There’s a nice rails-to-trails bike path here in Des Moines called the Gay Lea Trail. After I posted yesterday, I got Donna’s bike out of the trailer and pumped up the tires. She headed out, rode out of the campground and about a mile down Dean Avenue where it became Fairview Drive and intersected the trail.

While she was out, I set up my extension ladder, wash bucket, hose and brush and got up on the roof. When I swept the debris from the mimosa tree in Turkey Creek RV Village from the roof, a lot of dirt and dark stains were left behind. The stains extended over the roof coves and were driving me crazy. After I started cleaning, I snapped a photo of a two-foot section of the roof I was brushing to show how dirty the roof was.

Of course, as I cleaned the roof, dirty water was running down the sides of the coach. So I had no choice but to wash the entire rig. The trailer was just as dirty and needed to be washed as well. While I was on the roof, RVs pulling car trailers were streaming into the park. The Good Guys Fourth of July car show here at the Iowa State Fairgrounds is a big show.

While I was washing the coach, there was a group of people camped behind our site that piled into a van. Then an argument broke out with a lot of shouting. I thought a fist fight was about to happen. They all got out of the van except the driver who sat there with the engine running for about 15 minutes. One of the guys from the group came over and made small talk with me. It turns out they are workers at a carnival near here and their trailer is a bunkhouse with 10 compartments. It must be difficult to work together, then share tight quarters and be around each other 24/7.

Just as I was finishing up the wash job, Donna came back from her 24-mile bike ride. I put everything away before realizing that I didn’t wash the scooter. It’s badly in need of a wash job. I might find a self-serve car wash for that chore today.

As I was packing things up, I met our neighbor, Dave. We chatted for a bit. He’s from Flagstaff, Arizona and is following a car show circuit with his 1967 Chevelle convertible. He is selling the car to someone who will come to get it at either the Indianapolis show or the big show in Columbus, Ohio. It’s going for $66,000. He told me he has nine classic cars in his collection.

While I was washing the coach, I stopped and came inside to get a bottle of water. Ozark, our cat, must not have like the sound of me walking on the roof. She was hiding under the couch and wouldn’t come out. We’ve only been feeding her for a week, but she’s filling out nicely and is no longer the scrawny cat that found us. After Donna came inside, Ozark came out from her hiding place.

When I was at Petco on Wednesday, I bought some catnip. I put that on her scratching post and it got her attention. She’s using the post now, but we still have to keep her from scratching the furniture. Donna puts covers over the furniture if we leave Ozark alone in the coach and at night before going to bed. She also covered some of the more vulnerable valances with clear packing tape to deter the cat from scratching them.

Like many cats, Ozark is crepuscular – she is most active in the evening and at sun-up. She spends the day napping and getting up to eat or play for a short time. Her early morning antics have us getting up earlier. I’m hoping that she acclimates to our schedule and becomes more active in the afternoon and sleeps more at night. Last night was the best yet. She slept on our bed most of the night, but still rose early.

Last evening, I took a walk through the park and took photos of some of the cars here. There are so many nice cars, I was tempted to shoot dozens of photos.

This morning, the hot rods started firing up early. The guys all want to be first in line to claim a good spot in the show. They’re required to pull out of the show area at the end of the day and the process will start over again tomorrow morning and again on Sunday. I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to buy a ticket and see the show.