Cowabunga !

Early Tuesday morning, husband Jon mentioned we should throw the bikes on the rack and take a little trip. In less than 30 minutes we were on our way to the Amana Colonies in Iowa. It is still fun to do things spur of the moment. We had to do a little back-peddling by cell phone to have our mail and newspaper picked up and plalnts watered, but it was fun.

Years ago, we arranged a three week road trip to California with three kids in three hours. That is a lot of "3s", but a true story. Jon had applied for a new job at 3M and knew he would not get three weeks vacation for five years if they hired him. We were young. We charged our way from Holiday Inn to Holiday Inn, hoping he would have employment when he returned. He had been self-employed for four years with all the time in the world to travel but no money. We lucked out when they did hire him. It helped pay our Holiday Inn charges.

This little jaunt had so little planning that one can expect a few glitches. I was the navigator. About twenty years ago my sister and mom and I had toured the Amana colonies. We stayed in Cedar Rapids the first night, then in a B & B in Homestead, one of the seven little towns. We were on the way driving down the Mississippi river corridor, when Jon asked me what route to take. I said we should aim for Cedar Rapid, which is close. I then made a big boo boo and told him Cedar Rapids was SW of Des Moines. "In that case," he said, "We should take I 35." We corrected our course by driving across southern Minnesota on I 90. When we got to Iowa, we stopped at the visitor's center and got a map. Guess what. Cedar Rapids is not southwest of Des Moines. Our original route would have been more direct. We drove a bit out of our way, but did get to visit the SPAM Museum at the Hormel plant in Austin, MN. I am not sure that is a destination drive, but a fun stop if you are in the neighborhood.

With my recent dieting and weight loss my wardrobe is limited. I am not buying a lot of clothes yet. Most of my clothes were in the laundry and I grabbed what I could. I have a shirt someone gave me with, "County Cow Tipping Team" printed on it. The illustration is of an upside-down cow. I grabbed that thinking if I can wear this anywhere, I can wear it in Iowa. Strangers commented on my shirt. One museum docent asked if I had ever heard of "Cow Bingo", a game her daughter had played. Nope. She explained a large grid is marked off and numbered on a field. People are assigned numbers. Then the cow is loosed and where ever it "drops it's patty" (her term), that number wins. Bingo! Maybe I will tell this story to the couple who gave me the cow tipping shirt after I told them about cow tipping. They might get me a "Cow Bingo" shirt too. You think I am making this up, don't you? See link: http://www.k94life.org/cowrules.htm