Fear and Loathing in Iowa

Last week started with the same angst on which the previous week ended. During the drive back from the 2024 Knottlane Board Meeting and Pool Party, our car malfunctioned on I-80 East just short of mile marker 29. On Monday, we got a ride into Council Bluffs to reunite car with owner and get the diagnostic news.

The report from the dealership was good, very bad, then awesomely good. Its alternator was fine (good). Its engine had seized (very bad). Because of a known defect with this engine, KIA will fix this for free (awesomely good). They told us 2 weeks, gave us the keys to a late model loaner, and sent us toward the lake.

We arrived home late Monday evening. On Tuesday, the lake was mostly open.

I wanted to get a picture of one of the last gatherings of water fowl, but they disappeared as I got the camera. The water fowl fleeing may have been due to a big eagle that swooped down over the bar shortly after.

We wanted to get the thermometer out of the lake before the ice covered and damaged it. Much of the cord that connected it to the shore was ice free. We proceeded to gently chip the device free of the ice.

Ask us how that went. Not sure what the lake's final pre-ice-in temperature was, but we are sure that the lake temperature thermometer will never be the same.

On Wednesday, the ugly cold began to grow the ice at an astonishing rate.

Around mid-week there was some big wind and a little snow, too.

Thursday's high of 2°F and an unspeakable low left only small patchs of open water.

The open water on Thursday would somehow (Springs?, Vulcanism?, Demons?) remain liquid well past sunset.

Just before ice-in, Christmas lights were hung.

Just after ice-in, a wild turkey infestation was experienced by the bar's lawn.

The condition of local roads was not good.

Knott Lane's condition is worse than most. You can get around, but there's ice under that snow. Running is right out.

It's a wonderful feeling having fear and loathing replaced with joy, a new engine, and the promise of Lucerne in a single compound sentence. Huzzah! That joy was a bit tempered by the reality of a 60°F temperature crash on the lake. The lake suffered ice-in early on Friday. Congratulations to the winners in this year's ice-in contest. We'll get your prizes mailed soon. After that, we'll don our jolly PFDs (there's ice, but it may not support a Nemo) and get an ice thickness check.

-Nemo: Not known for his thermometer rescue skills.

Fear and Loathing in Iowa

December 9th through 15th, 2024