Eagle watching along the Des Moines River near the Market Street dam, South to Eldon.

Going back to our previous word/pictures clippings, I am going to let these speak for themselves.

I took several pictures myself, but honestly, they were nowhere near this good.  Full credit for the pictures goes to The Ottumwa Courier.  Seriously – they are way much better than mine.

"Thirteen in a Tree" via Ottumwa Courier Flickr

Dam via Ottumwa Courier Flickr

"Close-Up" via Ottumwa Courier Flickr

"Eagles on Ice" via Ottumwa Courier Flickr

(Close Up in Flight – http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottumwacourier/4203330925/)
(Eagles on Ice – http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottumwacourier/4189957249/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/4189957249_eeeb514240_m.jpg

Summary:
The family and I attempted to attend the Eagle Festival at Bridgeview Center in January, only to find “all morning” meant “over before 10 am”.  Oh well.

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Somehow, though, it is not one of the 101 Things to Do in Ottumwa.

Graham’s Dairy Freeze is one of the perfect little places every town has and every town loves.  It has been in place for 100 years, according to the Anniversary Shirts they sold, it sits on one of the main drags of the city, across from the Post Office.

Ice cream, walking tacos, sundaes, hot dogs, burgers, and more ice cream!

There are probably secrets to Graham’s I cannot understand, tips and tricks and little magical things they do to make the ice cream so good and delicious, but that is not all that makes it great.

Summary:
Lining up on a summer day, sitting on the metal benchs, getting a 25 cent “Kid’s Cone” that your kids will never finish, or a small that makes McDonald’s look like a joke – this is part of a truly great evening.

Just don’t dwell too long on that thought – other people want your seat.

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Kids play at Rainbow Castle, in Eisenhower play ground, HWY 63 north, Ottumwa fun, fun, fun!

OMG splinters!

I kid – mostly.

The Eisenhower School playground is a fricking monstrosity.  It is a far cry from the merry-go-round, monkey bars, and slide of my school days.

Complete with castles, turrets, maze-like paths, multiple slides, olympic rings, and more fun than you can shake a stick it (one of the silliest phrases ever; plus, shaking a stick at school would probably get you put on probation and Ritalin).

The park is available when school is not in session, and often is filled with small kids and young families on weekends.  Kids can run about safely, parents can chill on the many wooden benches, and everyone can feel fairly safe with the fenced areas and high visibility from the roads.

Plus, I bet there’s some great make-out spots at night.

Summary:

Wheeeeeee!

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Enter one of our charity walks, Race for the Cure, Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend.

Sometimes, bowing to peer pressure is not all bad.  I’m not saying you should jump off the bridge with your friends, or get married in Vegas just because two other guys did it, but there are occasionally positives.  Such was the case on Mother’s Day weekend, 2009, when I was talked into Racing for the Cure in Ottumwa.

We’ll use the term “Racing” loosely.  It was a lot more like “Walking along with a group of co-workers at a leisurely pace” for the Cure.

Two of my accounting co-workers were part of the Company’s leadership group for the Race for the Cure, and were constantly drumming up people to participate.

I could give you stories of friends and family with breast cancer, but really, that is true for way too many people in the United States.  Truthfully, I did not want to be the jag bag not walking for the cure.  Sure it was, only a mile, but it was at 8 am.  My wife had been talked in to it, so with two kids, that was going to be an early morning.

My co-worker with triplets, though, was going to be there, so that was no excuse.  We’d push a stroller with the baby and let the older boy walk as well.  Case closed.  Early Saturday it is.

It was a nice enough morning – cool, not cold, with an announced registration of over 2,800 people between the walk and the 5k run.

My back was hurt from screwing around playing soccer with my son in the backyard, so I got skunked by more than a few people, but I “volunteered” to help out by pushing the stroller the whole time.  I’m just helpful like that.

I have no idea what my time was, nor did I care.  It was an okay time to goof around with my co-workers, cracking jokes and laughing at the people being way too serious about it (You know who you are, Bicycle-helmeted Spandex-shorts pudgy dude), but the overall point was raising money for research, and that was done.

My older son then also participated in the Fun Run, claiming third in his age group (he claims he was not paying attention, which was partly true, but he also just got beat).

Summary:
Exercise, early mornings, and co-workers who one may or may not like.  Where’s the downside?  Points loss for uniqueness, but this can be an annual thing.

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Waiting at the school one day, she came across… well, she recapped it perfectly for Bad Parking:

So I live in rural town southern Iowa, and while I was dropping my son off at school, I watched a man first try to parallel park this minivan and trailer – and I had a good chuckle.

Then I watched him pull into an empty two spaces ahead of the vehicle in front of the parallel spot.

And the part I found the funniest?

Ten minutes of maneuvering lead to a driver’s satisfied look upon completion – and this.

For added good measure, a few more have been captured:

This lovely example comes from an afternoon at the office.  It was fairly empty anyway, but there is rarely a reason for just blatantly parking in the yellow striped areas, save for immense snowfalls (which we do occasionally get; those I understand).  This was just pure jackassery.

In our third example, our local dolts manage to park squarely in a no parking zone at the Target.  The spot next to them was open as they parked – I watched them while walking in.  But hey, they saved… wait, no steps!  They added steps to their walk – obviously it was an exercise thing.

I know every city has jackasses.  But sometimes it is fun to make everyone else know about it.

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Skateboard, bike or rollerblade at Skateboard Park on Market Street near bridge in Ottumwa.

Okay, I have no clue about skateboarding.  I’m past thirty, married, with two kids now.  I work, do laundry, pay bills, and do grocery runs.

But hey – the kids at the skatepark look like they are having fun, and it is always busy, so it has that going for it.

Summary:
I’m old.

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This is the Ottumwa 8, a part of CEC Theatres.  A comfortable theatre, with slightly reclining chairs and giganto screens that pretty much would be at home anywhere in America (or parts of Europe for that matter).

At $8 a ticket ($6 for kids, $2.50 for 3-D glasses), though, it is at the upper end of comfort in the town.  The theatre going experience debate is best suited for people far smarter than I (Roger Ebert, perhaps), but a trip with my son can easily hit $25 to $30 with snacks and a drink.

But you know – it is almost always worth it.  Unless we make four trips to the bathroom.

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