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Posts Tagged ‘Iowa’

An unwelcome change: Historic Tastee Freez closes

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on January 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

One thing in life is constant. That’s the fact that things are always changing. Sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it — the one thing in life that never changes is the fact that everything in life is always changing? Depending on how it affects you, sometimes a particular change is good. Sometimes it isn’t. Often [...]

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This place is much more than a truck stop

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on December 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Iowa 80 Truckstop (iowa80truckstop.com) bills itself as the world’s largest truck stop. Located along Interstate 80 at the mile marker 284 interchange, Iowa 80 is, indeed, huge. It’s like a self-contained city within the city of Walcott, Iowa. Truckers love the place for the Truckomat truck wash, CAT scale, game room, library, sleeping rooms, private [...]

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Superior 71: Proof positive that drive-in theaters are making a minor comeback

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on October 6, 2010 | 2 Comments »

  Last June, for the first time in years, my wife Sherry and I went to a drive-in movie. It was while we were on vacation at Iowa’s Great Lakes region. We had honeymooned in that area in 1969 and hadn’t been back since about 1978, when the third of our four children was a [...]

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Like a phoenix, Breitbach’s arises again from the ashes

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on July 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Mike Breitbach, a short, thin guy in his early 60s with a shaved head, flits around the restaurant, doing whatever needs to be done. He’s a bundle of energy. Replenishing food items on the buffet. Seating people who just walked in. Taking money at the register. He’s dressed casually in a black T-shirt and tan [...]

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From dropout to successful songwriter

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Bobby Fischer. That name may not be familiar to you. But some of the country songs he’s written or co-written just might be. Some of the Wilton native’s better known tunes include “You Lie” recorded by Reba McEntire; “Writing on the Wall,” by George Jones; “What in Her World Did I Do,” by Eddy Arnold; [...]

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Bentonsport, Iowa, B&B offers ghostly fun

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Sherry was lying in the bed on her side when she felt a hand on her hip. When she turned to look, no one was there, and I was across the room. Shortly before 11 p.m. that night, we were awakened by a tapping on our headboard. We know no one was in the room [...]

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Thousands rock at Woodstock; two say “I do” in Iowa

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on August 21, 2009 | 2 Comments »

  For some it was Woodstock. For us it was Lake Okoboji. The year was 1969. During the summer, some 400,000 young people headed to a dairy farm southwest of Woodstock, N.Y. There, from Aug. 15 to 18, they’d watch 32 acts perform an outdoor concert on a rainy weekend. Sherry Hirl and I had [...]

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It’s been a super summer of trips and visits

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on July 29, 2009 | 1 Comment »

It’s been a great summer of short trips and visits from family and friends, and it’s not over yet. Helping make July extra enjoyable for us were, for instance, visits to our home from friends Sandy, who lives in the Atlanta area, and Dan and Jini, who live in a Salt Lake City suburb. Sherry [...]

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