After the snow came rain, rain and more
rain. So I stayed planted where I was, hoping I wouldn't grow roots.
Wrong worry. There has been 2-4 campers here and 10-20 cars of
morel hunters. I hear them yelling to each other, notice them
searching through the woods, hear them laughingly gloat over a find
and have even talked to a few of them. Morels are sprouting after
the rains and they will bring $20/lb to the successful
hunter/gatherer. There have been so many of 'them' I don't
understand how there can be any morels left to successfully propagate
for next year. On the other hand, if I had a steak, I'd be out
looking too.
When the rains quit and the sun was
more than a cruel joke, I headed to Pella, Iowa. Pella has more than
windows, as a matter of fact, I never drove past a window factory so
I can't say for certain its even here. Fortunately I also missed the
weekend tulip festival. Instead, I went on a Tuesday and there were
so many doddering old people around I thought it was one of those
'senior' discount days. The clerk I asked told me to celebrate being
young – that oldsters were left-over from the festival. So I
looked at tulips ( they were quite pretty), took pictures of tulips
and, took pictures of people taking pictures of tulips. I even
visited the town's real windmill – different from the small one in
the town-square visitor center a block away - where I bought flour
ground there. The sack of flour I picked up was damp and when I
asked, the clerk/volunteer/dedicated-mill-person told me they keep it
in a freezer. Maybe next batch they will take out the previous night so the sacks can dry.
One the way back to my campground I
drove through another town. Being who I am, I went looking for
tulips in that town too. All I found was one small bed and it set me
to wondering, are there Pella vigilantes who dig up surrounding towns'
tulips?, a back-room mayors' agreement? or maybe all tulip lovers have
moved into Pella? Alas, its more interesting to speculate than to
know.
Rain is back however warm temperatures
have stayed so today I put away my cold weather sleeping bag and made
up the bed with real sheets and blankets. To further celebrate, I
drove a few miles south to the town of Knoxville, IA, to sample beer
at Peace Tree Brewery. When I first arrived it was the supper hour
and no one else was in their bar. I don't mind having the chance to talk
beer so it was fine with me. One of the owners served me a flight of
their eight current beers. While he was labeling and laying them out, a couple of parents plus children dropped in. They each had
children in baseball; young game over and a break before the older
kids played. Parents got beers, kids got freshly brewed root beers.
Being an A&W fan I almost tried the root beer too. Next stop I
will. Note to beer drinkers in the Twin Cities, Peace Tree is on tap
as several city locations. Their Blonde Fatale is worth trying and the
Imperial Stout is, I think, as smooth as Guinness. Even though the
beer is sweeter than I generally prefer, it is so good, I did leave with a 6-pack.
Now its off to bed for tomorrow beckons
and Wild Cat Den State Park near Davenport is next camp of call.
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