The Perfect Finish

After 16 days of travel, my impromptu trip to the lake was perfect. Not only is it, "on the list," but I got to really soak up some quality time with my pal Lorri. I'm really thankful I got to share the weekend with her and her family at their lake cabin.

coffee on the dock, just me and the ducks

cloud watching

croquet playing

relaxing in the hammock

S'mores!

Sunset. Ahhhh...

Who can turn the world on with her smile?

Mary Tyler Moore outside Macy's in Downtown Minneapolis

I love this iconic lady. She's right up there with Lucille Ball in sitcom history. First the beloved Dick Van Dyke show and later a show with her own name. She's the inspiration to every apartment dwelling, single, career girl with an eye for fashion. Whenever I start to feel a little low, I just remember... You're gonna make it after all!

The Rumors are True

I've been hearing about this place for ages and finally had an opportunity to try it out. I'm not going to lie, the Dante's Inferno English teacher part of me really enjoyed the trip to hell.

Pretty sure my lemon pancake tasted like a little bit of heaven, not a fresh piece of hell.

More menu humor -- I like good coffee too!

Artwork by Ralph Steadman, of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson fame.

Eating my Way through the Summer...

The best part of traveling is discovering new restaurants. Recently my pal Julie and I were in St. Paul and we followed up a recommendation from Rebecca who has her finger on the pulse of all things gluten free and good to eat in the Twin Cities. Neither Julie, nor I required the GF menu but that didn't stop us from enjoying Pizza Luce!


I love a good pizza and they had a wide variety of deliciousness to choose from. I got the Pizza Athena -- fresh spinach, tomato, feta cheese, Kalamata olives, Greek oregano, artichoke hearts, red onions, with toasted garlic and light mozzarella on Bianca sauce. I'd highly recommend it!

Even their menu had a sense of humor. I love that in a menu.

DIY -- HD Antenna

Supplies: Wire (this worked better than coat hangers), washers, screws, and a transformer/co-axial/deelybobber. Though I would recommend buying your deelybobber at Radio Shack rather than ACE. Mine seemed defective so I swapped it out.

No worries, I was heavily supervised. In fact, I could not make this at home... as I do not have a drill, square, wire cutter, pliers, sawhorses or large plank of wood or a metal grinder/sander thing to smooth out the points on the other side. Heck, I don't even have duct tape.

Here's my Jedi-master, Noel who guided me (read -- did all the work) through the entire process. Apparently this is a video that shows one how to make your own. There's also an instructable available here.



I tried it in my living room with my new TV and had some trouble getting it to work, so I opted for my less fussy TV in the bedroom and the old school girl worked. However, I did have to alter the design a little using a clothespin to lift the deelybobber up off the antenna some. That seemed to do the trick. Either way, I am now pulling in ABC and CW which are from a tower that is 90 miles away. Go antenna! This is unprecedented. No store-bought antenna has managed this feat!

A Handful of Highlights from the Tour of Friends

Me in Sioux Falls, SD

Rebekah and Jenny at Utopia cafe at the Falls.

Josiah teaching me how to play Settlers of Catan
(He also taught me the basics of chess.)

An afternoon of visiting with the Jenny (i)s.

Me and Ang

Delicious cafe in Rock Valley, Iowa

Levi and Me taking off

A view from the cockpit

A yummy breakfast in Hospers, Iowa

In the center of the street sits an elaborate patriotic statue

Loving the library here in Hospers, Iowa.

Impressed by the Meteor they have on display

Despite the heat, the awesome pool in Hospers was mostly empty.

Cinco de Mayo in Orange City, Iowa

One more in a series of MANY margarita shots
over the past decade or so. It had to be done.

The pool in Sioux Falls was plenty busy.

The boys

the girls

A more posed reunion shot of the whole crew. So, my school didn't manage a twenty year high school reunion like one might expect. Instead I had a 19 year reunion of my college pals. I think this worked out pretty well. We met up in Larchwood, Iowa and neither of the boy or girl action shots were comprehensive in the kid count but were still reflective of the good times that were had by all. Good food, good conversation. Frankly, I would have driven the 5 hours just for a round of hugs.