Tuesday 4-28-26 New State Park, Driving & Having Fun

 

Hold on Piglet

We had a wonderful day. 

The weather was chilly and overcast. We woke up to 45 degrees in Ankeny, Iowa and overcast skies. By the end of the day we had a high temperature of 56 degrees in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It sprinkled on and off all day. It was very lite, a few drops at a time. It was windy at times the wind was strong enough to move the Minnie around. Overall the temperature was very comfortable and nice.

Today we moved on, we were at Cherry Glen Campground on Saylorville Lake for three days. The rain had stopped and the wind had died down. I got out of bed at 7:45. Then we had a bagel with cream cheese and a vanilla shake. After we finished eating we put things away and put a small cooler together. I took the trash to the dumpster while Larry unplugged us from the power. We were on the road by 8:15 am.

We didn't have to dump the tanks so we didn't have to stop at the dump station. Larry drove 140 miles today mainly on four lane highways. We saw a lot of farmland. It wasn't too exciting but it was a nice drive. The wind picked up at times and knocked the Minnie around. At least it wasn't raining. We stopped a couple of time at rest areas to stretch our leg and go to the bathroom. 

Before going to Lake Manawa State Park we stopped at a local grocery store called Hy Vee to pick up a couple of things. It was a very nice store and had a bakery. Actually they bake a lot of their bakery items. We bought a mini loaf of blueberry cake. 

Grocery Shopping

Lake Manawa State Park is located in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This morning Larry was notified through an e-mail to remember the gate code because you need it to get in the park. So he wrote it down. In fact they had two codes, the first code did the trick. We arrived at 11:30 am and there were people still in our site. So we parked in the boat parking area. In all fairness check-out isn't until 3:00 pm. We didn't care because we had lunch while we waited. We could watch them getting ready and leaving. They were gone by 12:30 pm. It is a pull through so we could simply pull in. The site number was #007. 

All the sites are full hook-ups and paved. Each site has a fire ring with a grill, picnic table and a lantern hook. The park has two loops and a paved walking trail that goes around the park. There is a very nice playground called Dreamland Park. It's a big park but the sites have no trees or privacy. They all very nice.

Once we were set-up for three days we went on a walk. We walked to the day area, boat ramp and around the park for three miles. We walked the paved trail. We took an umbrella with us because it looked like rain. While we were walking we saw three turkeys crossing the road. They were fast so I couldn't get a good picture. We saw a few bat boxes on the trees. We were back at the Minnie at 3:30 pm. We had walked for an hour and a half. It was a very nice walk.

Lake Manawa at the day area

Turkeys crossing the street

A bat box

Before going inside after our walk I walked over to the Dreamland Park and took a few pictures. It's a big park for the kids to play on different things. It had signs all over the park telling the history of Council Bluffs and the park. There was a family of four enjoying the park for the first time.

Dreamland Playground

Donors Booth

Obstacle Course in the playground

 

Slides and more at the playground

More stuff to do at the Dreamland Playground

We snacked on the blueberry cake. Larry read and I played my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Spider Adventure of 20 games. It took me 2 hours, 6 minutes and 43 seconds, which put me in 5th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

Mini loaf of blueberry cake

For dinner we had soup. After dinner I walked around the campground for an hour and did three miles. I walked the loops three times. By the end of the day I had done 15,000 steps.