Iowa under water

I can surely say that we don't need anymore rain. We have more than enough and it has caused devastation to counties surrounding where I live. In Cedar Rapids the river rose and has flooded the downtown area causing several thousand people to evacuate and many homes damaged. In Iowa City,Columbus Junction,Fort Madison,Burlington,Ottumwa,Douds and other areas people are waiting for the crest expected in the next couple days with hopes that the water will fall fast. In 1993 I did not live here but they say that flood was a record breaker well, this is going to top that. The Mississippi in Burlington is expected to crest on Wednesday,June 18 at 25.8. The flood stage is 15 feet. In 1993 it rose to 25.1. Although I have not had the chance to go to Burlington yet but I have taken some pictures in the Fort Madison area and on the Skunk River ( were we camp) To view more you can go to my Flickr page( www.flickr.com/harleypass ) or type in Iowa flooding on any search engine. I expect to go to Burlington and see how close I can get for pictures on Wednesday.


Taken on the Mississippi River at Fort Madison on June 12th.

Taken on June 13th on the Skunk River at Oakland Mills Recreation Park.
Bow fishing was the thing with the waters rushing. These guys were catching Gars and Carp like crazy. We were actually watching the fish jump all over. Now Rick has got to try this bow fishing ! The semi is there to help move out the stuff from the restaurant ( you can see it vaguely in the picture with all the people standing around) The picture with what looks like boards floating is the picnic tables in this area. This is down river about a mile or two from where we camp.

Taken June 13 th on Skunk River at Ketchum Bridge ( were we camp) The pavilion that Ron & Keppy built and use is almost under water. You can barley see the roof. Most everyone got their campers out before the water rose.

Taken on June 14 th on the Mississippi at Fort Madison. ( notice the rise in the water levels)

Taken on June 14 th on the Skunk River at Oakland Mills Recreation Park ( notice the rise in the water levels) Rick & Louie decided to take advantage of some of the fishing. After watching people yesterday they went and bought a reel for their bows. I didn't get any pictures of them actually catching a fish but they did catch some when they went earlier in the day ( or so they say ) Then as you can see in these pictures some people don't have a lot of sense out there swimming and in the water chest deep. They are warning people to not do that due to the swift current. Some areas are posting very large fines for anyone caught within so many feet of the water. That is smart since they are putting others peoples lives at danger by getting in.

I will be posting another update later in the week with more pictures from the same two locations as well as some of the Burlington area.

Tennessee Vacation

WOW ! That is about all I can say. After coming back to flat lands and corn. What a change - it is so beautiful back home. The mountains, lakes, creeks and family where a blessing to visit. I had a chance to take alot of pictures on this trip so sit back and get ready. This post is a little different than the rest. I'm going to tell the story add a few pictures then add several more at the end.

Rick and I went to Tennessee for the Memorial Day weekend and following week. We both had a great time and was probably the best vacation we have ever had together - since we didn't see each other that much :) My dad & uncle kept him busy in the trout streams and I stayed busy traveling the roads in search of the " perfect " picture. In my eyes I think I found it, ok I found several of them. Here are a few pictures just as we got into Tennessee.




Well when we got to dads Kassidi was happy. She had been bugging them all day asking when where we going to get there. She had to show me her tattoos and do a little posing for the camera.

On Sunday Dad & Judy went to church and we got up and took flowers to my sisters grave then headed to the flea market.

The sun was starting to beat down

on us so Rick bought him a travel hat.






I thought cool I will be able to spot him if we get separated. Wrong ! Everyone had bought the same hat ! So we had to stay pretty close together in all the chaos. We did manage to find some pretty good bargains. Now let's get outta here- we headed on to my Tennessee mom & dad's ( no relation but they kinda took me in during some pretty trying times) house to visit alot of my friends. They had all gathered over for a visit. It was so nice to see them all and their families. Rick sat out in the barn and visited the guys while I had to play catch up on the porch with the gals.

This is Tracy and the little baby girl inside :) I know she will have her in wranglers and boots soon!

No Christine didn't eat something bad she is saying done with having kids. She has 2 already.

This is my Tennessee mama and Aunt Mary

Sarah and her little girl plus baby inside. ( see this is why you don't drink the water in Tennessee )

Here's the gang all going for a ride.
This is my adopted mom & dad. Sorry about the picture mom but it is the only one I got :)

Boy where had the day gone. We went back to dads the long way so I could show Rick some sites along the way.

We had to get back to dad's so we could get to bed since dad wanted to get up early in the morning to go to Dollywood.

Monday - Up and at em early and boy did we. Dad, Judy, Uncle Allen, Rick and myself set out for a fun day in the sun. We were about the 10th person at Dollywood .

The sign should have said " We're glad you are here early "

But we had the best parking ever- the front door. We got there so early the place wasn't even open so we waited ...and waited for about an hour ! The men started getting silly.

Gee dad glad you got a good parking spot ! The gates have opened and we are in. First stop breakfast ( since we had to get there early dad didn't offer to stop for a biscuit) These cinnamon rolls were HUGE !

Let the fun begin. We rode almost every ride there.

I'm sure you have seen the signs before you get on the rides that say - people with heart conditions should not ride - well that didn't stop my dad. He was right there riding. This is him waving and Rick is right beside him.

Now it is off to the water rides- the guys rode

this while

Judy and I waited for them.

I think Uncle Allen is a little

bit scared by the look on his face.

It looks like Rick is having more fun than some of the kids

and dad is just hoping his defibrillator

doesn't kick in :)

I took this picture from the computer screen.

We didn't ride this one but did have fun watching Uncle Allen, Rick & Judy trying to soak the ones on the ride.

When people got off of this ride they were SOAKED !

Well after walking around we were all getting tired so Rick got a foot massage.

Then it was feed the duck time - actually we were going to ride the water logs but the line was terrible and we were not going to wait.

Now let's get out of here - we left after about 8 hours and stopped at a couple stores on the way home.

Tuesday - Wednesday- Thursday - Rick went fishing with dad & Uncle Allen each morning and evening and I headed out to my papaws church ,my aunts house,my brothers, Paint Creek and country roads. My papaw was the founder of Shelton's Chapel Church of God and I thought it would be nice to get a good picture of it inside and out to print and hang on my wall. I stopped by my Aunt Blanches house to visit and get the key to the church then went to take the pictures. This is what I came up with. Then I headed out to Aunt Gizmo's house ( that is her nickname ) to visit with her for a little bit on. She lives on the Nolichuckey River so she drove me down to the dam and then we went out a little road so she could show me this neat little stream. Then it was back to Aunt Blanches to give her the church key back.

While I was at my brothers I got to meet Madison for the first time. She is such a bundle of joy.



The fisherman did good each day and Rick showed them a quick way to skin the trout they caught. Judy, Kassidi and I went out to see if dad had had enough heat one evening and he did. Him & Uncle Allen had already caught their limit and had found a cool sitting spot while waiting on Rick to catch his.

By the way - they are not drinking they are just plain crazy !!

Time to head home - on the way we passed this beautiful mountain scene so once again I had to get out the camera and shoot !

Friday - Today was going to be HOT so Rick and I took off to Horse Creek for some pictures. We found this fishing spot while walking around the park. Man, there were alot of trout here- we couldn't wait to get back and tell dad. Rick was picking corn out of the cracks in the wood to feed the fish , while I walked around.

OK - back to dads ( I'm getting tired of typing) to tell him about the fishing hole so he was off to fish and Rick and I took off to go to Harold's for pizza.

Harold got the planes out to show Rick and see how high the dog could jump. ( you can see a video of the dog and plane head on collision on you tube www.youtube.com/harleypass )

Now all the playing is done lets go to our haunted ghost tour in Greeneville. I had waited for this for a long time. It was very interesting and we learned alot of history about the town that I grew up in and we got to experience some unusual photographs. My dad says I'm crazy that this is all done with electronicsut I think it could be more. I have a person in Iowa checking to the pictures for me to see if the Orbs are really something or not.
Now this is alot to type for one day so to see more pictures without all the journaling you can see them on my Flickr page. www.flickr.com/harleypass

One way to get the most out of life isto look upon it as an adventure.William Feather