Apr 15, 2013 - The journey begins ...

Date: April 15, 2013 Tonight’s Location: Onawa, Iowa Mileage: End - 14243 Start - 13759 Total Miles for the day: 482 Weather: cloudy, a touch of drizzle Temperature: start 61º High 44º temperature dropped most of the day Wildlife count: 2 black steel ‘buffalos’ Year List: 177 Birds: Birds were everywhere! American Crow, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Meadowlark, Rock Dove, Huge flocks of Grackles, Black Vulture, Merlin, (31) Redtail Hawks, Mourning Dove, Eurasian Starling, Osprey in a nest on Truman Lake,...

Oct 11, 2012 - ON-UR-WA

Trust me, that's the name of the campground about 40 miles south of Sioux City. Nice little campground but the wind was blowing about 25 mph and it was cold on top of the wind....felt like 30 below. Took in our water filter and hose as the temperature went to 25 after the sun went down. Went to take a shower in the bath house the next morning and it was so cold inside that I would have been better taking a shower outside. Did not get cleaned up that morning.

Sep 26, 2012 - Onawa Iowa

It’s been awhile since I’ve made an entry into my travel journal. Sometimes I become anxious and am ready to tackle the highways and byways of our land to see what is around the next bend in the road. I think we’ve all done that at some point…just keep on driving a little further to see what is just ahead only to find more of the same or be surprised by a grand vista or monumental phenomena. Then there are those times when I just need a week of catching up. We spent the last week or so in Mitchell S.D. to take care of those unpleasant...

Jul 31, 2012 - 224 mi - Onawa, Iowa

Farmland as far as the eye can see. Soy beans and corn and soy beans and corn. Row upon row, field upon field, forever it melts into the horizon. Onawa (a Native American word meaning 'wide awake') is a small town nestled between Western Iowa’s Loess (luss) Hills and the Missouri River, and between Sioux City (to the north) and Omaha (to the south). Population of approximately 3000. This section of Iowa is known as the Missouri Valley. It's a corridor that is as flat as flat can be. The difference in elevation between the high point and...

Jun 22, 2012 - Onawa, IA

Well, we started home today. Went all the way across South Dakota-Bad Lands, cattle grazing, corn fields, wheat fields-rolling terrain. Nixon is enjoying the scenery-ha!ha! Turned south on I29 and entered Iowa at Sioux City. We are staying at the KOA in Onawa, IA-just north of Omaha, NE. Good day except when we got on I29-headwind. Long day tomorrow. Until next time.

Apr 30, 2012 - Onawa, IA

We decided to have a “short” travel day so we could stop in LeMars, Iowa, known as the Ice Cream Capitol of the World, to visit the Blue Bunny ice cream visitor center and, of course, have a delicious sample. It was, as always, YUM! We noticed themed ice cream cones along the main street and set out to see how many we could find. It was fun finding them. We traveled down some two-lane highways through beautiful farmland. Oh, and throw in a detour or two and we had an interesting trip! LeMars is a small town with not many places to park our...

Dec 14, 2011 - Made it to Onawa, Iowa

Well, we pulled out of Indian Head this morning at 6:55 on our way south. We went via Winnipeg and crossed the border at Emerson. It took us 6 minutes to get through the border which was a lot better than last year. Roads were good even when we ran into rain. We arrived in Onawa, Iowa just before 10:00pm where we are staying for the night. The temperature is 35F. Now off to bed. Don, Shelly, Gail and Sara (who is very happy to be out of the van!)

Aug 26, 2010 - Flatland

Great ride today with lower temps and humidity all but gone. Thru Kansas City and the sites there, right by the Royals stadium. We saw more fireworks stores today than ever before. Guess they like to blow each other up down here. Gas is still cheap at 2.40/gal you do the math. Iowa is one flat place. Lots of wetlands as well. Got buzzed by a spray plane today as it came in for a landing on a grass strip right beside the highway. Got my attention for a minute tell you what. Will take it a little easier tomorrow and do some touristy stuff in...

Jul 27, 2010 - Lewis & Clark State Park, Iowa.

Cummon over if you’re in the southwestern Iowa area! This is a lovely State Park. We pulled in yesterday after calling the DNR and finding out that you have to make reservations 2 weeks in advance, but they said we could come down and hope for a site as they are on a first come first served basis. We were hoping for a pull through so that we could leave the truck attached for 2 days…. Yes this is one of the great things about us traveling with the two cars. We stopped at the little self-registration booth and discovered it was $16 for...

Jun 5, 2010 - The adventure begins...

Date: June 5, 2010 Tonight’s Location: Onawa, Iowa, KOA Mileage: End - 41210 Start - 40738 Total Miles for the day: 472 Weather: partly sunny – 10 raindrops on our windshield Temperature: start: 70º High 92º Wildlife count: wild turkey, white tail deer (on 435 hwy going around Kansas City), and many birds. We told several folks that we would leave at 0dark:30, and that is what we did. Actually, I goofed – imagine that??? I unplugged all of our phones last night, so we would not forget them in the morning. About 3:30am, they all began to...

Sep 12, 2009 - Leg 39, Salem, SD, to Onawa, IA (Friday), September 11, 2009

We Getting Warmer Despite rain almost every day, it’s still warmer than that to which we’ve been accustomed in Canada and Alaska; consequently, we’re in shorts and T-shirts most days. We made the turn from I-90 to I-29 and are headed south, inching our way closer to home. Kay’s Take This RV park has huge cottonwood trees and very nice, level sites. It’s also close to a DQ, gas station/grocery, and a McDonalds and Subway. Very little road noise. The bathrooms are beautiful – great blue tiles floors and walls and huge showers! I washed my...

Aug 15, 2009 - Lewis and Clark (again)

Sioux City is home to another fine Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center - Saturday, August 15 We checked out of South Sioux City and re-crossed the Missouri River into Iowa. Our destination was the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center which sits on the east bank of the river. On previous trips we have visited similar centers in Mandan, North Dakota and in St. Louis, Missouri, and they are always a special treat. The National Park Service has put great effort into making these Interpretive Centers as beautiful as they are educational. The...