Ken Ehlers really knows how to top off a great vacation.

A lottery win sounds just about right.

Ehlers, 52, had no idea he was the $200,000 winning Powerball ticket-holder the Iowa Lottery was looking for while he was away - or that the ticket had been purchased at the Hy-Vee gas station near his home, on West Locust Street.

A friend in his lotto-ticket pool of seven former co-workers - who now call themselves the "Lucky Seven" - sent him a text message, asking him to check the numbers when he got home. So, Ehlers rifled through a pile of accumulating tickets, which he purchased for the group every week for years.

And when the numbers matched, he couldn't believe it.

"I was so excited that I couldn't text him back," Ehlers said. "I had to call him back."

"Like I told them up at the Powerball place, I call it a luxury speed-bump on our way to the big win," he said, laughing. "Someday, we'll hit the big one."

The money will be split among Ehlers and his fellow group members, who include Stephen Dreifurst of Moline, Peggy Burchett of Moline, William Ware of Milan, Kimberly Schaber of Davenport, Bryan Sands of Silvis, and Richard Mathias of Coal Valley, Ill., according to an Iowa Lottery press release.

Ehlers said he plans to pay off some bills and buy some materials for his hobby: Woodworking. He makes furniture and things to outfit his home and give to friends as gifts, he said.

Another member of the group plans to buy a new vehicle, while several said they plan to save their portions.

The winning number was drawn July 22, and the staffs at the Iowa Lottery and local Hy-Vee gas station have been searching for the winner ever since.

Ehlers and his friends found out they won last week, but had to wait for the seventh member of the group to return from her own vacation so she could be there when they claimed their prize Tuesday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids.

Players in Iowa have up to 365 days from the date of the drawing to claim Powerball prizes.