Day 3 - Orange City, IA

No moto riding today...just a day to lounge in Orange City and visit with family and friends. My aunt and uncle moved here in the mid 80's, and I spent one summer here as a 10 year old, having ridden here with my grandparents from North Carolina, sitting in the middle of the bench seat of a pickup truck. Things have changed some in the 23 years since that summer, but one thing sitting at the end of the driveway looked strangely familiar today...this brown truck happens to be the very same brown truck that I rode west in that summer. I remember my primary job was to install the clipon sunglasses for my grandfather's eyeglasses whenever he got to the point of needing them. Stick shift truck, too...notta lotta leg room :)

Since this blog is also for family in far off places, there will be some pics that won't mean a whole lot if you don't know me, but that's ok. You can meet some of my family! Here's the house where my aunt and uncle live...the yard has beautiful grass right now, and the cottonwoods are starting to shed white wispies into the air, almost creating a late spring 'snow'. In the back behind the split rail fence, there is some rhubarb growing (something which will not grow well at all in the South) and as a bit of a treat, my cousin's wife mixed up a rather delicious rhubarb pie :p (For the BBOer's out there, this would qualify as one mean pie ride!) Below is a shot of the huge leaves that top the rhubarb, as well as a pre and post pie shot.

While the pie making was in full swing, I took the time to sponge the grime off my trusty steed. I'd gone through a bit of splishy rain on my way in last night, and the bike was pretty splattered. It's almost therapeutic to wipe the crud off the bike, it looks so good when it's clean and shiny. The flash made an interesting effect inside the garage, the color looks electric...click to see!

After lunch, I went with my aunt Vivian over to see her friend Mona and to help prepare food for an open house being held for her son Johnathan's graduation. There was a memorabilia section set up in the living room for Johnathan, and by the time we were done (along with two other ladies who came by to help), there was also a pretty impressive display of munchies!

On our way back through town, we stopped off in the town square for some shots of the tulips and some scale model windmills. Last weekend was the annual Tulip Festival, which typically draws crowds of about 100,000+ to a town with a population of just over 5,000 (and you can read about the festival's history here). Orange City was founded in 1870 by Dutch settlers who'd come from Pella, IA, and around here, the saying is, "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much!" It's rather convenient that my last name is a variant of the original 'Schillinks' who came over as Dutch traders. Gives me a little street cred around here. (yeah) If you click on the picture with the bridge, you can still see the sunburned stripe on top of my wrist from riding.

There was a late afternoon of frisbee with a pretty athletic miniature Australian shepherd (who likes to ham it up for the camera) and some additional lazing around going on. Tomorrow, my grandparents will come by for lunch and I should get to catch up with them in the afternoon. I saw them briefly this afternoon, but tomorrow will be the good time to spend with them.

And that's all for tonight, folks :)