Monday 4-20-26 Visiting Eldon and Knoxville & Lake Red Rock

 

Having fun site seeing

We had a long day having fun visiting Eldon and Knoxville. 

We woke up to a cool 30 degrees in Keosauqua, Iowa and ended up with the high of 68 degrees in Pella, Iowa.

For breakfast we shared a bagel with cream cheese spread on it and a shake. Then we put things away and secured. Toady we said good-bye to Lacey-Keosauqua State Park after staying four great days.

We were on the road by 8:00 am. We traveled for 120 miles on two lane highways and a four lane highway. The drive was by a lot of farmland and small ranches. It was a very nice drive.

While driving we stopped a few times to do some touristy stuff. When we were driving through Eldon, Iowa we drove by Wapello County Regional Fairgrounds and saw a couple of horses pulling a driver in a sulky. We turned around and went to the fairgrounds to watch them. We weren't there too long, we watched them go around the track a couple of times. Then we continued going through Eldon but we saw KD Center, where there was a train museum. We stopped and parked the Minnie at KD Center park. We walked over to the museum. It was closed but we walked around the area looking and reading about the history of Keokuk & Des Moines Railroad. The K & D Railroad continued operation between Eldon and Des Moines from the 1800's until the 1970s. After walking around we went back to the Minnie and continued our adventure.

Harness Racing practice

Eldon Iowa

Railroad Museum in Eldon

Founder of the museum

Engine on display

Remains of the railroad tracks

Knoxville, Iowa was next. We stopped at Walmart to replenish some items we were getting low on. After putting everything away we had lunch. A few blocks away was the National Sprint Car Museum. The museum is right at the track, it is a half mile oval track. They race every Saturday night. The museum had a lot of information about sprint car racing and the drivers. It had a lot of exhibits. After walking around and looking at the exhibits a gentleman, who manages the place showed us around one of the suites that looks out over the track. The museum doesn't own the track but they do own the suites above the museum. They lease them out for $25,000 per year. He was very nice and we were glad he took the time to show us around.

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum

#83 Tim Shaffer driver 

Circle 3 Ketter Special Al Ketter driver

Other sprint cars on display

Knoxville National Champions by Frank Clodfelter

Cheryl Glass (1961-1997) first African American female professional race car driver and first women to compete in sprint car racing in the United States

Another sprint car on display

The race track

After touring the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum we continued on to Elk Rock State Park. We had planned to stay but the bathrooms were still locked up for the winter. We decided we would go down the road and stay at Lake Red Rock U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Recreation Area Hollow Station. Before going there we stopped at Cordova Park to see the Observation Tower, it was on the way. We didn't just see it we walked the 169 steps to the top, which I counted. Once on top we had a beautiful view of Lake Red Rock and the bridge we drove over to get there. We met a gentleman, who was getting ready for a hunting trip in Nevada and he had to get in shape so he was climbing the tower multiple times. 

Lake Red Rock

Cordova Park Observation Tower from the web

After climbing the tower we moved to our campground. We arrived there at 3:30 pm. We stopped at the gate because someone was manning it. Larry asked if we could drive around and find a site. She said yes but we had to come back and check-in. We drove around and found a few sites. Then Larry went on the internet to see if they're available for our stay. The first couple of sites weren't available because they were right on the lake looking at the dam. We found a site, that was close to the bathroom and it looked over the lake. He reserved it for a couple of nights but we'll probably will be here longer. Then we drove back to the gate and checked-in.

Howell Station Recreation Area on Lake Red Rock is a gorgeous campground. It's huge. There is a paved walking trail, that goes to town and the two day areas. There's a bridge, that takes you across the lake to the second day area and Ivans Recreation Area. 

Once we set the Minnie up for a couple of nights we had dinner. After dinner we walked the paved trail to the day area on our side of the lake. It was for 2.25 miles round trip. During our walk we saw people fishing on the banks, a lot of pelicans, people walking, jogging and walking their dogs. The day area had kids playing in the playground. Later I did a 2.5 mile walk. I walked the bridge to the other side of the lake. Then I took the trail to where it Ys. It you go to the right you go to the day area and if you go to the left it takes you to Ivans Recreation Area. I went right and walked to the day area, where I saw a lot of people enjoying the area. There was a cute sandbox with a fish to climb on and other things to climb through. I walked around the area and back to the Y, where I walked it to Ivans. While walking around, that campground I saw a racoon, it was walking the road. After walking around I walked back to the bridge. I took the bridge back over the lake. When I got back to the Minnie I called it a night.

Check-in booth with tulips in front of it

 

Lots of pelicans

Red Rock Dam

Closer look of the pelicans

Playground on the other side of the lake

The Minnie in the campground from the dam

       

Racoon walking towards me

After my walk I played the Daily Challenges of  Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Klondike and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 46 minutes and 18 seconds, which put me in 16th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

By the end of the day I had done 15,000 steps.

            

 

Sunday 4-19-26 Beautiful Day at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park

 

Beautiful Day

We woke up to a chilly morning of 36 degrees. It was a beautiful day with a lot of sunshine. The birds were chirping and a flock of seven American goldfinches were playing in the grass at our site. They were beautiful and bright. The high was 55 degrees with a breeze.

One of the American goldfinches

I got up about 7:15 and got dressed. Then I made pancakes for breakfast. We decided to stay at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park another day. We still couldn't hike because we figured the trails would still be muddy. 

We did what we did yesterday. We did a morning walk and afternoon walk for 1.5 miles each. We did the same loop, which was to walk to the beach lodge and around the campground. I did 3 miles after dinner. I did the loop twice. We wore a jacket each time because there was a wind out of the north. The walks were great.

Walking to get some exercise

Larry spent the day reading. He finished a book by Howard Frank Mosher, he was disappointed, he has read and enjoyed other books by the same author including, Northern Borders and A Stranger In The Kingdom. Afterwards he started another book. I continued reading A Stranger In The Kingdom by Howard Frank Mosher and finished it. I enjoyed reading the book and it had a great ending.

Reading is fun and relaxing

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Spider Mini of 5 games. It took me 16 minutes and 41 seconds, which put me in 17th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

By the end of the day I had done 16,500 steps.

 

Saturday 4-18-26 Cold Windy Day

 

CCC Beach Lodge

We had a cold windy day, but it was gorgeous. The rain was gone and left us with blue skies and wind out of the north. The morning temperature was a brisk 36 degrees and the high was 52 degrees.

I woke up at 7:30 and got dressed. It was cold so I made cinnamon French toast sticks for breakfast. The oven took the chill out of the air. Along with the cinnamon sticks we shared a shake.

We didn't do any hiking because of all the ran we had yesterday. We were going to do the lake trail but it would of been too muddy. Instead we walked around the campground multiple times. We did a morning walk and afternoon walk for 3.25 miles total. We walked the paved trail to the cabins and the beach lodge and back and around the campground. The cabins had a lot of vehicles around them and it looked like they all were rented out. We saw a group of people sitting around visiting so we didn't walk through the cabin loop. When we got to the beach lodge. The doors were open so we walked through the lodge to the porch. The porch looks over a small lake made by the CCC and the beach. They had a lot of stone steps built by the CCC, that took you down to the beach area. As we walked around the back of the beach lodge we saw how the wooden doors and shutters were kept open. They had a heavy duty metal bracket that latches the doors and shutters open. It was a gorgeous building and very well maintained. As we were leaving a lady was carrying a big screen up to the stone steps to the building. We said hello. Then we continued with our walk back to the campground. Once back there we walked around the campground. The afternoon walk was the same route except we didn't walk through the beach lodge. After dinner I did my three mile walk for an hour. It was the same routine and I did it two times. 

The beach area

CCC Stone Steps to the beach area

Even though it was cold and windy it didn't stop the kids from playing in the playground and families from enjoy their stay. The families were playing catch with a football and people were playing throwing balls for their dogs. The walks were very enjoyable though they were nippy because we had a strong north wind.

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Pyramid Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 26 minutes and 12 seconds to complete, which put me in 18th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

While I played games Larry read. He started another book and finished. After I played games I continued reading A Stranger In The Kingdom.

Keeping warm with a good book

By the end of the day I had done 15,000 steps.      

Friday 4-17-26 Hot & Humid Day, Hiking & Having Fun

 

CCC Gatehouse

We had a hot humid windy day. 

We woke up with the temperature of 61 degrees and humid at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park. It got up to 82 degrees. 

I woke up at 7:15 and got dressed. Then we had a quick breakfast of a bagel with cream cheese spread and a shake. Afterwards we got ready to go on a hike. Today we rode the motorcycle to the CCC Gatehouse to do the trail. We were going to wait until tomorrow but it's suppose to be in the 30s. We thought it would be a little cold for the 2 mile drive.

We got at the CCC Lodge at 8:00 and parked the motorcycle. There was a trailhead on both sides of the road but we decided to take the one by the lodge. Larry had downloaded the trail to his phone so we could follow it and not get lost. The trailhead had a hiking sign that told us how far the point of interest were on the trail. They were 2nd Shelter .6 mile, Ely Ford .9 mile, 1st Shelter 2 miles and Keosauqua Bridge 3 miles. The trail took us up and down hills through the forest, across a creek, along the banks of the river, across the park road, by a shelter and to Lacey's monument. It was a great trail we started along the river and crossed over a creek a couple of times via bridges. The first bridge was built in 2024 over an old bridge. We saw a lot of beautiful views of the Des Monies River. As we hiked we passed a sign, that read Monument Trail. We said we'll do it after we finished this trail. Then we passed by shelter 2 on the hill but not too far when the trail took us up the hill to the shelter. It was a gorgeous shelter built by the CCC and is still being used by the local people. It had picnic tables and a huge fireplace. After walking around the shelter we took the road not too far and picked up the trail once again. We continued climbing up a hill. It was very humid, we had to stop once or twice to catch our breath. It didn't seem too steep because you gradually climb but it went a long ways. We hiked through a couple of meadows of wildflowers. We came across another trail to the monument, it was only .4 mile so we took the trail to the monument. When we got to the monument we were disappointed because it was a boulder in memory of Major John Fletcher Lacey. We turned around and hiked back to the Gatehouse trail. We hiked the trail back to the CCC Gatehouse, which was .4 mile. This section of the trail we climbed another hill gradually to a bridge that went over the creek. We crossed over the bridge and hiked to the gatehouse. Then we crossed the street to where the motorcycle was. Before getting on the motorcycle we walked to the lodge and sat down at a picnic table to rest. They were mowing and weed-eating around the lodge. There were a couple of guys getting the lodge ready for the wedding later on. They had a very friendly Minatare Australian Shepard. She came running up to us to say hi. We said hi to her owners also. While sitting there a lady walked by with a golden retriever and we said hi to her. We weren't there too long because they were mowing. By the end of the hike we had done 2.4 miles in an hour and a half. The wind came up.

The bridge rebuilt in 2024

CCC Rock Steps we didn't do

Des Moines River from the trail

Larry enjoying the CCC Shelter #2

Major John Fletcher Lacey Monument

Meadow of wildflowers

Bridge to the CCC Gatehouse

On the way back to the Minnie we rode to Lake Sugema, it was only a few miles from the campground. It was very windy Larry had to hold on to his hat so it wouldn't blow away. It wasn't that big of a lake but it had a lot of boat parking. It had a very nice permanent fishing dock. It had a two lane boat ramp. After walking around the parking area and looking at the lake we got back on the motorcycle and went back to the Minnie. We had a great hike and motorcycle ride. 

Lake Sugema in the State Forest

Lake Sugema fishing dock

While eating lunch Larry went on a weather application to see what was happening with the weather. The wind was blowing very hard. He said that we were going to get a front come through around 5:00. After we finished eating lunch I decided to do my three mile walk before the storms come in. The park has a paved walking trail down to the cabins, which was .4 mile long. We clocked it while we were riding around. I walked the paved trail to the cabins, they are located by the park office. When I got to the park office I walked across the road to the office, where there was a sculpture of  Major John Fletcher Lacey and a bird watching area. I took a picture of the sculpture and walked in the building for the watchers to see the birds. Then I walked back across the street and walked to the cabins. I walked around the cabins area, which was a small area they had six cabins. They looked very well taken care of. Next stop was down at the end of the road, where there was the Beach Lodge. It was closed but there was a guy working on it to get it ready for the season. It a beautiful large building. It looked like it was originally built by the CCC. Then I headed back to the campground, where I walked around the two loops three times. I walked for an hour and did three miles. 

A swing on the paved walkway in memory of Jim and Marilyn Wiley

Signage for the wedding at the CCC Lodge

Major John Fletcher Lacey

View from the bird blind

Cabin #6

Beach Lodge

By the time I got back to Larry I was hot and tired. Before resting I took my cans over to their recycling area. There is a big basket where you put your aluminum cans and a sign. The sign said for each can they get 5 cents and this helps keep the park up.

When I got back I took a nap for a couple of hours. Larry read. He started a book and finished it in the evening.

At 4:15 the front rolled in with thunder, lightening and a lot of rain. We were under a tornado watch from 4:30 to 5:15. About 5:40 the rain let up but it stayed around all evening.

I spent the evening playing games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Klondike Mini of five games. It took me 9 minutes and 40 seconds, which put me in 16th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After I finished playing games I continued reading A Stranger In The Kingdom. I ended up doing 15,000 steps.   

  

              

Thursday 4-16-26 New State and Campground & Motorcycle Ride

 

Iowa welcome sign

We had a gorgeous day with sunshine and a breeze. 

The temperature in Missouri has been 20 degrees warmer then normal. Usually the normal high temperatures for April in Missouri are 63-72 degrees and the lows are 39-50 degrees. We have been having the highs in the 80s and lows in the mid to high 60s. So we have had temperatures 20 degrees warmer then normal. 

We woke up to the temperature of 60 degrees in La Grange, MO with blue skies. It rained last night and went away early this morning. The weather felt good because there was a breeze. We had a high temperature of 82 degrees in Keosauqua, IA with a breeze.

I crawled out of bed at 7:15 and got dressed. Today we're said good-bye to Missouri and hello to Iowa. We had a quick breakfast and got the Minnie ready to go. We didn't have too far to go, about 70 miles. 

Before leaving Boulder Lake Campground we stopped by a water spicket and filled our water tank and the dump station and dumped the tanks. We weren't sure if the water was going to be on in the Iowa state parks because their website said they try to get the water on by May 1st.

Good-bye Boulder Lake

We were on the road by 8:15 am. The first part of the adventure was on a four lane highway through small towns, we saw a lot of farms and ranches. The highway was Hwy 61 North. Then we turned on Hwy C, which was a two lanes. We drove this highway for a ways and then got on Hyw 81 North, which was a two lane highway. As we were driving we went through Amish country so we had to share the road with buggies. We saw one along the way, it had a male driver and two women in the buggy and one beautiful black horse pulling the buggy. The horse was going very fast so I couldn't get a picture. The people were all dressed up. When we got to Farmington, IA we stopped by the Des Moines River where I took a picture. Farmington is a small town. After stretching our legs we continued our adventure.

Farmington Iowa post office

Des Moines River

When we got to Keosauqua, IA we stopped at Circle B and filled the Minnie with gas. Then we drove around the town. It didn't take too long because it was very small. The state park was right before you enter Keosauqua. 

We arrived at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park about 10:15 am. We drove around a little bit looking at the sites. Then we parked the Minnie and Larry went to the website to see what sites were available for three nights. Then we walked around looking at the sites. One loop had some full hook-ups in the middle and on both sides there were electric sites. As we were walking the camp host drove up, he explained that reservations were all online even though the sign coming in said there was a kiosk, he also said that at the moment every site was $20 dollars. Larry asked about the bathroom/shower house, they are open and all the water is on. He was very nice.

We found site # 26, it was level enough we didn't have to use blocks and Larry could get the motorcycle off the carrier with no problems. Most of the sites weren't level. There were a lot of pull through sites but we took a back in site. 

Once we set the Minnie up for it's stay we had lunch. After lunch because it was such a beautiful day we went on a motorcycle ride around the park. Lacey-Keosauqua State Park is a CCC park and has some CCC buildings, bridges and other structures. We drove around to the entrance, where there was a CCC worker statue, a CCC gatehouse and a CCC stone lodge. We stopped and walked around the area. We learned more about the CCC. While walking around the lodge we noticed the door was open and the windows were open. So we popped in. There were two ladies cooking in preparation of a wedding tomorrow. They were very nice and friendly. They had three little girls on blankets playing. After saying hi we continued our walk. Then we loaded back on the bike and stopped at another historic site called Ely Ford. Ely Ford is the crossing point of the Mormon Trek heading westward from Nauvoo, Illinois. I walked around and took pictures. Then we continued riding around the park. We drove by the cabins. We drove around for about an half hour. It was a beautiful ride through the park.

CCC Bridge

CCC  Worker statue

CCC Entrance Gate

CCC Lodge

Fun Facts on the CCC

CCC Gatehouse

Ely Fork Mormon Crossing of the Des Moines River

Des Moines River

I spent the rest of the day playing games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Tri Peaks Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 1 minutes and 50 seconds to complete, which put me in 10th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After I finished my games I continued reading A Stranger In The Kingdom. Larry finished the thirds book in a series he has been reading and started another book.

Reading is fun

For dinner Larry barbecued hamburgers. After dinner I walked around the campground for an hour and got my 3 mile walk in. 

Camping at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park (New State Park)

By the end of the day I got 12,000 steps. I'm happy considering it was a driving day.