Photo by The Joneses Sure, we encountered all sorts of nasty weather, but it wasn't all bad. We got to see where John Wayne was born. Here, Ralph stands in front of the house where the "Duke" was born in Winterset, Iowa. — — — E-mail Gisela! Got a comment for Gisela about their trip? Sent her an e-mail, giselaontheroad@yahoo.com — — — SLIDE SHOW: Family, tornados and the "Duke" ... all in a week's work — — — View Larger Map
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

Over the next two days the weather was nice and we were able to visit with friends and do some sightseeing.

Saturday evening it started to rain and stormed all night. Poor Gretchen — she gets very nervous when there is lightening and thunder ‚ and she kept us up most of the night. In the morning we got ready to go to church, but the road to the campground was flooded. No one could drive in or out! The rain tailed off in the afternoon and by last Monday morning we were able to leave and head toward Omaha.

My grandson, Oliver, 24, lives in Omaha with his grandfather on his mother’s side and attends Creighton University there. I knew Oliver would not be in Omaha in June he is at a leadership training course with the Nebraska National Guard. But, we visited with June Cullling, his grandfather. We also spent time with Laurie, his fiancee. We first met Laurie the last Christmas we spent in Frederick, and we really enjoyed seeing her again. She is a sweet girl and we are looking forward to the wedding — May next year.

On Wednesday evening, Laurie, her parents, June and Ralph and I went to dinner to celebrate June’s 85th birthday. While in the restaurant the tornado sirens started to sound and everyone cleared out the restaurant very fast. We went over to June’s house because he has a basement, where we could go for shelter.

Glued to the Weather Channel on TV we waited for the end of the warning and except for heavy, heavy rains, thunder and lightening the tornados did not hit us. There were several of them in the area and one of them hit the Boy Scout Camp not too far north of Omaha. I am certain the readers have heard about that tragedy on the news.

Our drive home was quite scary. Our campground was somewhat out of town and twice we had to drive through a flooded area, one was a bridge. But there was no other way and we were anxious to know if our RV was OK and get home to our Gretchen. We did make it home OK, nothing had happened to the motor-home, and Gretchen was OK. Needless to say we were two grateful people and said a prayer of thanks.

The next morning we headed north toward South Dakota and hope that we are out of the tornado area. I've sure I had all the tornado experience I ever want to have. However, we consider ourselves very lucky when thinking about some of the tragedies that happened to other people. We always said that since we live in a motor-home we can just move to where there is better weather. But looking at the weather map it is hard to tell where that would be at this time; extreme heat in the East, snow in the Northwest, tornados and flash flooding throughout the Midwest. Guess we'll just stick with our plan and head to Wyoming for the Escapees rally, and hope for the best.

But the week was not all bad. In Iowa we drove to Winterset, a small town south of Des Moines. It was made famous from the book “The Bridges of Madison County” and later the movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. We drove to several of the covered bridges, including the one where some scenes of the movie were filmed. Also, we saw Francesca’s house, unfortunately it was not open to the public due to a recent fire. Winterset held another surprise: John Wayne (Marion Robert Morrison) was born there. We visited the house he was born in and lived as a young boy before his family moved to California. Ralph was in his glory with all the John Wayne memorabilia that was in the house. He is a great admirer of the "Duke."

In Omaha we visited Boys Town. Very interesting — I’ll write about it next week.