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I can't do this as well as Mr. Owl can, but I will try to add my two cents to the adventure.
My trip started off with a stop at the gas station. Why oh why did I get a car with a 20 gallon gas tank? ugh......
With a full tank I was on my way. I couldn't tell you the last time I took highway 63 South, but not a lot has changed in that direction. It's a winding two lane highway that takes you through the corn fields of Minnesota and Iowa. Thankfully, for being a two lane highway, there wasn't a lot of traffic. The first little town in Iowa brought back the reality that Iowa likes to to slow down. Small towns in Iowa have a tendency to have 25 mph main streets. It really makes me laugh because when they get up here into Minnesota, Iowans drive like bats out of hell. I made it through Waterloo, sorry Napolean, and then down to Cedar Rapids. Both are obviously older cities. Nice and sad at the same time. They could both use face lifts. After Cedar Rapids, I turned West onto I 80. My dad told me to watch out because they drive like crazy on 80. And he was right. It must be a major crossroad for semi traffic. I managed to find the Holiday Inn, and pulled into the parking lot and called up Joe. He came down and met me, then we headed up to his room to chat for a bit.
First impression? He was a wee bit shorter than I expected. Sorry Joe. :p I know, stupid thought. :p
Up in his room, he handed me a Winnie the Pooh bag. It was a birthday gift. So unexpected. :o It had a bio of Katherine Hepburn, an amazing lady. I love her. Also a bio of Cary Grant, my favorite actor. Plus the first in a series of books about vampires and other such creatures of the night. Sounds good. Can't wait to start reading them. Unfortunately, I have to start memorizing a script right now. :(
After a little chit chatting, we decided to go out and explore a little. Okay, maybe I decided seeing as Joe had already been out and looked around. :p We drove through the Amana Colonies but never really came across all the shops that I was expecting, but we saw lots of lovely/quaint(sp?) brick homes. Talk about a relaxing place to live. Finally we found a little shop and stopped in to see what we could find. So many lovely things. I fould a little ceramic kitty for Teresa. It can't replace Elizabeth, but I hope she will like it. Then I saw this adorable teddy bear. It was holding a little giraffe. I asked how much. That was a mistake. $400+. Why do I have to have such exspensive taste??? The bear was handmade and the giraffe was an antic Stieff toy. So that would account for most of the price. If I wasn't hoping to get back to Disney World this Fall, I think i might have bought it. I am such a sucker for teddy bears. Joe bought a bear claw(candy) and I almost had to join him. It looked so yummy, and they actually had some made wth cashews instead of pecans. Then we headed back to the hotel, once we found our way again. lol... We toured through the stores around the hotel. Once again, more adorable stuffed animals. Is it too late to go back and get some? Then it was back to the hotel to check in and wait for Teresa to show up.
A couple of hours or so later Teresa showed up in all her sunburned glory. Aww, you could just tell she was a hurting little camper. We chatted for a bit and more gifts were exchanged. Teresa gave me the cutiest Winnie the Pooh pen. Do these people know me or what? The pen lights up when you press down to write with it. :) Then we headed out to do a little more exploring. This time I studied the map a little bit. We found the treasure trove of shops. Unfortunately, the town apparently closes down at 6 pm and we arrived shorty after that. There was one shop, Wine Cheese and Jellies, that was still opened so we explored. I picked up a small bottle of Strawberry wine, and some hickory honey mustard, and some catsup with apple flavoring. Can't wait to try them. We bundled back up into the car and headed back toward the hotel. We all decided it was time to eat and stopped at a restaurant. It was very much "home cooking". Sadly a lot of food got wasted. I am not a big veggie eater, so I wasn't much help with some of it. The shrimp was good, but pricey.
After dinner it was back to the hotel for some restful chatting. I was starting to feel pretty tired, so I tried to keep up my end of the conversation. Not sure I succeeded.
The night was drawing to an end. Joe headed back to his room. Teresa took a bath, and I kind of just crashed. Sorry...................
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