Day sixteen – Tuesday

We spent a fun day with my cousins, Don and Barb. After a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs in wheat tortillas with cheese and juice, we went for a drive around town.

While out and about, we visited many sites of family interest. Many of these places I’ve been to and some I hadn’t. Ann hasn’t seen any of these places before. We visited many old homes including homes where my mother, aunt, grandparents and great grandparents were born, lived and died. We visited two cemeteries where many of these people are buried. It’s amazing how many child relatives died in the first months of their young lives. Not an uncommon occurrence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I have one cousin, stillborn, buried in an unmarked grave.

One of my fondest memories of previous visits here was eating at my Uncle Ike’s diner in Manchester. The building is still there and is now for sale. Another memory is my brother and I fishing the Maquoketa River that runs through Manchester. This river is considered one of the best smallmouth bass and trout fisheries in Iowa. Ann and I visited the bridge we used to fish under. The bridge is new but is still in the same location. I could see the foundation for the old bridge under the new bridge.

My mother grew up on two farms outside Manchester and Delaware Iowa. We visited both farms and found one of the homes had been torn down and a brand new house built on the site. The other is still there although the home has been renovated and added on to. The old barn is still there, right alongside the road.

We had lunch in a Mexican restaurant and it was like being back in Salinas – not necessarily a good thing. We weren’t able to converse with the waiter due to the language barrier but the food was good, authentic Mexican food. I had the chorizo and eggs and Ann had a chiles rellenos.

The weather was still windy and to the west we could see the dark clouds coming. By 7:00 p.m. we had a serious thunderstorm blow in with very heavy winds and rain. The hard rain lasted about a half an hour but the lightning and lighter rain continued. I loved it. You haven’t seen a thunder storm until you’ve seen a thunderstorm in the Midwest.

Cousins Don and Barb are collectors of Carnival Glass. We spent the evening checking out their collection and learning what makes some Carnival Glass valuable and what is not. Quite interesting! It would be fun to find some pieces for them on our trip and send it to them. It would be especially fun if we were to find something of value.

The picture is of the barn that is on the farm where my Mom grew up. The house on the property is still there but has been renovated and changed somewhat.