Quad Cities - David & Mimi

Next morning we head over to the Nankivell household - it is Friday and David has taken a day off also and takes us along with their niece from Norway, Ingri (sweet 16 - not sure on the spelling sorry), around the John Deere head quarters in Moline which is quite something - (Daryl gets to play on machines....).   The head quarters is set up in harmony with the natural environment around it and would be a great place to work.   

The rain bucketed down while we were inside but fined up later on, so we also stopped at the John Deere shop.  Lunch back at the house and Mimi was able to join us, so we all went on a cruise down the Mississippi river.  Some neat old houses - the residences of past officers on the arsenal base along with rich merchants on the other side made some good sightseeing.

Daryl, Mimi, David & Ingri

 

That night we all head out to dinner near St Clair which is a cute little town where "The Pickers" from the TV series have their shop.   After dinner we head back to our RV for the night having had an amazing time with them ad their family.

Day Two

 

Next day Mimi takes Ingri to the shuttles to catch a plane from Chicago back to Norway - 9 hours, almost as bad as our flight and we do some washing in the morning as we are running out of clothes.

 

We meet at lunch time expecting to head out and Mimi has lunch organised for us before we leave for the Quad City Airshow, (like Wings over Waiarapa).  The day turned out really hot but the show was fantastic and man those pilots could fly those machines. 

 

 

Flying sideways......

Tora Tora - the grand finale

Next on the list is the drags at Cordova Dragway, which start at 5pm and go into the night with the nitro drags.  This was also a great night and the speed were high with one record being broken and speeds over 265 miles per hour. 

They also race snow sleds.......154 miles per hour - we are not kidding.

 

 

Dinner at the drags and after seeing some of the nitro cars light up we head home where we stayed at their house for the night as it was quite late. 

 

Next morning we get up and true to form Mimi has a full breakfast going - eggs on toast, croissants, cheese and the whole family around the table - really nice.  Then we are off to Galena near the Michigan border, which is a lovely old town with a tonne of history, neat shops and cafes.  After poking around the shops, we did some wine tasting and then had some lunch (about 3pm as time had just gotten away on us), some more shops and then back home, where the guys wash their cars... and we have a BBQ dinner, some of the wine from the tasting shop with cheesecake..... need to do some exercise now!

 

 

Galena, Illinois

 

We say our goodbyes which is very sad as we have become quite attached to them and they have been the most wonderful hosts, showing us around and making us very welcome.  One day we may get to return the favour.  Can't thank them enough for their hospitality and allowing us to share their home.