Road Trip 2015 Days 9-11

Des Moines to Centerville, IA

We had planned to do some sightseeing with Cousin but we woke up still tired and decided to head south early.  Most of the trip, minus about 5 minutes on I-40 in Des Moines, was on good secondary roads through the green Iowa countryside.  After several years of California drought we just can't get enough of this green.

Stopped in Albia, Monroe County, to stretch our legs and because I had seen a sign for a fabric/yarn shop.  The shop turned out to be open only on Saturdays so we started to walk around the square.
When we saw this sign we realized that we really needed something to eat.

The owner told us that she hadn't been open long and was planning to expand beyond pastries into lunches.  It must have been a cafe before because there was a lovely old lunch counter (not being used yet.)
We each had a very large and very good blueberry muffin and a cup of excellent coffee. 

Back in Mr. B's home town we checked into Motel 60, our usual choice, although it is definitely showing its age.  But in its favor, it's just around the corner from our favorite tenderloin sandwich shop.

Waiting for our order.

 Eating a tenderloin

 Friday morning started with a visit to Jenz Trendz, just off the square, for a shampoo.  Such a treat to have someone else give my head a good scrub.  Then we stopped at Morgan's Ice Cream shop on the square for a cup of coffee.  They also serve breakfast pizza so we ordered one of those to share.  Good thing we didn't order two because we only had room for half.  This must be my time for expanding my pizza vocabulary because I had never heard of pizza for breakfast but I'm definitely a big fan now.

After our impromptu breakfast we drove to our favorite laundromat to take care of domestic duties.  I think this may be the only time we need to do this before we get home. I even managed to do a Friday Fling (Yahoo Stashbusters thing) by giving away a container of laundry detergent for top loading machines.  I've been trying to use it up when we travel but finally admitted that's not going to happen.

Friday evening we drove to Unionville for the Unionville High School Class of '54 dinner.  However, my GPS let me down and when we got there we had to call the hostess for directions.  Turns out she lives just a short distance south of the IA/MO state line, so we had to drive almost half way back to Centerville.

But it was worth it.  Mr. B had a wonderful time visiting with old friends and I, though I didn't go to school with any of these people, had a fine time meeting them again as well.  They always make me feel so welcome.  Our hostess did all the cooking herself and everything was delicious - pulled pork, mac & cheese, baked beans, homemade pickled beets, carrot cake, and a big green salad with lots of spinach in it.  It was late by the time we got back to the motel, too late and too tired to try out my new swimsuit in the indoor pool.

Saturday morning we drove the twenty miles back to Unionville for the all-school reunion.  When Mr. B was in high school it was known as UHS, Unionville High.  The gym is the only thing remaining of that school.

The new school is now the only one in the entire county and has a section for elementary school, another for middle school, and another for high school and is named Putnam County R-1.  The elementary school shares the building but is otherwise separate.  I believe the middle and high schools share the common room, the auditorium and the athletic fields.  The mascot is The Midgets which has led to some controversy lately.  However, I don't think they will be changing it anytime soon.

Lunch was served in the Commons and was quite good, as it always is.

 Saturday afternoon we all gathered in the auditorium for a welcome and updates about the school.  The various classes were introduced - there were even some graduates of Class of 1939.  After that, we were entertained by the Imboden family.  They are well known for their religious and old-time music.  Really enjoyed this, especially the sing-alongs.

The evening festivities were due to start in the courthouse square about six pm so we had some time to kill.  Didn't want to drive back to Centerville, so I bullied Mr. B into walking around town.  I didn't tell him, but my plan was to walk to the cemetery.  His great great grandmother and her second husband are buried there.  This time we couldn't find her stone but we did find his.

The cemetery is only a few blocks from the square but the temperature, even in late afternoon, was in the upper 90s and the humidity was way up there too, so we were really dragging by the time we finished.

So we set up our chairs and bought a couple of "walking tacos", another food item new to me.  Very good and easy to eat wherever.  Must try this out on the grandchildren.  Dessert was homemade ice cream.

A little later we joined a group tour of the courthouse clock.  One of the locals, a member of the Rotary Club, has learned how to maintain it and is now passing along his expertise to some younger folks.  So we can expect the clock to continue to run for a long time.

Clock Mechanism Putnam County MO Courthouse

The third floor courtroom is quite impressive.  It is easy to imagine some very serious matters being considered here in past times.  The spectator area has a floor that slopes upwards so that people in the back can see the action.

Bench, Jury area and Counsel table

We had planned to spend the evening listening to the band play and possibly dancing, but once again old age prevailed and we decided to head back to Centerville and a good night's sleep.