We had a fairly easy route, straight west on I-80 again. The landscape is getting much hillier, and the hills are taller. There are even areas with trees along the roadside, instead of miles of corn and soybean fields. We even saw some pastures with cows grazing in them. There is something really appealing about seeing a farmhouse surrounded with trees, barns, and outbuildings, in the middle of vast fields of corn and soybeans. Very pastoral, nice to look at, but I wouldn't like to live here.
As I was driving, I had a Roy Orbison CD, and I had another flashback memory. I was in high school and I was driving in a car with Lois and her boyfriend, Harvey Kline. He played classical violin, and when a Roy Orbison song came on over the radio, I remember Lois explaining to Harvey that he was actually a pretty good singer. Then I had another "in-the-car-with-Lois" flashback. She was driving and we were singing "Tip Toe Thru The Tulips" together. When we got to "Stomping through the Tulips" we were laughing so hard and long that Lois needed to pull over until we stopped laughing. Ah, what lovely memories. I am so blessed to have grown up with Lois as such a close part of my life. And even though our lives had us living in different States, she is still so important to me.
We arrived at this beautiful State Park. It has a very large lake, with a 4 mile trail all around it. Full hook up campsites, right along the lakeside. Unfortunately, the weather was so hot and humid, that even in the shade, it was too hot to be outside. And, it took many hours to get the RV cooled down from the 92 degrees it started at, to the 77 degrees I set the AC at. So, I left Peter in the warm RV and drove over to the beach area, on the other side of the lake. Very large beach, nice sandy area, a little shade. The water was VERY refreshing! I plunged in and swam and floated for quite a while, giving my body a chance to cool down. And, I was the only one there! I'm told that Iowa schools have already started, so during the week, there are fewer campers.
After dinner, it had cooled off enough that we went for a stroll around the campgrounds. There are several loops along this long lake. As we walked, a lone black duck came down the road towards us, then started following us. The camp host told us that someone had dropped the duck off, and now it hangs out near people. We watched the sunset over the lake. Very pretty.
Anita State Park photos:
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