Saturday 4-25-26 Fun Time in Des Moines & Cherry Glen Campground

 

Iowa Capitol Building in Des Moines 

We had an awesome day.

We woke up to the morning temperature of 45 degrees in Pella, Iowa and a little breeze. The high temperature was 73 degrees in Johnston, Iowa. 

I got up at 7:00 am and got dressed. Then we had breakfast. After breakfast we put things away and secured because we're moving on. We had five fabulous days at Red Rock Lake but it's time to move on.

On the way out of Howell Station Recreation Area we stopped at the dump station to dump our tanks and fill the water tank with water. They had two dump stations and each station had to dumps and fresh water. Larry didn't have to use our hose to fill the water tank because they had a hanging hose and he could put our filter on it. This made it so much easier. While Larry dumped the tanks I walked over to the gate house and put our site tag in the box. The gate house was just across the street.

After dumping the tanks and getting water we were on the road at 8:00 am. Larry drove 75 miles on four lane highways and partly on an interstate. He prefers two lane or four lane highways then interstates. He feels they're less stressful. 

We stopped in Des Moines to have some fun. 

First was the capitol building. It opened at 8:00 am and we arrived at 9:00 am. We parked in a giant visitor parking lot by the capitol building. There was no one in the parking lot so we had no problem finding a spot. Then we walked over to the capitol building. When we entered the building we had to go through security. The two guys were very friendly. We went to the information booth and found we got there in good timing because the first tour was at 9:30, which was about 20 minutes away. This gave us some time to walk around. They had a small gift shop. Our tour guide was Jamie and she had been doing the tours for five years. She did an excellent job of talking about the structure of the capitol building. Her background was in architecture so a lot of the tour was about the architecture of the building. During the tour we saw the first ladies and first gentleman of Iowa doll case. In 2017 Kim Reynolds became the first female governor in the state. So her husband became the first first gentleman of the state. She talked about the USS Iowa (BB-61) battleship and showed us the model. We went inside the Supreme Courtroom. They don't hold their regular sessions in the capitol building, they're in the Judicial Building on the Capitol grounds south of the capitol building. We went inside the House of Representatives gallery and walked around the library. The library was gorgeous with spiral staircases. We saw a lot of beautiful art about the history of Iowa. We walked up a 91 step spiral staircase to get into the dome. At places it was very tight. Once in the dome we walked around and saw the dome up close. It was a great tour for 90 minutes.

First ladies doll case  

Jamie our tour guide

Women's rights movement sculpture

Supreme Court

Westward by Blash

Left to right mosaics (glass) paintings (Defense, Charities, Elective Judiciary and Education) by Dieleman

 

The library

Capitol Dome

One of the statues on the capitol grounds

Another monument on the capitol grounds

After the tour we went back to the Minnie and had lunch. Then Larry drove to the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. It's 4.4-acre park with 24 sculptures. Before walking the sculpture park we saw a gorgeous clock on a building. It's a digital clock, that changes every hour on the hour. It didn't take too long to walk around but we saw some nice sculptures from different artists.

Timepiece by OVORAM

Three Dancing Figures by Keith Harring

In the Morning by Anthony Caro

The Thinker On A Rock and Ancient Forest by Louise Bourgeous

Spider and Juno by Louise Bourgeous

Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama

White Ghost by Yoshitomo Nara

The last stop was Des Moines Art Museum. It was a fantastic museum with a lot of paintings, sculptures, modern art and mixed media. There are art works that are permanent and made by well known artists, such as: Edward Hopper's Automat from 1927, which was made in a postage stamp, Stanton McDonald Wright's Synchromy, which has been reproduced in numerous texts about art/movement and Francis Bacon's Portrait of Pope Innocent from 1953 appeared in Robert Hughes' BBS series The Shocks of the New in 1980s. The art was on display on three floors and in a sculpture garden. We didn't go through the garden. The special art exhibits is by Maria Lassnig. She does animated films and gets some of her ideas from watching television. The museum was established in 1948.

Des Moines Art Museum

Henry Payer Winnebago Lodge and The Wandering Winnebago (horse pulling the Winnebago)

Maria Lassnig from watching television

Sad Sack by Elizabeth Murray

Animal Pyramid by Bruce Newman

Klown by Robert Arneson

Composition In Three Figures by Leon Kroll

After walking around the museum we went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. After putting all the groceries away we were back on the road.

Our final destination for the day was U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Saylorville Lake Cherry Glen Campground. On the way there we stopped at Chasey's to fill up the Minnie with gas. Once this was done we continued another four miles to Saylorville Lake. 

We stopped at the gate house to check-in and the gentleman said just go to the site. Our site was #79 and we had no problem finding it. The campground only had a few sites available when Larry made reservations yesterday. They have three more Corps of Engineers campground on the lake but they don't open until May 1st. The sites are very close to each other but that's ok because it's only for one night.

Camping at Cherry Glen Campground on Saylorville Lake

After setting up the Minnie for the night it was 3:00. 

I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Klondike and 3 Free Cell). It took me 19 minutes and 13 seconds, which put me in 33rd in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

Larry did some research on where to go from here. For dinner we shared a salad from Walmart.

After dinner I walked around for 35 minutes for 1.33 miles. By the end of the day I only did 11,000 steps. We had a super day.  

        

 

            

Friday 4-24-26 Change of Plans

Camping at Howell Station Recreation Area

About 9:30 pm last night a front came through. It rained hard and steady for a couple of hours but didn't go away until early morning. It left us with a cool temperature of 47 degrees and a north wind. The high was 62 degrees. The wind stayed around all day and kept it very nice and cool. Perfect type of weather for our way of camping. A gorgeous day with blue skies.

When Larry woke up he went online and extended our stay at Howell Station for another night because of the rain. Our plan had been to go to Des Moines and stay at the Fairgrounds, the camping there is in a grassy field. He asked Google if people got stuck in the field after a rain. Google said yes.

I got out of bed at 7:15 and got dressed. Then we had breakfast. After breakfast we went on a 3.75 mile walk. The route we did was almost the same as yesterday's walk except, where the Volksweg Trail Yd off to the day area or hiking trail we turned left and went to the day area. We wore our jackets because it was a little nippy. The trail took us to the main highway where we hiked it to the road to North Overlook Recreation Area. Then we walked to the day area and walked around it. The final leg was back to the campground. As we walk we enjoyed the chirping of the birds, the birds playing in their birdhouses and saying hi to people we walked by. It was a super walk around the campground.

Woodpeckers enjoying a park attendant birdfeeder

 

Howell Station Recreation Area

Larry finished the second book he started yesterday and started another one. He also finished this one. I continued reading The Curse of Pietro Houdini.

Relaxing with a good book

After lunch we went on another walk. We walked to the entrance gate to let the attendant know we had extended out stay another night. She was the same attendant as the other day. She and her husband were standing outside of the booth. We talked to them a little bit. Then we continued our walk on Volksweg Trail going the opposite direction as we have been walking it. When we got back to the bridge Larry went back to the Minnie and I continued walking across the river to the day area and Ivans Recreation Area. When I walked around the day area by the dam I saw a lot more people fishing on the banks and more people bicycling and walking. Ivans had more people in it also. I guess it's because it's Friday. I ended up walking for an hour and 20 minutes for 3.66 miles. It was another beautiful walk.

The bridge that takes you across the river

Birds enjoying their birdhouse at the dam

White pelicans enjoying each other company

I played my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Game Tango of 20 games (10 Spider and 10 Tri Peaks). It took me 2 hours, 45 minutes and 16 seconds to complete, which put me in 19th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After dinner I did a third walk for 45 minutes for 1.75 miles. I just walked the campground without going to the day area. I spent the rest of the night reading and finishing my games.

Fishing off the banks of the Des Moises River

By the end of the night I had done 20,500 steps. Wow, I haven't done this amount of steps in a long time.  We had a super day. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!

 

   

    

Thursday 4-23-26 Overcast Day, Walking & Camping

 

American Bald Eagles 

We had a fantastic day. It was overcast and humid all day. The morning temperature was 60 degrees and the high temperature was 76 degrees.

I got up a little late, it was 7:30 am. Then we had a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and shared a vanilla shake. 

The Volksweg Trail is a paved trail, that goes all the way to Pella and all around the campgrounds and day areas. It a beautiful trail and is used all the time by bicyclist, joggers and walkers. No motor vehicles are allowed. It's used by the locals and campers alike. It goes over the Des Moise River via a wooden bridge. We use parts of it for our morning walks and I use part of it for my evening walks.     

After breakfast we got ready to go on a walk using the Volksweg Trail, we walked 4 miles for 1 hour 45 minutes. We started from our site and picked it up by the bridge. We didn't have to walk to the Horn's Ferry Bridge to see the bald eagles, they were flying along the river by the bridge by us. We walked on the bridge and watched them fly for a little while. We got back on the trail and continued to Howell Station entrance. When we got there we continued our walk across the street until it crossed the main road. We walked the road to the sign that pointed to the North Overlook Recreation Area. Then we walked the road to where the trail intersected by the dam. We took the trail to the right and walked it to the trailhead sign of a trail. This trail goes for 13 miles and is called Elk Rock Equestrian Trail. We kept on going to a pedestrian tunnel, that took you under the road and up to a bathroom and parking lot. We walked through the tunnel and then turned around and headed back. As we walked we saw a couple of ladies walking like us and said hi to them. When we got back to where the trail Ys we kept walking towards the campground. We didn't go straight to the campground we walked to the day area. We walked around the day area and rested on a bench for a little bit. After our rest we headed back to our site. We saw a couple of ladies unloading their strollers from their vehicle and getting ready for a walk. The trail was about a mile to get back to the Minnie. We had a humid beautiful walk. 

Pedestrian Tunnel

My band didn't correctly track the mileage for the hike, not sure what happened. Larry was tracking the hike on his watch. It said we had walked 4.25 miles and mine said we ha walked 3.3 miles. He teased me and said I had to walk some more to catch up with him. Fortunately it did count my steps correctly.

After lunch we went over and took a shower. 

Larry spent the rest of the day relaxing. He finished a book yesterday so he started a new book and finished it. Then he started a second book.

Reading is fun

I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 39 minutes and 11 seconds, which put me in 24th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

About 2:00 I did my evening walk because it was suppose to rain. I walked for 3.5 miles. I walked over the bridge to get to the other side. While I was walking on the bridge a couple of bald eagles flew over my head. What a beautiful site. Then I saw a couple more. The eagles were very active on the river today. Then I walked the trail towards the day area. But I stopped at Eagle Lair Nature Trail, which is .6 miles. I walked it twice going both directions. It was a very easy grassy trail, that goes through the trees and along the river back to the bridge. It was very easy and had no roots or rocks to trip over. As I walked the trail I heard and saw the eagles and white pelicans. It was very nice. I walked it twice by accident because I thought I missed something when I went the first time. After doing the trail I got back on the Volksweg Trail and went to the day area. There weren't too many people fishing today, I think I saw two people. I walked around the day area. Then I walked to Ivans Campground and walked around it. As I was walking around Ivans I stopped and visited with a gentleman, who comes here all the time. Then I continued my walk back to Larry. I called him to let him know I was ok because I didn't make it back in an hour, it was going to be an hour and a half. It was another beautiful walk. 

   

Dandelions

Giant fish at the day area to play on

White Pelicans in the river

Bald eagles in the trees

I spent the rest of the day and evening playing games. I started a new book called The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller.

By the end of the day I had done 18,500 steps. 

     

Wednesday 4-22-26 Camping by the Des Moises River & Walking

 

Display on the wing span of birds in the area

We had another gorgeous day of sunshine. 

We woke up with the temperature of 59 degrees and the high was 77 degrees. There was a breeze all day, which kept it cooler.

I got up at 7:30 and got dressed. Then we shared the last apple strudel and the rest of the Dutch apple bread we bought yesterday. 

Today we decided to walk the beautiful paved trail around the campground and across the river for a total of 4 miles. There are a lot of trails here but we decided to take the paved trails. We started our walk from our campsite to the wooden bridge that goes to the other side of the river. We took the trail to the day area. Larry hadn't been to this day area and was very impressed. He saw the cute sand box with a fish in it, he thought it was great. Then we walked to Ivans Campground. We walked around the campground and relaxed on a bench. While doing this we saw a couple of beautiful American Bald Eagles. We watched them for awhile. It was hard to get a picture because they were too far away and flew fast. Next we walked back to the bridge and crossed back to our side of the river. We hung a right walked to the Horn's Ferry Bridge. We climbed the steps to get on the bridge. Once again we watched the eagles flying down the river. They hanging in the trees in the American Eagle Refuge, that Gladys Black founded. There are binoculars mounted to the bridge to help see the eagles, unfortunately they are not very good but you can see the eagles. We could stay there all day watching the eagles but we didn't. We climbed back down the steps and got back on the paved trail. We continued walking the trail to the entrance of the campground. Then we walked the road back to the Minnie. It was a humid walk but we had fun.

American Bald Eagle

In the afternoon we went on a motorcycle ride. Before leaving the campground we stopped by the check-in booth and told the lady we had extended our stay for another two nights. She was very friendly. Larry told her they were doing a great job with the flowers and decor around the booth. She thanked him and said that the Corps gives them some money to spend on flowers. It was their job to keep the park looking good. She said we would see a lot more flowers because of the extra money given to them. The attendants in this park are all volunteers and they only get a free camp site and no salary. It looks like they have no problem getting volunteers. In Texas the Corp hosts get a salary (at least they used to) because it's vended out.

After talking to her we continued our motorcycle rid to Pella. Larry wanted to surprise me by going to one of  the local ice cream parlors. One was suppose to open at 1:00 but when we arrived at 2:00 it was still closed. The other ice cream parlor didn't open until 4:00. Larry decided to go to Culver's. We haven't been to one in a long time. We shared a turtle sundae. It was delicious and had a lot of walnuts in it. The service was excellent and employees very friendly. 

On the way back we drove around to locate the hiking trailheads. We found them and decided if we wanted to do any of them we would have to ride the motorcycle to the trailhead. It was over a mile from the campground. We drove to the dam and turned around. We went back to the Minnie. 

For dinner we barbecued pork chops. After dinner I did my evening walk. I walked for an hour and got 2.5 miles. I walked to Horn's Ferry Bridge to watch the eagles. While there I talked to a lady, who lives in Pella. We talked for awhile. She said in the Winter time there are a lot more eagles in the trees and other birds, they migrate to Lake Red Rock. She said it's great to see. After saying our good-byes I continued my walk. I walked to the entrance of the campground instead of getting off the trail I walked it until it ended at the parking lot for the trailhead. Then I walked the main highway to the road, that takes you to the dam area. I walked the road until it got back to the paved trail. I didn't go all the way to the day area I turned where the trail Yd. I walked back to the campground. I had a very pleasant walk.

More fun facts about birds wing span. 

White Pelican (96-111 inches)

Wood Duck (26-29 inches) 

Wood Duck (26-29 inches)

American Bald Eagle (70-86 inches)

Osprey (59-79 inches)

By the end of the day I had done 16,000 steps.

I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. It took me 5 hours, 13 minutes and 29 seconds to complete, which put me in 11th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2. 

While I walked and played games Larry read.         

      

Tuesday 4-21-26 Pella & Lake Red Rock Visitor Center

 Lake Red Rock Howell Station Recreation Area

We had an outstanding day. There was wind but the sun was out and blue skies. We woke up to 58 degrees and the high was 85 degrees.

I crawled out of bed about 7:30 and got dressed. Then I made mini waffles for breakfast and we shared a shake. We hung around the Minnie until 9:30. We took the motorcycle off it's carrier and then we rode to the town of Pella, which was 5.2 miles from the campground. 

Pella is a small Iowa town with the population of 10,464, it was founded by Dutch immigrates in 1847. The 800 Dutch immigrants were led by Dominee (Minister) Hendrick "Henry P. Scholte settled the area know as Pella. It was named Pella in reference to Pella of Decapolis, where the Christians of Jerusalem had found refuge during the Roman-Jewish War of 70, the name was selected because the Dominee and his followers sought religion freedom as well. (Wikipedia) It is a quaint town with shops, cafe, bakeries and more. 

We arrived at Pella around 9:40 and walked around. Larry had read about places to see and visit before we left. Pella is well known for their tulips. The city didn't disappoint us. There are two great parks to see the tulips, Central Park and Sunken Gardens. The first site we walked by was the famous Vermeer Windmill, during the tourist season you can get a guided tour for $20 a piece. Tours are not happening right now but you can see the windmill from the street. The blades still go around and it's very nice. Next was the Klokkenspel, where there is a glass window and they do performances every two hours on the history of Pella. The first performance wasn't until 11:00 so we continued walking around. 

Vermeer Windmill

Wishing canal

Next was Central Park to see the beautiful gardens of tulips. There was a windmill building, where you can get information at. It was very cute. There were two entrances to the park. One had a tall tower, that said Tulip Time and the other one was called Tulip Avenue. We entered at the tower. There were tulips all over the place. The was a huge Sundial and a sign, that explained how the sundial worked. It doesn't work like our clocks it works by using the Sun's position to cast a shadow from a raised object called a gnome onto a marked surface known as a dial plate. Today it was pointing at 12:30 and it was 10:30. It was neat to see. We walked around and down tulip avenue, which had signs in front of the tulips explaining each type of tulip that was there. There was a beautiful fountain. 

Tulip Time tower entrance at Central Park

The giant sundial

Larry and I standing in front of the sundial

One of the gorgeous gardens of tulips

Fountain in Central Park

People walking Tulip Avenue

Next was Sunken Gardens, which was about four blocks away. As we walked to the Sunken Gardens we passed by tulips in everyone's front yard and along the sidewalk. Sunken Garden is a small park with a beautiful pond and a windmill. There was a walkway, that went around the pond with gardens of tulips. As we walk around the pond there were signs about the history of Pella. It was a very nice walk around the pond.

Sunken Garden Park

Tulips in Sunken Garden Park

More tulips at Sunken Garden Pakr

Tulips planted by Pella Elementary School students

The windmill at Sunken Garden Park

As we exited Sunken Garden Park we saw a cute log cabin, which was called Tuttle Log Cabin. It is a historic 1843 log cabin owned by Thomas and Nancy Tuttle, it was originally in the center of Pella.

Tuttle Log Cabin

We walked back to the Klokkenspel so we could watch the show about the history of Pella. We got back with ten minutes to spare. It was a cute presentation shown in the windows with eight characters. It started on the street side and then ended in the little common, where there was seating. Larry read this so we watched the beginning but most of the people only watched the second half. There was only a small plate, that said the show started at the street. The Klokkenspel is a historic carillon clock, that featuring eight 4-foot mechanical figures that perform the local and history of the Dutch heritage.

Street Side Scenes

Dominie Hendrik Scholte (leader of the 1847 Dutch immigrates)

Maria Scholte (Dominie wife)

Blacksmith

Lawman Wyatt Earp

Courtyard Scenes of the Tulip Time Festival

A wooden shoe maker

Flower girls with tulips

Street scrubbers after the festival

After watching the performance we walked down the road to Vander Ploeg Bakery Company. We weren't planning to stop here but Jaarsma Bakery had a line out of it's door and down the street. We're glad we stopped at Vander Ploeg Bakery Company because the service was super and the employees were friendly. We bought a creme filled pastry with sugar on top, a creme filled pasty with chocolate chips on top, two apple strudels and a Dutch Apple Bread. We had a super experience.

 

Pastries we bought

Dutch Apple Bread

After buying our pastry we walked back to the motorcycle. Then we drove back to Hollow Station Recreation Area. 

It was lunchtime by the time we got back so we shared a sandwich and chips. For dessert we shared an apple strudel and the chocolate chip pastry. We also had some of the bread. Everything was delicious.

After lunch we went to the Lake Red Rock Visitor Center. We loaded onto the motorcycle and rode there. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to see they were building a new visitor center, which was going to be 2200 square feet. The lady in the visitor center was very friendly and helpful. She was excited about the new visitor center. She also informed us, that the current facility was closing at the end of the day for good. The new one wasn't going to open until next year. They were going to work on the parking lot. It's a small visitor center but had a lot to offer. It had displays about different turtles, which were Western Painted turtles, Jim (a huge 20 year old snapping turtle) and another turtle. They had a display of fish in Lake Red Rock, which were Black Bullhead, Bluegill, Plecostomus and Green Sunfish. They had other displays of wildlife and very nice Bald Eagle. It was amazing how much they had in a small building. It was fun talking to the lady and walking around inside and outside.

Visitor Center

Lake Red Rock

Jim not that great of a picture because he's in a glass display

Display of the fish in the area

Bald Eagle

In the evening I walked around the campground and the day area on our side of the lake for an hour and twenty minutes for 3.5 miles. I walked to the bridge and checked it out. There was a sign there explaining the bridge. The bridge was called Horn's Ferry Bridge named after Elias Horn, who operated a ferry at this location in 1869 before the bridge was built. The ferry transported cattle, horses, wagons, and household goods across the Des Moines River between Pella and Knoxville. In 1982 after 101 years the bridge was closed to vehicles but remained open to pedestrians and bicycles. In 1991 one of the stone pillar collapsed and took 300 feet of the bridge down the river. The remaining portion of the bridge is now an observation point for wildlife viewing, particular bald eagles. There was also an interesting sign about Gladys Black. She used this area for over 25 years to educate herself and others about birds and habitat needs. By the time she died in 1998 at the age of 89, she had recorded 305 species of birds at Lake Red Rock. There is a fence at the bridge with different birds on it and how big their wing span is. The birds were Barred Owl (39-43 inches), Turkey Vulture (67-70 Inches), Pileated Woodpecker (26-30 inches) and Great Blue Heron (66-79 inches). After reading the signs I continued my walk around the campground. I was almost finished and decided to walk down to the day area because I wanted to get more steps. I saw a lot of people fishing at the dam. I also saw a lot of bicyclist using the trail. I had a super walk. 

Horn's Ferry Bridge

Des Moines River

Barred Owl

Turkey Vulture

Great Blue Heron

Pileated Woodpecker

Neighborhood cat playing in the grass

I spent the rest of the evening playing games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Hard Road Mini of 5 games. It took me 1 hour, 12 minutes and 16 seconds, which put me in 18th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

While I walked and played games Larry read his news groups, Reddit groups and did research on where to go after leaving here.