It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive to Davenport but the I-80 bridge is having some repair work done. Thankfully there are a couple of other choices to get across the Mississippi River to Iowa.
Denny chose to drive across the I-74 bridge into Bettendorf. It is through town and the bridge is a bit narrow but we are familiar with it. Denny likes to say that when it was a toll bridge he paid for it coming across the river to see me while we were dating.
We got to the Interstate RV Park where we usually stay while visiting family and friends in Davenport. I called my friend, Lorna. She and her daughter decided to come out to the campground and camped with us. What fun. It was great to see them.
Diana called me saying it had taken her four hours to go the first 100 miles from her home in Wisconsin. She had stopped at the library near home, and at two quilt shops. She planned to spend the night with her childhood friend on Thursday and with our sister LuAnn, Friday. She would stay with us on Saturday. It is always nice to spend time with her.
Denny and I didn’t have lunch and it was nearly 3:00 pm. We decided to go to Rudy’s Tacos
in the Village of East Davenport for classis enchiladas. I have never tasted enchiladas like these anywhere. You can only get them at the 11th St, East Village store. They are made with chorizo and beef. They have peas and diced potatoes in them. They are so….. good. We chose to get a combination plate this time. It had a classic enchilada, taco and beef burrito. Mmmmm good!
After leaving the restaurant Denny decided to check a few car dealers for a used C4500 truck. We stopped at one and asked a salesman if they had one. He said no but we gave him our name and told him to call if he came across one.
We got a call before we got home. They did have one on the lot. It was a 2006 with a flat bed. We drove back to the store and looked at it. It was beautiful with only 16,000 miles on it but it was a stick. Denny decided to drive it. He liked it.
It was bare bones with none of the bells and whistles we are used to but that didn’t matter. He dickered a bit and said yes. I was surprised because of the stick but we went home and I made the necessary phone calls to get it financed the next morning. We would pick it up on Saturday after driving to Bloomington to sign the papers at the bank.
Saturday morning came and Denny decided he just didn’t want to drive a stick for the next several years. So we cancelled everything and will continue to look. Something we want will come along.
Friday was a girls day out. We got a little later start than planned because of dealing witht he bank but LuAnn, Diana came out to the camper and got me and we went to the Village of East Davenport for lunch at the 11th Street Precinct. This is one of the places we visit when in the Quad-Cities for some of the best burgers and tenderloins we’ve ever tasted. Today our choice were the tenderloins. They are 1/2 lb. and big enough to share. Of course like many restaurants now they do have a charge to share a plate. But the $1.00 isn’t as bad as most we have run across.
There is a shop for artist Isabel Bloom sculpture. Diana and Lu both collect certain pieces. They are simple and unique. Diana found two pieces to add to her collection. We walked in the rain back to the car and went back to LuAnn’s home to continue our sister’s time together before picking up Lu’s granddaughters at school.
Diana and Julies house.It was so nice to spend time with LuAnn’s children and grandchildren. We just haven’t been able to get together as much as we would like. Everyone’s lives are so busy.
Julie, Lauren and Abby
LuAnn with her daughter-in-law, Dawn and the boys, Jacob, Ely and Ryan.We went back to our rig and Lorna joined us. We talked about growing up and had a couple of beers and some wine. It was so much fun and we laughed a lot.
On Saturday Denny took Diana and I to a quilt shop in Moline, IL. Diana wants to make a table runner for James and Stacy. Denny was going to visit Tim’s Corner, a comic book store in Rock Island. We have been going there since our kids were little. Denny says the store hasn’t changed.
It was time for Whitey’s Ice Cream. It is sold no where else and it is so….. good. I had my usual black walnut shake, vanilla flavored. Denny had his black cherry and Diana had a small black walnut shake with chocolate flavoring. She tasted mine and said it tasted like our Great Aunt Helen’s divinity. She is so right. I love it. Thankfully I only get it about once or twice a year. They are so thick you have to eat them with a spoon. Yummm!!!
After the shopping expedition Denny drove us to LeClaire, IA. We
grew up in that area and Diana wanted to see how things looked now. LeClaire looks great. They have added street lights and made it into a little tourist town with all the older buildings looking like new. People are taking pride in their town.
We drove past the quarry to the house we grew up in. It was fun to see our grade school and friends houses along the way. Some home are gone and some are in need of repair but it is a farming community and a lot of the farms have new buildings and more storage.
Our old house looks so different. The new owners have built onto it several times. It is no longer that little cape cod style three bedroom home. It was fun to see it all.
We went back to the rig and decided to ask our friends to join us for pizza at Harris Pizza, another of our favorites. A lot of pizza’s in the quad-cities have sour kraut on them and Harris is no exception. We had a small 1/2 German (Canadian bacon and sour kraut) and 1/2 chicken taco and another small deluxe. The crust is like no other and it is another treat when we visit home.
Now everyone can understand why we have to diet after a visit home and we aren’t done yet.
Diana and I stayed up until 2:00 am. We probably could have stayed up all night visiting but we had made a date with Lorna and her daughter Cathy to go to the Machine Shed for breakfast. We had to be there by 8:00 am so it was a short night.
There was a breakfast buffet at the shed for Mother’s Day. We all decided to have that. We were a bit disappointed. The rolls weren’t fresh and the price was a bit steep but the made to order omelet was very good. The food here never disappoints when we order off the menu. We learned a lesson and will continue to go back.
We came back home, packed things up, said goodbye to my sister and our friends and headed to North Liberty to visit Denny’s cousin.
Let’s see what adventures and “trouble” Denny and Norm can get into this visit.
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