The Native Iowan

Been way too long since I been blogg’n. And soo much going on too! Usually I don’t blog when I am not bizzy. Now, we been too, too bizzy.

Where we been, what we been doing…

Been on the road now for 18 days. Have been traveling with Grace, Annie, Angelo and Mendoza. It has been fun.

Gotta pass my thanks to all the family… The ol’ folks that make it all so special and memorable. M&J and their young’ns, H&R especially for taking Grace on the ride on yer harley. D&A for their, as ever, unparalleled hospitality. Of course Judy for her many massages. The Goodrich family for simply being so delightfully disfunctional. Also, granny Barb Bell, Jeanie and her trio of miscreants, Tonia and Ross, and lastly: Apologies for not seeing everyone… Molly, Nicki, Bryce, Jim, Tami, Jameson, Jim, Kacey, Jackie… and everyone else who I did not even have time to think about… it is a big family and though a couple weeks sound like a long time, it ain’t.

Highlights have been the time with the old folks, especially the trip down memory lane to Dubuque. I remember being a kid and hanging up above the Mississippi at Eagle Point park with my grandfather. I remember paying to use the binoculars there. Deja’ Vue? Or Tradition?

Hanging with Katie, Brian, Addie, Zoë and Mikey was a trip. I am into kids, as everyone knows, and Katie’s kids are all good pups, all keepers. One day I let Grace and Annie go fry plastic at the mall with Katie. I kept the kids all day. We played in the pool at the hotel then, to everyone’s surprise, walked from outside of town to the folk’s place, making a number of stops along the way. All up we did about 5 miles without a complaint or anyone, even 3 yr. old Mikey, needing to be carried. My glutei were tight and sore the next day. The kids were all fine.

We got a great weekend at Angela’s pad by the lake. The best thing here (besides beating Leaven and Stark at golf… high score wins, right?) was Doug bought nice air rifles for the boys. They each had their old “Daisy” rifles, just like I had as a kid. We set up a target range and everyone had a good time.

We did a quick stop over at Vegas. We went to see Nathan Burton’s magic show. It was great! If you every have a chance this dude is funny and impressive. We also saw the Lion King musical. Magnificent is all I can say. Vegas is basically a dump but the boys had a grand time and we were all happy to travel on…

Grace and the family flew off to Fiji and on to Honiara last eve. I am now sitting in Denver waiting for my flight to Missoula. I’ll spend a few weeks there tramping around the mountains, fishing, hunting and generally cleansing my spirit.

It has all been good, very, very good… More later, and many thanks to all n’ sundry…