Campbell Road Trips

081108: Des Moines, IA

We left Ken and Linda's today, enroute to Iowa, going to see how far we can get, guess-timation is Des Moines.

We decided to go west and take State Highway 46, which took us through Bloomfield, IN, home of Indiana University Bloomington. We drove through the campus which was very well kept (didn't expect otherwise though) and headed off towards Terre Haute, IN.

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After Terre Haute, took some back roads and went through Paris, IL.

Made it into Iowa and stayed at the Best Western Des Moines West Inn & Suites (our home away from home on this trip it seems), this one had one of the best continental breakfasts of any place we have been, they even had biscuits & gravy, FTW!!

Tomorrow on the road to South Dakota.

080908: Family Bar-B-Que

After getting back into the North Vernon area, we headed directly to Susan and CD's place. Haven't seen them since about 2002 when they came out to Oregon for a visit. They also have a great place, large property with its own stocked pond so we did take advantage!

Here are a few pics from the day, was a good day to get reconnected with everyone. And Olivia caught her fish!

080808: Off to see the Amish

We have plans to see the Amish area but first we are off to the pond to try our luck at fishing. The pond has bass and some catfish in it, we didn't care which one we caught as long as we caught something.

Jack caught one good sized bass, Olivia not so lucky this time but we still have plenty of time to fish so I'm sure she will be successful. After another cup of coffee and a shower, all of us except Dad and the kids went on the tour (they wanted to keep fishing and hang out at the house).

We went to several stores along the way to the auction, then had a great buffet at Gasthof's Amish Village. This was the best buffet I think I've ever been to, and I've been to several! The whole complex is very nice, several shops and a hotel. After this it was off to the auction at Dinky's Amish Auction Center, I believe owned by the same family.

On the way there Ken pointed out the new paving on part of the roads, which is needed due to the wearing down by the horse drawn carriages the Amish use.

Ken dropped us of while he was on a mission to get some fresh corn for tomorrows family bar-b-que at Susan and CD's place. While wandering around I found a couple different types of carriages in use.

Here is the family wagon:

And here is the 2 seat coupe:

And for those single guys, looking for a bit of a thrill and to impress their girl, here is the sport version:

I would be remiss if I didn't give a nod to the refer truck, how else can they keep the product fresh for auction??:

The vehicles ran the gamut here:

And as we left the auction, we got one last look at the lineup:

Great day, tomorrow we are off to tour Woodford Reserve and then the family bar-b-que.

080708: Arrival at Ken and Linda's, North Vernon, IN

Arrived tonight about 11pm after moving quickly through Tennessee and Kentucky. We didn't have an address, but Dad assured us he could find Ken and Linda's from memory, afterall it was only 15 years ago that he was here last. So we exited off I65 and made our way to North Vernon..that part was the easy part. We turned onto Indiana State Route 3 and Dad unbuckled as he prepared to prove us all wrong. He was on edge, finger at the ready to point to the house and scream "Ah Ha! I told you I could find it!!"...his moment never came however as we didn't quite make it there. We got pretty close but finally had to call Ken for further directions. So Mom got us on the right road. "OK Mom, what was the address?".....silence..."I didn't get it, just go down this road and Ken will come out and meet us"....There are quite a few houses down this road but ok, then Dad got his bearings and led us to the right one...so all in all it wasn't a complete win for Dad, Mom had an assist on it..Good try though Dad!! Ken came out and met us, hadn't seen him or Linda in about 2 years when they were last out to the West Coast so was great to see them again. The property is gorgeous as the pictures you will see later will attest, and Linda has a great eye for decor. We sat and talked for awhile then headed up to bed, had been a long day on the road.

In the morning on Friday, we made our way to Ken and Linda's Old Mill Breakfast Bar for some pancakes, eggs and sausage, not to mention some fresh coffee and orange juice.