159.July 26

Rachel met me in Decorah on Water Street for lunch. We got a Moo Mobile shake, and then went to Edies Angry Pickle for Fish soup and rommegrot. That night we threw Rachel's birthday party. I grilled on a hickory fire, and everyone came to the backyard area on this cold night to sit around the Airstream. Sara brought us one of her spare fire pits, and we set up on of ours as well. We gave a few tours of the house and the barn, and we had tons of food and fun.

2013

We picked up Lee at 07:00 to drop us off at the airport in La Crosse. We sat in separate rows on the way to Mpls, but got some great seats in the front with tons of leg room just behind first class. After arriving, we found the SuperShuttle desk, and were told it would be a few minutes for our driver to show up. We rode with some people from Africa, and if I had known then about the Ebola virus going viral, I would have been afraid to ride with them. But Rachel made friends quickly, and was passing their cellphone back and forth from the brother to the sister.

We were dropped off at a restaurant called The Egg and I, which was about 1/4 mile from RKB motors, the auto dealership where I had them holding a car for us until we arrived so we could buy it. I dropped Rachel off with our luggage at a BBQ restaurant that had amazing reviews and went on. It was a difficult place to locate, because they didn't really have signs. I took the 2005 VW Golf TDI for a test drive, and it was perfect, everything seemed to work flawlessly. I bought it, and then had a little trouble starting it by myself because I've never driven a diesel before. Now, a few weeks later, I don't have the problem anymore, but I was a little worried that it would cause problems on the trip. It didn't. I picked Rachel up at Blake's Bar BQ, and she had already made a group of friends, whom she had just finished singing "Don't Cry for me Argentina" before I entered. She's also sung some aria to them, and the whole restaurant loved her. We went out to the new car and found our way to the Modern B&B for the night. After sharing wine with the british family staying there, and the owners niece, and the housekeeper, we took a shower and a walk to Hugo's for dinner. We stopped at an HEB to buy beer and bug bite medicine on the way back to our tree house room (it was on the top floor, and called the tree house, but was amazing.) What a perfect night.

2014

Arizona 2017