vacation time

What a great trip so far.  Saturday we took off for our vacation.  We landed in Omaha, Nebraska and collected our luggage and rental car and headed east to Des Moines.  We spent some time with Amy at a Caribou coffee in West Des Moines.  Things are very different now; there has been some tremendous development in that area.  We then proceeded to Des Moines and caught up with some friends.  The entire crew came out to Monterrey’s for some Mexican food.  Go figure we come all the way out from San Diego and we’re craving Mexican food from Monterrey.  Jesse, Amy, Amy, Ben, Ben, Wendy, Patty, Bob, Shelia and team Shea shared a meal together, well kinda.  The restaurant had to split us up because there was so many of us and not enough room to put us all at the same table.  We still had a great time.  It’s been so long since we’ve seen them.  It’s hard to find such great friends.   Sunday of course brought us to Friedrichs, (this very coffee house is where Richard and I first met).  After a bit I went with the Amies to lunch at Hu Hot with plans to start our own chain, Hu Hot by day and Ho Hut by night.  Of course it wouldn’t be a trip to DM with a visit to Half Price Books.  Richard didn’t go completely crazy and only bought half a dozen books or so.  I’ll have to do some creative packing.  Monday was a beautiful day, but very cold, a great day to drive to Chicago.  The meteorologist on WHO threatened our drive with horrible storms, blowing snow, and some ice.  Fortunately our drive was very clear and uneventful.  We got to Iowa City and stopped for some lunch and I had to buy a sweater, I am such a weather wimp.  After a little rest and some food we got back on the road and made it to Chicago, well to Crystal Lake.  We visited Rahil and he showed us his city.  He also showed us his new town home; it’s just about ready for him to move in.  While in the Chicago area we also got to see Tanja, haven’t seen her for four years.  It was so nice to get caught up.  Wednesday we went to lunch at a seafood place and we ate on a little boat inside the restaurant floating in water.  It was very interesting, and the food was good too.  We’re headed back to DM.  We’re spending the night in IA City.  Richard has been doing all of the driving.  What a wonderful man.  Tomorrow we’ll have a little more time with our friends in DM; we’ll miss Amy though she had to go back to MN.  Then Friday we’re off to Atlantic for some time with the family.   Take care,