Catching up with The Wandering Camels...in Iowa

It was a 190 mile trek from Forest City, IA to Coralville, IA to meet up with our good friends Faye and Dave...AKA The Wandering Camels. If you've read my blog before, you know that we met Faye and Dave through our blogs and Faye has family in IL not far from where we enjoyed camping in our early days. Well maybe a year before we went full time in an RV. Anyway, since that time we've had the opportunity to travel with them across the Gulf States, visit them at their owner site in Port Aransas, TX at Gulf Waters RV Resort and visit them at Cave Creek, AZ where they workamped a couple winters ago. They again are workamping here in IA at an Army Corp of Engineers campground. The gig they had in Colorado this summer fell through due to the fires there. Got pretty close and they had to evacuate. So they found another gig in Iowa of all places.

Well being this close to friends, there was no way we weren't going to stop and hang out. We got a text from Faye the day we were to arrive stating that we shouldn't worry about dinner. Oh yeah, that meant Dave was smoking some meat. Actually some fantastic ribs. They also had stopped at a local produce stand and picked up some delicious sweet corn. And you can't forget Dave's mouthwatering Mac N Cheese. We certainly got our fill along with some new beers I brought.

Like the wonderful bloggers we are.....we didn't get a single photo. Just happy to hanging with friends.

We sat around after dinner and caught up on their travels and work and our travels and service work.

They had the next couple day off so we planned some time getting our walking in during the day and then hanging out together. The next time was at our site. in a different loop not too far from where the workampers sites are.

They had scoped out a great loop and site and we were fortunate to be able to reserve it. The site backed right up to the Coralville Lake. Nice spacing between sites and partially shaded. A huge yard area and cool views of the lake behind us.

Enlarge the photos for best viewing

We had a glowing camp fire and enjoyed more conversation and friendship. This is what the lifestyle is about. Delicious food and cold beverages and great company.

I was able to snag some photos from Dave to document our fun time. Never a dull moment we say.

The next day we planned to check out the McBride Raptor Project at the nearby McBride Park which is now called the Iowa Raptor Project. The mission of the Iowa Raptor Project is to connect students and community to the conservation of birds of prey and their natural habitats through research and education opportunities. IRP is a jointly sponsored program of University of Iowa Recreational Services and Kirkwood Community College. 

The Raptor Center currently displays 17 unreleaseable birds of prey historically found in Iowa. The Raptor Center is open to the public! 

We arrived at the Raptor Center and immediately we were greeted by a young lady holding a Red Tail Hawk. The hawk had an injured wing and was unable to be released into the wild. 

Emily was very informative in her answers to our questions. Which, of course, Dave had a ton of. However, that how we learn and Dave is extremely inquisitive. We continued on to see a barn owl and a Great Horned owl.

 

Then it was on to more Red Tail Hawks, Turkey Vultures and eventually we had the pleasure of viewing some Bald Eagles. 

Can't remember the name of this bird

This eagle was an older eagle who had been there for a few years due to his prior injury that prevented his release.

One of the volunteers was cleaning his cage and he was asking her to Please Leave.

We walked down a path to view the lake and Faye and I happened upon a geocache along the trail. 

Dave and Glenda continued on the path while we recorded our find. Once we caught up we took some photos of the lake and our queens. 

Osprey next exhibit

The Queens

After our trip to the Raptor Project, we decided to drive into town and eat some dinner. Faye and Dave found a wonderful casual dining Mexican Restaurant. The food was fantastic and so were the Margaritas. After dinner we stopped at a local cupcake bakery for some take home dessert. We were all too full to eat cupcakes right then.

The final day of our stay Faye and Dave had to work so we planned another dinner at our site after they got off. I grilled out burgers and brats. and we had a couple of side dishes. I believe Faye and Dave had some sweet corn left so we threw those in too.

Side Note: I went our earlier in the day to get the grill ready and took the cover off. To my surprise there was a mouse next between the cover and the grill and some nest in the grill. I shook out the next and suddenly a mouse ran out of the next on the ground. Woah....Then I saw a couple of mice babies. Those ugly kind with no fur just skin and squiggling around. I threw them out into the woods. Sorry but had to be done. Then the mother mouse continued to hang round under the motorhome. Wasn't going to take any chances. I asked Dave if he had any traps from when they had a mouse problem. He did...it still had some dried up peanut butter on it. I set it and laid it near where I had seen the mouse earlier. Well...mother mouse committed suicide. Problem solved. Again, it had to be done. 

We had a final camp fire and more great conversation with Faye and I doing some planning for this fall. You see They're heading to TX and since we're heading back to AZ. Our paths will join for a while. We found some great Army Corp Parks and State Parks in MO, KS, OK, TX and NM. Only one commercial RV park. Save a lot of money and more our type of camping.

He's the guy....No, He's the guy

Life is Good

We said our see you later's with big hugs and no tears because we'll be back together soon.

The next day we got ready and made our way to Elgin, IL and the Paul Wolf Campground in the Burnidge Forest Preserve to visit our daughter, Heather, Paul and grandson, Aiden. 

Still a lot going on so I hope you'll follow along.