Tulip Festival in Iowa

On Friday May 15 we found out that the 69th year of the "Tulip Festival" was being held in Orange City, Iowa. So, of course we had to drive over !! This small town was settled in the 1800s by families from the Netherlands and to honor their heritage, they initiated this annual celebration. The entire town has gorgeous tulips - lining the streets, around houses and planted in Windmill Park - yes, aptly named because they've built replica windmills to show their ancestry, trades & lifestyle.

Like other towns, the celebration began with presentation of the Queen and her court, followed by a procession of community members dressed in ancestral clothing representing the 13 regions of the Netherlands. Some were functional from lower economic areas, others were ornate & decorative for celebrations or "visiting" days. Then came the "scrubbing of the streets"..... a tradition before the parade could begin. Buckets of water were thrown with folks of all ages following with brooms to "scrub". Once completed, both the Mayor and Queen inspected the route and declared the streets clean and the parade could begin.

All the floats represented some aspect of their heritage, story telling, trades, beliefs; many bands participated from high school and middle schools; and there was dancing & playing in the streets. Have you noticed the footwear ??? As on the float at right, most of the parade participants .... even the band members all wore/danced & marched in the traditional "wooden shoes" ! So many colors, sizes and artwork !!

After the parade we walked the streets visiting various shops and demonstrations. We watched several gentleman make wooden shoes and blacksmithing using the original tools of their trades & aptly dressed; many shops were open selling local sweets and foods. BV chose to snack on a "brat" complete with onions, mustard and sauerkraut.... not bad if I say so myself ! As the day went by, it clouded up and began to rain. We got back to the truck and went for dinner.... but not before passing by the visitor center sign for "Blue Bunny" Ice Cream !!!!

You bet I saved room for dessert !! The factory was closed but the parlor was open - thank goodness ..... and we splurged !! BV got a scoop of butter pecan on a waffle cone while I combined mocha almond fudge and triple brownie chocolate into a single scoop on a waffle cone. Ummmmm !

Back to South Dakota we went thru lush farmland & rolling hills. Imagine..... we can get to 2 other states in less time than it takes to get thru rush hour traffic back in Austin !!!

Sunday we are all getting together to play golf in Nebraska then to a local joint for food .....

This last week we've been busy with giving tours to students and the public, staffing the aquarium, helping with the sturgeon, mowing & weed eating, etc. We did play a round of golf - we took a 10 minute jaunt over to Nebraska where we played Crofton-Lakeside. It is built into the rolling hills along the Missouri River - South Dakota is just across. Tough course .... if you got out of the fairway... well, just see BV having to hit out of the tall grass - the hole is straight up the treeline & the grass is at least 3-4" tall.

We saw an interesting site the other day..... check out the "commuter" at the fuel pumps !!!
The biologists have been monitoring the sturgeon and we had a chance to check if the "swimmers" were ready..... yes they were...... so one night all staff spent until 3am working with the "swimmers" and the female RF for spawning. A very interesting process... Let's just say.... R4 produced approx 30,000 eggs. In captivity they hope they can get 40-60% to hatch. In the wild, very few survive.

After mowing, we gather the cut grass and spread it over the garden to help with weeds and moisture control. We are still battling lots of wind and cold weather at night, not quite freezing but in the high 30s and low40s. Some of the tomatoe plants have suffered a bit of frost bite due to wind chill.

And can you believe
this photo >>>
Yep, it seems BV can't get away from concrete work. We're assisting with getting the patio's for the RV sites completed. BV met with the concrete plant to supply the materials, found wood to frame two 8 x 18 pads, staff delivered rebar and he's now tying it and getting everything level.

Thank you note, bass and golf !

We received our very first Thank-You card from the group of 1st/2nd graders !! How nice & thoughtful !!


Friday we went back to work - I gave a tour to 20 5th graders - they were very cool & had lots of good questions. It even rained on us at one point... we had one more stop to make (the outside ponds) and when I asked if they wanted to "skip it"... they all said "NO" let's go out, rain won't bother us !! BV was out mowing the grounds... even in the rain.


Thursday May 7th was mating day for the bass....they drained a small pond, trapped 64 bass in the small concrete area, netted, put them in a fresh water tank, sorted into pairs and then released into 2 of the large 1.3 acre ponds to naturally spawn. Sure would like to catch one of these !

After watching all this... we went to play golf at a local 18 hole course - Fox Run. Very nice, lots of grass. BV played very well, beat me ! I'm still having trouble with the game.... what's new, sure would like to work it out !!
Today, Saturday May 9 I worked in the Aquarium and BV did more "mower man" work. Temps didn't get above 65 ! Tomorrw we work again... so not much will be new to post. Next blog will probably be mid-week. Happy Mothers Day to all !! xxoo

The Turtle Slinger !

Our day off was Wednesday, but we put in 8 hours of volunteer work ! From 7:30-11:30am staff went back out to pull the hoop nets, check fish variety, weight and length. BV helped pull in the nets, sort the fish and.... when we got turtles... "sling em out" ! Several large snapping turtles were caught and thus the new nickname! For those tracking his fishing progess... see the big fish he has >>>

History Lesson #3: The hoop nets are huge, smaller nets underwater lead fish into the square end, they swim to the smaller hooped ends and cannot get out. No harm is done to them. When pulled, the fish are dumped into a tank of water, BV pulled them out one by one, the biologists took the measurements and the fish were released. I'm excited - I've taken on a photographer role & will work with them to update their interpretive boards & put together a portfolio of pictures showing the different hatchery activities that go on during the year.

That night from 8pm-12midnight we met with staff from here & the NB state fish & game to conduct a joint agency night bass data count. History Lesson #4: one boat has front electric probes that temporarily shock the fish as the boat slowly moves forward, fish come to the surface, staff on rubber maps net them, put them in a water tank then transfer to a 2nd boat where stats are taken, fish are then released with no harm being done. It's an interesting operation - the lake is divided into 5 sections, the shock boat runs for 15 minutes in each area to obtain section data. I'm glad we arrived early so we could participate in all these activities !

Boat rides.. beaver dams...hoop nets !

Tuesday May 5, we went out on Lake Yankton with the biologists to set 8 hoop nets and found several large "beaver " dams .... BV thought he'd move in, but it was a bit wet & crowded!History Lesson #2: the hoop nets are put out 2 times a year to gather fish so they can tell what size and variety are in the lake. Tomorrw morning we will go back out, pull in the nets and see what the "catch of the day" is.

We walked the outside ponds today and it is quite a wildlife sanctuary. Pairs of Canadian geese were out with their young ones - very cute. We saw a bald eagle but couldn't get a picture.

1st day at work !

Today, May 4 was our 1st day for "officially" volunteering... tho we've been helping out since we arrived last week. While I was getting ready, BV was awaiting me with our new ride, a Gator

"convertible" ! At 10am we checked the status of the walleye and trout, got ready for our 11am tour of 1st/2nd graders & then of course we joined the staff for "break". Our group arrived, I gave a short overview then BV asked who were the "troublemakers" - the 1st graders raised their hands, so he took them .. I had the 2nd grade and away we went ! With kids and teachers in tow, we showed them a grand time around the hatchery, joining up at the aquarium for pictures !! Of course BV got them laughing when he said ok, smile and say "Texas" ! They shouted back "Nebraska", he then shouted "Longhorns" & what do you think they came back with ?? Huskers !!! I think we did pretty good & the kids had fun !

After lunch, we went out with staff on Lake Lewis & Clark for a 3 hour test run of the USFW longboat ..... 1st leg was over to the Nebraska side ...was it windy and choppy .... then along the cliffs up to the sandbars, back to the dam and returning to the launch in South Dakota.

And our day wasn't done yet ! Pallid sturgeon eggs were coming in from a hatchery further south that were already spawning and the biologists here had to immediatly verify the count, check their weight ... (imagine checking weight of fish eggs) ... check them for health under a microscope and then set them up for hatching in their beakers.
Would you believe that in the beaker on the right..... there are approx 6,000 sturgeon eggs ? Alias.... caviar.... which is one reason they are "endangered" today !

We're supposed to be off the next 3 days.. but we've asked to help them tomorrow when they set 8 - "really big" nets in Lake Yankton to pull fish for measurements, weights and sample varieties. BV found out that last year, just in one net they pulled up a 50lb paddlefish - maybe we need to re-think what we "volunteer" for !!!! More later......

Internet again has been out ! But guess what... we went and played golf on Friday ! A 9-hole course in Irene, SD... Oh was it windy ! We elected to walk nine with an option on another..... I think since farmland takes up all the flatlands... they make golf courses on all the hills !! Up,
down and back up ... yep, we played another nine !! It seems every little town has a golf course... so, we have our work cut out for us !!!


Sooo, after golf... we decided to drive around the area, found a few more courses and then saw a sign for "casino" ! Yep, drove to just west of Wagner on the Yankton Sioux Indian Lands and donated a few pennies... stayed until midnight... and of course we did our normal routine.. hadn't eaten all day.. so by this time, the restaurant was only serving breakfast !! Ummm good !! Got back to the trailer about 1:30am... just a little jaunt for a Friday !!!




Saturday was interesting !!! What you see out the window of the trailer is a tractor... Staff asked if we wanted a garden ... we said YES...and out they came to dig up a swatch of land just behind us. That night BV put on the knee pads and planted 3 varieties of tomatoes, some bell pepper, sweet red pepper, cucumber and of course jalapeno peppers !! I followed and dug the trenches, watered and made sure they were secure. Surprisingly, nothing ate them overnight... but we do need to put up a small fence - they have some deer but say the rabbits do the most damage !
Sunday - BV planted seeds for okra, cantalope and two varieties of squash. I hope they all do well and we have lots to share !!

We also finished setting up the bookstore... while we we were pricing items, families came in, we told them about the new store and we even ended up selling some merchandise ! OJT.... so tomorrow, Monday May 4 we start officially ! Our hours are 12-5... it's tough, but someone has to do it !!