhing on them.  It was unfortunate that there was a group of children in the lobby making so much noise you could hadly think!   Some people simply do not know how to keep their kids quiet.  We ended up eating outside... in the sun.   But the Burger and sundae were still delicious.

Hyvee shows us Super Parents and
How things are done right. 

Speaking of Kids.   Having none of our own,  I do feel that I can still judge and see how things should be done.   Example.   After that chaos at Tee's,  We went into the Hyvee.   There, in front of us, was a young couple with a baby/ toddler.. perhaps 2 years old.   The kid started to act up and the Mom ( looked like early 20's)  shushed him.    The Dad ( I'm assuming there are still Dads out there...) stopped playing on his phone,   mumbled something to the "wife".    She mumbled something back and suddenly the Dad picked up the kid and put him on his shoulders.   Both the Dad and the Kid (Who was now happy. ) walked out of the store while the Mom could pay for the grocieries in Peace.   It happened so fast and with seeming insignificance, that Cheryl didn't even notice the kid was gone! 

It's a 2 person Gig.   Wih Balance
issues....

And this is why Dad's are important.  Seriously,   I can't imagine anyone thinking that  raising a kid on their own can be easy.  But I guess they do.   Lots of Divorces and single parents around.   It's a tag team effort, in my opinion.   I doubt the family in front of me even though about how the little event they demonstrated would be seen or even noticed by a total stranger.   But I noticed.   And I was a warm feeling knowing that Families.. still exist.  Thanks for stopping in.

Running, Hunting, and Baking With A Subaru.

Clusters of Oyster Mushrooms.

Cheryl had so much fun finding those Golden Oyster Mushrooms and baking up a Pizza... that we had to go back to get the remaining pins.  Off to Coralville!

Cheryl runs her 7 miles. 

Cheryl did her usual 7 mile run this morning.   The temps were in the upper 70's, but quickly rose to the unbearable mid 80's   Luckily, she only ran the usual 7 miles and not a long run.

While on the trail, however,  we passed the Golden Oyster tree that was covered with old mushrooms several weeks ago.   This time,  there were lots of bunches... but they were all just a little past their prime.   I picked a couple of bunches to bring home, just in case....  But Cheryl had other ideas.

From mere "pins" to clusters in one
day! 

Each one about the size of a hand. 

She wanted to go back to the tree where we found them yesterday.   What a difference a day makes!   The small pins had ballooned up to a  decent size.   We picked all the ones that looked ready.   In the same area, there is a log that had the oysters growing on it as well.    It had every form of the mushroom, from old and black to young and tiny.  I cleared off the ones that were perfectly ripe and left the rest.  I'm sure there will be more tomorrow.

Mushroom Pizza's are the Best!

Bags of goodies.  

So, for the second day in a row,  Cheryl made us a pizza.   Fresh home-made crust with our choice of toppings.   And LOTS of mushrooms.   We still have two bowls of them on the kitchen table.  Whatever we do not eat, we will take to the park and inoculate some of the dead trees down there.   With a little luck, we might get a cluster growing in our own neighborhood.   And since no one else is likely to know what golden oysters are.... OR if they are edible, we will have them all to ourselves!    Yeah!

Older cluster on the left,  See the
difference?  The young ones look better

And now on to the Subaru.   Just like I mentioned before, what would normally take 15 minutes has taken me an entire week to complete!    I specifically talking about the Front Differential fluid change. 

Torx... (star) bit. 

The Star bit.  (Or Torx Bit... for  people who speak "mechanic".) was in fact, a T 70.   It arrived today, and I was in the mood to get things done.   I originally planned on doing it on Wednesday, but Muscatine was calling,  the clouds were blocking the sun, and the stars appeared to align for me.  I leveled up the Subaru and got to work.

Drain out the old oil. 

Drain plug. 

The bit fit nicely,  and came off with a little effort.   After that, it was just like changing the oil.   I torqued down the drain plug and filled it up with the recommended gear oil.  It really was that easy.  (Most things ARE... if you have the right tools!) The only thing that was not as planned, was the crush washer was too big... Or I should say, the new one was too small.

clean off the "metal" from the
magnetic rain plug. 

Oh, yeah!  The plug is magnetic for a
reason. 

This did not stop me from  changing out the old one on the oil pan though.   I figured I might as well change the oil while I was level and propped up.   So,   new oil in the front Differential,  New oil in the read Differential,  New Transmission fluid in the transmission.  New oil in the engine.   I rotated the tires..  (As a side note, I discovered a couple of nails in one of the tires.   Down to Reggie's Tire for a quick fix!)   That one tire was really irritating me with a slow leak.   I'm so happy I discovered it this time around. 

Looks like I will be reusing the Old
crush washer. 

Topped off and ready! 

Whew!  That is a lot of junk to stack up in a three week free period.   And wouldn't you know it will have taken the entire three weeks to do it all.  Sometimes I wish I could just do things and they would be easy.....  so Cheryl would not have to worry and I would not have to suffer through sleepless nights.  The last thing on the agenda, before our next Pearson project, is cleaning our the Engine bay.   I don't know how much time I will invest in this, Since Iowa is a rather dusty state.  But,  I like keeping Subie as clean as I can.  Both inside AND outside.  The Rust may have to wait until nicer weather comes.   And a longer gap between projects.   We shall see how things work out. 

The reason for all this pandering.  Subie's 300,000 mile anniversary
is quickly approaching! 

Thanks for stopping in!.

Stag Beetles and Golden Oyster Mushrooms!

Today was a fine day for Mushroom hunting.   Mostly, because we found some when we were not expecting them.   ( I did not have my camera for our little walk through the woods.)




But we discovered that the Boletes are out!   We grabbed a handful of them as we searched around.   There were many areas that were filled with Stinging nettle, and the ever present poison Ivy,   So we limited our searches to the trail.   We searched for Chanterelles as well, but found nothing.   It is possible that they are there, but we could not find them from the trail.

With the bolete discovery,   we swung by one of your favorite oyster tree to see if there was any new summer growth.   And we were not disappointed! 

The tree was just beginning to "pin" the new mushrooms.   I sliced off several small clusters and we took them home.   These guys are really small, but we already missed a batch on the other tree, so I did not want to give hem another day's growth and risk the possibility of missing them.  Besides,  Fresh baby mushroom might taste more tender and flavorful.   We are going to find out in about 15 minutes, because Cheryl is making a Pizza for them!   I can't wait!





And lastly,   Here in Iowa,  they have these wonderful red Stag Beetles.   Truely ferocious looking and awesome.   Last night, the cat found a couple in the yard and was watching them.   Not sure if they were two males or a male/female mating pair.   Either way,  I snapped a few pics of them before rounding up the cat for the night.   If I were still a collector of insects,  I would have considdered them for my trophy case. 

Other than that,   the temps are lower than they were and hopefully, we will enjoy the remainder of the week  outside.  Perhaps another Muscatine visit is in our future.   We shall see.