Motor Home Stuck at Corey's

Departed Iowa after a great visit with Corey & Kim Sawatzky, but not with out some challenges.

So while Corey was traveling I took the opportunity to place several ruts in his front yard while heading out for Omaha. His neighbor Derrick was kind enough to pull me out with his 2 ton logging truck.

We then had a blow out on the truck we we towing but made it to Omaha all the same. After 2 days of golf and fun with the Cuda's we were off to Nevis, Minn.

RAGBRAI 2008 in the books

Yes, I did complete the 2008 bicycle ride across Iowa.

Stats:

484 miles and my first century ride. See route: http://www.ragbrai.org/

Brats, corn, pieces of pie, pork chops, rib eyes and ice creams eaten - a lot.

Yes, there was an Elvis sighting somewhere in central Iowa. The folks of Iowa did their self's proud. The towns we visited and stayed in were friendly and very accommodating.
At the mid point in Ames we were treated to a great concert by Styx and they played all of the hits. Lance Armstrong spoke to the crowd of 20,000 and all of the proceeds went for flood relief in Iowa.
The first several days were very hot with elevation climbs from 3,000 to 5,000 feet daily. We finished the week with two pretty easy days of 63 and 53 miles which were relatively flat. We had the joy of spending time with Sandy Miller and her daughter Bridgett. (In the picture below) Also, check out the photo album link to the right.

RAGBRAI 2008

Well made it to Iowa for the RAGBRAI annual bicycle ride across IOWA. The ride will total 471 miles. Day 1 & 2 was filed with hills a lot of elevation. Day 2 was also my first century ride of 100 miles. Today, day 3 we ended up in Ames and are camping at the university. Off for some Mexican food and the STYX concert tonight. I will post a photo album later in the week. And yes Elvis has left the building, but not Coon Rapids, IOWA!

Good by - Chicago

We had a wonderful time in Chicago with Tyler, Tracy, Teya and family. We ended our time with a great BBQ out at the RV park we stayed at.

Hello to all,

We had a great weekend. We attended church at HBC Elgin. The worship was live and the message was a simulcast by James MacDonald on "Are you saved?" from the Arlington Heights location. Great message with an interesting format. http://www.harvestbible.org/Content.aspx?content_id=40&site_id=4

This was a first for Jenny & I. Then off to golf with with old friends, Sue and Adrian.

We concluded the day going out for Pizza with Teya and the group.

TEYA is in the middle of her first Saturday.

Grandma is baby sitting while Tracy grabs a nap. I'm at the local coffee shop bringing you this post as we don't have Internet at our park location. Teya had her followup doctors appointment yesterday and all is well. The doctor is within walking of their home and they loved her.

You can check out the photo album that is hot off the press with all of Teya's pictures.

It's been RAIN, RAIN & more RAIN here in Chicago. We have fit in a few bicycle rides in between drops. See the evening sunset here below. We are staying at a very nice Forrest Preserve (Paul Wollf) in Kane County just outside of Chicago. We are about 20 miles from the kids.

Funny thing we ran into a couple from TOT (our winter home in Pharr, Greg & Bonnie) at this park. What are the odds?

Teya Day 2

We just arrived at the hospital this morning. Tracy and Teya are awaiting the Pediatrician for release orders and home we head. Mom is doing well and other than some jaundice in her eyes

Teya is doing very well.

One of Teya's first good crys.

Teya has Arrived

Jenny and I departed St. Louis for Chicago early Monday morning upon the news that Tracy was on her way to the hospital to deliver Teya. (All of the grand parents first) We had about 300 miles to drive and arrived prior to the birth. What a blessing for us, but not Tracy. She did great and worked very hard to bring our little bundle into the world.
Teya Elizabeth Faasen was born on July 7, 2008 at Northwest Memorial Hospital in Arlington Heights Illinois. Parents Tracy and Tyler along with Teya are all doing very well. Tracey went into the hospital around 8:30am yesterday and Teya was born at 5:14pm. Teya weighed in at 8lbs,13oz and is 21” long. She is just beautiful and has some very good lungs.

Visit with Steven and Kara

Saturdays are made for traditions so we made a breakfast stop at the local Waffle House. Then after a visit with Mr and Mrs F. Albert we headed down to the Tower Grove area of St. Louis for a visit.







Woody (Dad) was there helping with some remodeling on their new home.

Steven and Kara in there very cool living room.