Sunday, July 30, 2006

...Mom's little girl


Here you go Lisa...hoping this works for you. We're having a good time, truly! Love her to pieces.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

...tripping in Retirement Land

Our first retirement journey went well, we visited our friends in Iowa. (Corn, corn, and yes, more corn!) We managed NOT to kill each other during the 11 hour trip, so I think that is a major accomplishment. Half the fun of traveling is trying new eating experiences. Why eat at Denny’s and Bob Evans when you can enjoy a little local flavor. Lunch the first day of traveling was at a bar in a little off-road town called Utica, Illinois. Downtown consisted of one "main" road, no traffic light, and two huge grain storage buildings. However, we found a bar called "Scoogs Bar and Grill". The plaque over the door proclaimed that this establishment survived the tornado of 1994. Thank goodness! Just a regular local bar, a little dark, long wooden bar and some booths on the side. However, the appetizer of the day, sounded interesting, so, why not? Deep fried pickles! They were awesome! Pickle spears, deep fried and served with a side of ranch dressing. You just kind of dip and eat. The waitress was great, the place friendly and the food delicious! (We passed on Duffy’s Tavern, since it seemed to be the local biker hangout.) (We also passed on Jimmy Johns Sandwiches, since it was in the gas station.)

Iowa found us in the Quad City area, the only place the Mississippi runs east to west…interesting little bit of trivia. (And yes, it is a mighty river!) Dad almost got arrested trying to enter Arsenal Island, a military establishment. This establishment houses the largest house run by the government, next to the White House. But hey, getting lost is half the fun of traveling! And Dad does have that "look", you know! Actually, we were only trying to find the museum, but the guard didn’t have a sense of humor. Thank you, Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn. That’s all right, we Americans will muddle through this, just as we always have.

Ahhh…..Did I mention the Riverboats? Yep, three of them, right there in Iowa. I dropped about fifty at each of them, which is actually a good day for me. They were a little disappointing, a little grungy, small, and dirty, but the machines worked!


Lunch on the way home found us at a place called Shoops. If you are ever in Illinois or Indiana, do stop at one of these places. They slap their hamburgers on the grill in round balls, freshly ground and never out of a box. There was a flurry of activity with French Fries and Burgers being tossed from the kitchen into baskets while the waitresses scurried around, shouting out orders. The young grill cook was awesome! The buns are twice the size of a regular hamburger bun and the burger still overflows the bun. We sat at the counter, of course, since that is the only way to experience good old fashioned diner dining. Great food, great place!


Well, we’re off to pick up our fourth member of the family. I’m sure he’s been lonely and will be excited to be home!