That’s the name of my town’s celebration each year: Great River Days. This year, it’s extra special. You can read all about it on this site, but I’ll hit what I want to do. Oh, for those of you who can come to Great River Days and want to, simply buy a button for $10 and you can get in to all the entertainment.
Wednesday: It all kicked off today, but today was mainly just the rides. I don’t do rides except at a place like Six Flags. So tonight after work, I cut up the tree that had fallen down. (Sweated my butt off, too!)
Thursday: The band is We’re Late And Smell Like Beer. I haven’t heard them, but my friend Chris says they’re pretty good. I’d like to catch some of their show. It runs from 7-11pm.
Friday: The bands are Spatterdash from 5-8pm and The New Invaders from 8pm-midnight. Spatterdash is my favorite local band (I do their website design and programming), so I’ll definitely be there. The New Invaders describe themselves as a 60s tribute band. Hmmm. The jury is out on these guys. Of course, with enough beer from the adult beverage tent any band can sound good!
Saturday: This is the big day. RAGBRAI ends in Muscatine that day. RAGBRAI is the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. The riders dip their back tire in the Missouri River and then begin riding east. Seven days and 424 miles later they dip their front tire in the Mississippi River; this year it starts in Sergeant Bluff, has stops in Ida Grove, Audubon, Waukee, Newton, Marengo, Coralville and ends in Muscatine. The bicyclists will only add to the party atmosphere. I want to watch the Watermelon Eating Contest (Muscatine is widely known in the midwest for its great watermelon and cantelope, both commonly called Muscatine Melons) and the Turtle Races. The bands are two I haven’t heard of: Hap Hazard from 3:30-7:30pm and OD TAPO IMI from 8pm-midnight. After a quick Google, Hap Hazard does classic rock (no web site) and I found this page on OD TAPO IMI. Sounds like both will be OK.
And hopefully some time in there I’ll get the fallen tree out of the back yard and install a new garage door! Oh yeah… and I’ll put coats of urethane on cabinets getting them ready to mount on the wall! No worries!
