We left Albuquerque and headed northeast through the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma. We spent the first night in a Walmart parking lot in Liberal, Kansas. We were going to meet my brother the next day for races in Salina, Kansas but as most of you have seen in the news the mid-west from Texas to North Dakota has been slammed with one rain storm after another. So the Salina races were canceled and we drove on to Belleville, Kansas for the Sunday night races at the High Banks Raceway. Our first night in Belleville we experienced a strong mid-west storm with 50 miles per hour winds and heavy rain. Belleville is a very small farming town that has a huge racetrack at the county fairgrounds. The track is very fast and we enjoyed the racing. We stayed right across the street from the track and it was exciting being around all of the action. Since we had an extra day in Belleville my brother Tom and I went to the local racing museum. We also visited the Boyer Museum of Animated Carvings. Mr. Boyer has carved many wooden figures and then with small motors and wires animated them. There were some very interesting and intricate works.
We then drove to Kansas City where I visited my mother. We were also able to update our GPS systems for both the RV, Car and even my golf watch at the Garmin Headquarters. The Royals were in town so of course we had to take in a game. We lost a close one 2 to 1 to the Indians.
I have always wanted to follow one of the many open wheel dirt track race weeks that are held through the Midwest. So Josie tolerated four days of racing at four different tracks. We saw races in Quincy, Jacksonville, Macon, and Belleville Illinois, moving from track to track each day. My brother has done this numerous times so he would drive ahead and save us a prime parking spot at each venue. There is a loyal racing fans fraternity who attend these races every year and Tom knew many of them. We met California Joe who is 82 years old and drives all the way from California and spends six months of each year driving from race to race. Everyone on the circuit knows him. We also met Illinois Eric, Arizona Dave and the Iowa Boys just to name a few. Each evening we had a cookout and everyone would bring something to the feast. Josie played the hostess at these events and did a superior job. I was able to see my favorite driver Rico Abreu drive again. He may be small in stature but he is a big time driver. He is making the transition to the lower levels of NASCAR because that is where the big sponsor money is despite their loss of fans. Hate to see that happen but it is the reality of the sport now.
Our racing friends headed to Indiana speed week and we drove to Moscow, Iowa. Moscow is the home of the HWH Corporation, the company that makes the hydraulic systems for Winnebago. Bruce and Audra Stewart had told us we could go there and have them service the RV's hydraulic system just as you would go in and get an oil change for your car. They have hookups for your RV so you can stay overnight and be there early on the day of your appointment. We were in and out of the service bay in a little under two hours, since the coach checked out in perfect condition. Since we had the time we stopped in at the Amana Colonies. The Amana's were a communal sect that worked together for the good of the community. They later expanded into making appliances with the very familiar names of Amana, Maytag and Whirlpool. We replaced a broom we bought there fifteen years ago. We also bought some of their famous Maytag Blue Cheese. We also picked up a six pack of their amber beer and root beer. We drove on to Des Moines, where we had a lake view from our camp site. We attended an Iowa Cubs game and I was able to take a birding field trip with the Des Moines Audubon Society. We move tomorrow to Omaha, Nebraska.
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