They discovered first and we fell in love with the food and service as well. At the same time it looks like we’re going to get some more rain. Will take this time to do a short blog on Squaw Creek Loop B
6.18 Monday We arrived here at Squaw Creek Campground right about noon, a time we had projected. It was a short and very uneventful trip. Four weeks ago when we inquired into staying here for a this 2-week time period we were told there were no site vacancies. It’s no wonder, this is such an awesome park.
What the campground does have is “Loop B” which is “first come first serve” accommodations. Carla and I both agreed that most campers in the Loop B would, most likely, be leaving on Sunday or at least Monday, and we were right. 
The pickins were very good. Sites available everywhere, but that would not be the case by end of week. We were able to find a very nice site just about half way through the loop. We had no sooner set up camp when we had a call from Joyce MacDougall welcoming us and inviting us to have lunch with them. Chicken salad, corn and so much more, not to mention, excellent company.
**
6.19 Tuesday Having eaten so well we slept equally as well last evening. We’re planning to meet up with Don and Joyce in the afternoon and end the evening with dinner at their home. Just short of a feast. Mashed potatoes, native corn, pork loin so tender a knife wasn’t needed and more. We ate very well then enjoyed their company till dark set in.
**
6.20 Wednesday This is our third day here in Cedar Rapids, IA, and the last two we’ve had rain. Everything here is just so green. I believe we’re to have one more day of rain and that should be it, not complaining, Don and Joyce are treating us like royalty. Needless to say we’re still kinda stuffed, so this evening we’ll have a typical meal at home, hot dogs.
**
6.21 Thursday I believe we spent most of the day at home doing some shopping and taking care of some lose ends. Our day would culminate at the MacDougall’s with a steak dinner. Next day, Friday would be a quiet day for us but it was definitely our turn to reciprocate on dinners, but where to take them, since this is not our neck of the woods? We would let them decide and decide well they did. A choice I would not have made based on the restaurant name; Mandarin Spice!
What on earth would a restaurant with a name like that, serve? Was I ever surprised. Don had Mongolian steak to die for, Joyce had orange chicken, Carla enjoyed sautéed shrimp and I feasted on teriyaki chicken, which I hadn’t had for many, many years, Heavenly!
**
6.23 Saturday As everyone knows our routine for Saturdays is generally to relax, Mass, pizza and beer, and so it would be tonight.
The MacDougall’s’ would be nice enough to join us just after we got back from church. As always the pizza came out excellently and we enjoyed food, drink and company. for the evening.
**
6.25 Monday. We have just a little bit of we time before we get together with Don and Joyce for dinner at Noodles. We were joined by Duncan this evening, grandson to Don and Joyce.
If I could buy a franchise, this would be it. Awesome food, great service and a very friendly atmosphere.
They discovered first and we fell in love with the food and service as well. At the same time it looks like we’re going to get some more rain. Will take this time to do a short blog on Squaw Creek Loop B. Here we are at the MacDougall’s checking out Don’s Pachysandra. Believe it or not there are one-hundred plantings. Really miss those days, LOL.
**
6.26 The Youngville Café, where we went for soup, sandwich and pie is on the Lincoln Highway; so what is so special about this place and the Lincoln Hwy? This highway was the first in the country to stretch from the east coat to the pacific coast. It does go by different numbers along the way depending on the state and county it is in, but it is still the same road. Construction began in 1913 and was completed in 1928. The length of the road was 3389 miles long. It begins on the East coast, Times Square, NY and moves westward to San Francisco, CA. As the name implies it was dedicated to Abraham Lincoln. In short this was the Rt. 66 of its times.
As I said the Youngville Café is located on the NW corner of Cedar Rapids, IA and was probably the Howard Johnson or Cracker Barrel of its day. Below we are enjoying desert.
This is a very small establishment with dining for a small group in the back.
These are the actuas gas and diesel pumps of that day.
We returned home, back to the MacDougall’s and were visited by a family of four deer. One of the two fawn this afternoon.
**
6.27 Wednesday Spiedie Chicken Day What an awesome day. For a guy who had aspirations of a “Parenthood” type family, this day was so nice to experience. The menu included a very special “Spiedie Chicken”, potato salad, beans and fruit salad. Paul and Ivy, Son and wife to the MacDougall’s with their three children also joined us. Duncan, grandson flew through quickly. He belongs to John and Meg. He’s spending some quality time with the grand-parents. Everyone went back for seconds not to mention repeats on several of the wines produced by Paul.
6.28 Thursday – Meatloaf at the MacDougall’s As we continue eating our way through this two-week stay, we will get to enjoy a meatloaf dinner with left-overs from the day before. An excellent meal enjoyed by all of us. As an extra Don has downloaded the final season of Downton Abby. Today we enjoyed episode ten, the final episode. Carla and I really loved this series. Now it feels like our good friends have moved away, never to be heard from again; Sad!
**
6.29 Three venues today.
St. Francis Xavier Basilica
This beautiful Basilica is located in the Field of Dreams town of Dyersville, IA As with this venue and the last two, I will be having separate blogs on each of the three.
Please refer to the index on the right to access the blog on Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams field trip
Please refer to the index on the right to access the blog on Field of Dreams.
Breitbach’s Country Dining
Please refer to the index on the right to access the blog on Breitbach’s Country Dining.
