Weekend in Garner, Iowa

To celebrate Dad's 92nd birthday, we gathered at The Garner Inn located in the small Iowa town of Garner.  The motel is about one year old and offers very nice accommodations.  The breakfast room is used in the morning as travelers enjoy a free start to their day, and then sits empty and we made good use of it for visiting, snacking and a little happy hour.

Close friends, Jim and Janette Swenson, from Belmond, joined in for Saturday night.  Since Gus and Lois could not be there due to lots of family events in Luck, it was especially nice to have Jim and Janette there with us.

Laila flew into Mpls on Saturday afternoon.  

I stopped at QuikTrip on my way to the airport and got a laugh as this gull snagged a big bite of bun that was on the pavement.  I watched him as he worked very hard and finally managed to swallow the whole thing after he squawked loudly at anyone walking within 20 feet of 'his' lunch.

I drove to the cities & picked her up then we drove to Iowa for 3 nights of visiting.  Glenn and Kathy went to Iowa on Friday morning early and I'll write about their trip to Des Moines in another post.

Once Laila and I got checked into the motel on Saturday late afternoon, we all went to The Colony Inn, located in Ventura, IA to eat dinner.

I tried to take 'selfies' of the group at the table, they didn't turn out great, but
at least you can see we were all there.

We posed for a group shot back at the motel gathering room after dinner.

Janette & Jim Swenson, Wanda, Glenn & Kathy Johansen
Laila Johanse, Ev and Dad

Sunday morning, after sleeping in a bit, we all gathered again for a surprise breakfast.

While the motel offered free hot breakfast, we waited and after most of the guests were gone, Glenn and Kathy served hot æbleskiver.

Glenn had made the 'skivers at home, froze them and then he reheated in the motel microwave.

The homemade maple syrup was from the Vanasse syrup making efforts.

It's just coffee and juice, but she's two fisting it.
Kathy, Ev, Laila

Glenn had an æbleskiver with money in it?  Or did he?  Nope, just a set up.

Lots of visiting

Lots of eating.

 After breakfast, and once we were done cleaning up, Glenn and Dad got in some cribbage.

 I'm not sure who won or lost, but there was plenty of teasing.

Glenn, Wanda, Ev, Laila
Dad

Glenn, Kathy, Ev, Laila
Dad

 Glenn and Kathy left for home, the rest of us took some quiet time in our rooms,

the skies opened up and The Red Sled got a free carwash.

Sunday evening, we took up again in the gathering room and had a little happy hour.

Lots of chatting and having a nice visit.

Nice digs for us to relax and spend time together.

 Then, as Dad was telling us about something that had happened on their trip to Denmark years ago,

Laila thought she heard something that really, really, really hit her funny bone.

Laila started laughing so hard, she couldn't tell us what was funny.

The harder Laila laughed, the more we all laughed.

We all ended up with a good belly laugh over something very silly.

Life is Good!

Monday, Dad and Ev moved back to their apartment.

Laila and I ran a couple of errands while the folks napped.

We tried to go check on the big corn pile, but there was a road detour that kept us from getting there.

On the detour, we managed to see a little of the countryside and I snapped a few photos.

We drove through a little development of houses and a small herd of deer walked out for us to see.

We watched this turkey vulture hunting over a field.
Up close he's not very pretty, but he put on a show with his flying and wing span.

 Gus and Lois could not be in Iowa for the weekend.

Jack got confirmed and the little girls had dance recital.

Gus and Lois sent a bouquet of flowers to Dad for his birthday.

Dad said it was the only time in his life that he had ever gotten flowers.

Sweet.

 The birthday flowers were stunning.

Tuesday morning, Laila and I had to be on the road by 6am to be sure that she would arrive at the airport 2 hours before her flight time.  It poured most of the drive but we arrived in plenty of time.

It was fun visit, and we'll look forward to next year celebrating in Iowa again.