3 Jul 2023 - Fireworks in Slater IA

 

Today we were in and out of our house in Ankeny, the Ankeny post office, Menards store and the campground.  Sweet corn hit the streets today with trucks in most towns in central Iowa.  We bought a couple dozen ears and Doreen will blanch, cut from the ears and freeze for future use.  She likes to use Iowa sweetcorn in her award-winning salsa. 

Bad reflection on this picture.  Both ears were perfectly colored

Back at the campground, the onboard tank indicators looked like we were not going to make two more days with our black tank so I brought our my "turd-mobile".  This device holds 35 gallons and allows us to "download" either black or grey waste from our onboard tanks and then tow it behind our truck to the campground dump station.  Using this is much easier than completely packing up the RV, loading it on the truck and then towing it to the dump station.  The only time this comes into play is for campgrounds that are not full hookup and for stays that exceed a week or so.  Both of those conditions exist here.

This evening we joined our son Dan and his family and Eddie Rosado and his family at Slater Iowa to watch their city fireworks.  Tomorrow they have their big parade but we will be busy wrapping things up at home and getting things ready to go here at the campground as we depart Wednesday morning.

Over the past few years Dan found a nice spot at the local Slater co-op to watch the fireworks.   Behind us are huge concrete silos but there is a grass area and a clear view of the fireworks that are launched from the Slater sports field.

These large silos store grain, typically corn

Discs and other farm implements here

Here we are

We had snacks, adult beverages, bags boards, connect four game, and our own (legal) fireworks including sparklers, bottle rockets, smoke bombs and other pyro techniques as we waited for the big show to start!  Young kids and old kids like fireworks!

At 2200 hrs the Star Spangled Banner was played and we all stood and rendered the appropriate respect.  Then the show started and it lasted for almost 30 minutes!  This is an incredible show for a rural Iowa town with a of population of 1,543 in 2020!  

Check out the moon here!

Dang it.  I have cool video to insert here but the cellular coverage is not good and it will not upload. One of the videos is the kids lighting off a dog that exudes a long "snake" out the rear.  It is a classic !!!! Trust me, the Slater fireworks show was amazing.  

It's late and I am done.  Tomorrow (that be today since it is almost 0100 hrs now) is our last day here and we will wrap things up and get ready to hit the road on Phase II of the Schellhase 2023 RV Trip.  Stay tuned for more adventures!