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The Cruise--Details

I didn't include more details in the prior "The Cruise" post for two reasons. 1)  I didn't think anyone would be interested; and 2)  This trip didn't include much of the normal topics:  good beer, good coffee or John-style travel. But there are details, which may be useful to some people contemplating how such a trip is put together. On the first day of the trip, we drove three hours to pick up my mother in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  At 85, she isn't comfortable driving for long distances and hadn't flown for many years. We then drove 3 1/2 more hours to Chicago, where we checked into the Wyndham, where you can get a room that includes the cost of parking for up to 12 days.   We were up early on the hotel shuttle to O'Hare, where we then boarded the a non-stop American Airlines flight to New Orleans. Here, we checked into a Hampton Inn near the port.  My mother was pretty tired, so Julia and I went out for a Cajun dinner and live music.   Rememberi...
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I was born in Iowa, but I never really lived there.  My parents brought me home from the hospital and took me to their small trailer in a small trailer park in a small Iowa town.  Within a short period of time, my Dad got into Stanford to get his PhD in secondary education and we moved to Sunnyvale, California.

My parents both grew up in Iowa and met at the University of Iowa.  After retiring, they eventually moved back to Iowa.  I’ll be visiting with them in a couple of days.

When I was in high school, I spent summers in southwest Iowa, working on my uncle’s farm and getting into mischief with my same-age cousin, Tim.  We remain friends.  He’s a social worker-turned-truck-driver-for-the-money.

Tonight, I’m camped in south-east Iowa, a part of the state that I’ve never visited.  There are lakes, woods, hills–pretty much everything I like about Wisconsin.  Callie and I took a couple of loops hiking around the lake.  Then we drove to town where I had some difficulty finding a beer to buy that had any flavor.  Nothing local, but I did find a Deschutes Juicy IPA at the local Hyvee.

I’m having one of my favorite simple meals, prepared in the cast iron skillet:  a thin ribeye, sautéed mushrooms and spinach.


Here’s my campsite at Wilson Lake County Park ($20/night).


I have no plans to ever move to Iowa, but this is a nice, quiet campsite.


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