Our Motor Home

It will be 30 years this summer since we bought our new Lindy Motor Home. It was built on a 350 Chevy chases with a V-8 engine, automatic transmission and averaged between 7.5-8.5mpg.  Julie was 3 years old and Carolyn was just ready to start her Teaching career. The four of us went on an extensive trip for our first "outing". It took us to the Black Hills, Devils Tower, Yellowstone National Park, Gardiner, MT, Rock Springs, WY and home. During that first year we went on several short junkets and back to North Carolina to visit kids. We had the Motor Home for 12 years during which time we drove it some 30,000 miles. In '84 the 4 of us went to visit Tim's in Columbus, IN, on to Franklin, NC to visit Jon's and from there to Oklahoma City for a SCSA meeting. In '85 Julie went along with Elaine and I when we visited Tim's, Verlon in Richmond, VA, down to Jon's in Oxford, NC where we all went to an event at the  H.H.Bennett farm. Jon's went along with us up to D.C. for an SCS 50th Anniversary Banquet. We visited Ralston's in Arlington, VA and on up to Davis's near Harrisburg, PA and on home. We covered much of the same ground in '86 by again taking Julie along and going to an SCSA meeting in Winston Salem, NC. We visited all 3 boys and their families on the trip. In '87 Elaine and I drove the Motor Home along with the VW to the SCSA meeting in Billings, MT. We "camped" on weekends with a group of friends from Seward on numerous occasions  and made many short trips during these years. We made a couple trips with the "rig" up to Wisconsin while working over in Ankeny, IA. In '92 Carolyn and Julie went along with us on a trip to Yellowstone. And, in January of '95 we drove it down to Donna, TX where we spent a month including a tour through the Copper Canyon in Mexico. During the past 2 days, I have blogged about the trips we made with the Kilzer's in '87 & '88. In April, 1995 we decided to pass it on to let others enjoy it as we did for those 12 years. 

Motor Home trip to Iowa in '88

Yesterday I wrote about Willard & Audrey going with us to Canada for fishing. This blog is about their accompanying us in our Motor Home in September 1988 to the International Ag Expo and National Plowing Contest that was held near Amana, IA. There was a wide variety of competition and exhibits. Herb Plamback moderated a joint USSR-US event and a parade of tractors and equipment from many countries. We enjoyed seeing the Amish farmers plow with horses and mules as much or more than those with huge tractors. We visited with Wilmer (Vinegar Bend) Mizell, a former St. Louis Cardinal baseball pitcher, whom I had met earlier in his role with USDA. Vice Presidential candidates Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle both spoke. (Their famous debate was about a month later). We visited Middle Amana and saw a Hummel painter from Germany at work. We went on to Homestead and ate at Duke Zuber's family style restaurant. Then we traveled to Boone, IA for the Dick & Sharon Thompson Farm Research Field Day. Their sustainable agriculture objectives were to market all  their products through animals and had developed outstanding systems to do so. I remember of Willard commenting that if he were younger, that is the way he would like to farm. We stopped at the DeSota Bend Wildlife Refuge on our way home. It was a great trip.

Fishing at Delaney Lodge in Ontario

Yesterday I wrote about my 80 year relationship with Willard. One of our experiences was a fishing trip to Canada in the fall of 1987. We drove our Motor Home. On our way we stopped near Slayton, MN and visited with people Willard had worked with during wheat harvest the summer after graduating from HS. We saw the Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on a  HR in the bottom of the 9th by Tom Brunansky. We drove 451 miles the next day through International Falls and on to Kenora, Ontario. The next morning we were flown in a WW II era plane to Delaney Lodge, about 45 miles NE of Kenora. Our cabins were quite primitive but the fishing was excellent. We had 4 days of fishing with Indian guides in each of our 2 boats. They cleaned the fish and fixed excellent "shore lunches". Elaine was the first one to catch a fish which was a Northern about 2 feet long and the guide tossed it back saying, "Too small".  We fished on the English River which was like a big lake with numerous islands. One day we saw smoke raising from one of the Islands and went over to help put out a fire that had gotten out of control. We drove home on I-29 after driving over to near Winnipeg. It was on the "cut-off" around Winnipeg that Willard was driving, the ladies were in the back part of the Motor Home and I was asleep in the passenger seat. It was during the "sleepy" part of the day and Willard dozed off for a minute; we found ourselves off the side of the road down an incline of about 15 feet. It was Willard's skill in driving that he didn't panic, gained control , took the rig on down the incline and then back up on the highway without any consequence. It was a great trip, and we brought back a big batch of frozen Walleye. 

Willard Kilzer--A Long Time Friend

Two weeks ago we ate with Willard and Audrey Kilzer  at the Seward Senior Center where we also enjoyed accordion music. I sat next to Willard and we talked about a variety of things during the nearly 2 hours we were together. The next day Willard had a stroke and yesterday he died. We all have good friends that come into our lives at critical times, share our burdens and joys, and move on for various reasons. Willard was my very good friend for over 80 years. We went to Oak Grove country school together, the Garland Congregational Church, Garland HS, were in the same Thrashing Run, Shelled corn together, sawed wood, played on the same baseball and basketball teams, danced with and dated some of the same girls, etc. Willard was like a member of our family. He went with us when we both bought Purebred Polled Herfords, to Tarkio, MO where we bought an Oliver 70, he took me up to Mead, NE to a corn husking job, and went along on some Conservation Tours after I started working for SCS. We would see them occasionally during our Washington years. Moving back home we farmed across the fence from each other and I sought his farming advice. He helped with our farm sale and they went with us to a Farm Progress Show in Iowa in our Motor Home. The four of us also went on a fishing trip to Canada in the Motor Home. We were together for several years in the Seward Presbyterian Church and they provided us with sweet corn  from their garden. Last June Willard was honored at the Garland HS alumni reunion as a member of the 75-year class.  We always looked forward to visiting at the Senior Center.  The day this picture was taken two weeks ago,  we talked about the possibility of attending the  Auction of a 160-acre farm out in our old neighborhood. It will be held at 11:00am this coming Saturday, the same hour as Willard's Memorial Service. 

Senator Tom Harking and wife Ruth

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has announced that he doesn't plan to run for reelection in 2014. He spent 10 years in the House of Representatives before going to the Senate 28 years ago. Reading the article in the OWH triggered my memory of an experience  that occurred 36 years ago. I had been promoted into a "super grade" positions a few months earlier and attended a 2-week Bookings Institute session at Williamsburg, VA. I rode down from our home in the Mantua area of Fairfax, Co. VA, with at neighbor, Andy Diedrick who participated in the same session. Andy was with the Federal Highway Commission and alerted me that a young lady, going to the session had asked to ride along with us. It turned out to be Ruth Harkin, the young Congressman's wife. There were nearly 50 of us in the class who were at about the same Federal grade level. President Ford gave his State of the Union Address during the time we were in session which we critiqued. Jimmy Carter's inauguration also occured while we were there so we watched that on TV and discussed his message. We were a pretty bipartisan group as is Bookings Institute. At least at that time, it seemed that it was a "haven" for career politicians whose party was not in office. I did have occasion to testify before Senator Harkin as Chair of the Senate Ag Committee (That included Sen. Bob Kerrey from NE) back in the early 90's when they held a hearing in Iowa while I was with the Soil and Water Conservation Society at Ankeny.  

Basketball

Duke beat Maryland 84-64 in Cameron this afternoon.  Nebraska beat Northwestern in Lincoln 64-49 and North Carolina State hosted North Carolina and beat them 91-83    David Thompson was in the audience to cheer on his alma mater. I continue to be amazed at the evolution of the game. Each year it changes. The agility of big men is remarkable. Years ago they played in the post, made hook shots and layups but never dribbled the ball. By the time of David Thompson he was among the first to dribble and jump to nearly the top of the backboard. While it's still a great game requiring strength and skill, it seems that the strength/skill ratio continues to shift toward strength. I watch very few NBA games but there seems to be a "trickle down" effect on style of play to the college and HS levels. I wonder if it hasn't gone about as far as it can go and future changes will be more subtle. Of course, that is what I thought years ago and then the 3-point shot came along. 

Sadie & Fievel

The "Girls" came to visit this afternoon to let us see how Sadie can set up by herself. She is shown here with Fievel which has been at our house since Julie was a little girl. The song I associate with Fievel is "Somewhere Out There" and it brings back some great memories. Julie was 9 years old when I took a job over at Ankeny, IA. Elaine and I had a Condo there but came home to Seward nearly every other weekend to spend time with family. Carolyn and Julie were really a part of our immediate family at that time. Julie liked to play with this Fievel doll and sing "Somewhere Out There". The song is from one of the movies about this little mouse that came to America. The words included something like, "Somewhere we'll meet again someday". Our Office at the Soil and Water Conservation Society had background music that wasn't noticeable while you were working, except when the "Somewhere" song was played. It would cause me to stop working, "hear" Julie singing it, have a cup of coffee and be homesick.