Finally, no more political ads

The election is over.

I'm not speaking to most of my Facebook acquaintances.

Some of the candidates I voted for won.

Some did not.

Some issues won.

Some didn't.

This election was not as much fun as others.

You have to remember I'm from Iowa. We don't have a professional sports franchise. We have politics.

It just wasn't as much fun as it usually is.

But it is over now and from what the pundits say, we have almost 18 months before they start running again.

The fact that they started the Black Friday sales before Halloween seems kind of ironic.

But, HRH has recommended I write a segment on my recent struggles with pastries and caffeine since every time I tried to tell it SOMEONE walked all over my stories. So I have something to write between Firefly marathons and Thanksgiving cooking. Talk to you soon.

Planned Parenthood Book Sale weekend

It has been two weekends since HRH joined CaDiva, The Mom and I on a weekend. First HRH had a head cold and then she had to work. So the last time we got to play was a cold and rainy weekend at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Above, you can just barely make out the wind turbine against the gray damp sky.

We started that weekend with the little hrh at Home Plate Diner.

The food was very tasty and welcoming on such a dreary day. I regretted ordering the patty sausages with my omelette. They tasted wonderful but my old GI Buddy was back in town. Upper GI that is. Regardless of my temporary amnesia regarding my digestive system I enjoyed the meal and would go back there any time.

They have a seriously family friendly attitude. Little hrh was in a fine mood until just before we entered the diner. But she had started a tiny tantrum as we approached the table. We weren't even seated before the server showed up with a Barbie doll and a My Little Pony to distract the little terror...excuse me, I meant the little hrh.

We all enjoyed the joking and teasing between the servers and customers but we laughed out loud when we realized it was a customer who was offering us a coffee refill. I'm going to guess the rule is, if you want coffee you can get it yourself but you have to offer it to everyone else too.

We went across the street after brunch and dropped the Mom, HRH, and the little hrh off at the book sale while CaDiva and I found parking. I have been going to the book sale since it was in the Ag Bldg (aka the old 4 H building if you are old enough to remember) and the parking is much improved over the years. But we are wienies and didn't want to park in the back forty  And why should we when CaDiva can parallel park like she invented the concept. It is really quite sexy to watch, I should film it and load a video here.  I could probably charge people to watch it.

We got out of the book sale on Saturday only $50 light. And we only dropped another 40 or 50 bucks on Sunday but that was a half-price day. And you really can't count the $30 we spent on Monday because that was 75% off day and we delivered over 35 books at the Mom's house that day. She is pretty much set until the spring sale.


We tried out the children's consignment sale but I wasn't really impressed. I did find a cutie pair of boots for the little hrh. They light up and looked adorable on her. And we did find a Christmas or Birthday present for her too. I'll explain later how grotesquely unfair it is to give anyone a birthday so close to Christmas.

Well, like always I started this too late and I need to get off to bed. I will give you an Dunkin' Donuts update tomorrow if I get home from work at a decent hour.

Leaf Peeping in the Midwest

And I looked it up, it is so too a phrase. Although I'll admit it is a silly one. I have been leaf peeping for two weeks now and am just amazed at the Autumn we are sharing this year. Maybe it was the drought or the late cold snap in the spring, but the colors this year are more of an earthy, warm, welcome than a cacophonous inferno.

The autumn colors are coming slowly, leaving many trees a half and half event.

I took The Mother home from the hospital on Sunday traveling the long way around so that she could see some of the changes she missed while she was confined this last week. I tried to talk CaDiva into coming with me on Monday but she was busy baking the thank-you cookies and such. This is when I discovered leaf peeping is definitely not a solitary activity.

I tooled around in the old Bonneville from Windsor Heights to River Bend and saw some magnificent sights but pulling over in traffic at a high enough elevation to snag the pictures I wanted was not easy. Texting and Driving is bad, Drinking and Driving is worst, but Peeping and Driving is definitely difficult.

After delivering the aforementioned thank-you baked goods, CaDiva suggested we make our semi-annual ice cream run to the south. The air was sweet and warm. the sun was shining and even though the kitten hadn't been fed we took off.


Now before you go all PETA-nuts on me, there was food in the house and it was in her dish. But this particular feline does not consider food in her dish to mean she has been fed. She believes, and doesn't know why we can't understand, food in her dish has previously been rejected and is beneath her consideration. But she is also species-confused, given that she will beg like a Labrador for salmon and brie shortly after flopping on her back and demanding a tummy rub. So I tend to disregard many of her more persnickety traits. OK  yes, I see the irony in the comparison to a canine when she never begs for anything that costs less than $12.00 a pound.  But I digress.



Even the reds are more of a burgundy this year. In every meaning of the word, they are warming and rich without being overly sweet.


This particular shot was from the "lake" at Lakeside Casino. You should know in Iowa we can have casinos on land owned by the Native American's or bodies of water. No one said how long the body of water had to be there before you can put a Casino on top of it.










In case you didn't read the blogs about Ragbrai and still thought Iowa was flat I wanted to share this gently rolling hill for your consideration.



Autumn in Iowa is also not just trees changing colors.

And just one or two parting pictures that made my vacation worth the time and energy.

The Raccoon River - yes the same one that was party to the flood of '93. So when we say we are having a drought...we ain't just whistling 76 Trombones.


OK, yes, sometimes we are showy even in Iowa. 

I'm hungry. Is there a Casino anywhere near here?

Today was the first day of my vacation. I haven't actually been to work since Thursday. The Mother sprang another leak and Herself allowed me time to stay with her at the hospital and still take my vacation this week. I can't count Monday as vacation because The Mother had a home health care representative scheduled to to follow up on her hospital stay.

However, today CaDiva had a great idea to deliver Thank-you baked goods to the hospital staff followed by a leaf-peeping and ice cream run.

I have been planning an autumnal blog so this suited me very well. During the run to Eagleville, we found the Happy Apple Orchard. It was closed but we quickly made plans to visit it this weekend. We checked out some scenic by-passes and took lots of pictures I'll share later. On the way home we realized the gas tank and our bellies were riding on the bottom half so we decided to make one last pit stop.

The only problem is between Bethany, Missouri and West Des Moines, Iowa, there just aren't that many places to stop for a sit down meal. Oh, there are Casey's General Stores every dozen miles or so. However, I may have mentioned that I already ate my lifetime allowance of Casey's food during our Ragbrai trip.

Fortunately Osceola has a fine dining establishment known as Lakeside Casino. It used to be Terribles. The Casino was Terribles not the dining establishment. Truth be told we only ate there once before so I can't say it wasn't Terribles. As I recall it was more mediocre than Terribles.

The restaurant wasn't opened until 4:00 PM. This wasn't as bad as the orchard. I mean it wasn't as if we had to wait until the weekend but we had to find some way to kill 20 minutes. Conveniently, the Casino restaurant was attached to a floating structure filled with slot machines. What with the $30.00 of free play Lakeside gave me us for being new players with e-mail and cell phones and $2.50 applied to the penny slots, we filled the time waiting for the restaurant to open.

We ordered the buffet because it was a Casino and that is the law. We paid $12.00 a piece for an all-you-care-to-eat buffet of Italian, Chinese, Mexican, and American fare. They also had salad and dessert stations. The American choices consisted of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and waxed beans, except chicken was on the Chinese station along with the fried calamari and scallops with the shrimp scampi. And no way would I list bread sticks, cheesy polenta, or pork loin with pineapple as Mexican.

I really enjoyed the scampi and the pork but I don't think I would pay $12.00 for such a narrow selection.

Route 66 can't dead-end if there is a Whataburger just over the horizon

I'm sorry I have been gone so long. The office got my attention first and now it is family matters. But I did find one of my pictures which will make a good blog. Just talk among yourselves while I deal with this latest interruption.

So what is your favorite burger? I first found Be Bops. Their burgers got me through some serious IBS issues. (if you don't know IBS is a series of undiagnosed symptoms which may be treated but not cured.) And the fries are notoriously good. In KC, we pinned our hopes on Back Yard Burger and their onion rings but it went all McBK on me. CaDiva introduced me to In-N-Out Burger...the double double will eventually send you to cholesterol Hell I imagine but you couldn't complain about the trip. On the way back from The Brother's wedding we discovered Whataburger and found a new meaning to having it your way. I even tried out Jack in the Box for breakfast-all-day but found the meaty delight between soft white bread buns just as enjoyable.

Lately, however, with no roads to travel, I am limited to national chains and Saturday lunch with the ladies. The Tavern Burger at Red Robin has tickled my fancy of late. It is smaller than their normal burger and I actually have room to finish my fries (if I don't order the mushrooms or rings.)

I'm still dealing with family issues (keep a good thought for The Brother and The Mother please) and you can discuss among yourselves which is your favorite burger. I'll be back soon.

What should we talk about next

I haven't traveled lately, not since the girl trip to Coralville. I don't know what to tell you about next. I'll admit my old friend IBS has been visiting for a long time, so I haven't been terribly motivated. But one name does keep coming back to me, Best Western.

Oh, I have several hotels on my top list. I sleep well at almost all Hampton properties. I have had some of my best meals at Marriott hotels. I spent three glorious weeks at a Double Tree in Sunny Isle, Fla. I even had one nice long stay at a Westin in Jacksonville. But one of the most surprisingly consistently hotel chains I have stayed with is the Best Western.

It started with the cross-country drive to bring CaDiva to Iowa. We made it to Cheyenne. It was dark, rainy and we were very tired. But we were also a day behind schedule. We got a late start leaving Santa Rosa and I got us lost in Sacramento, so we only made it to Truckee that first night. CaDiva wanted to stop in Cheyenne but HRH and I said we should push on. CaDiva's argument was the darkness and rain. I pointed out we were driving into western Nebraska, what was there to hit? During the course of later trips we would learn that rainy nights were not so bad that I couldn't drive us, especially in mountains. But that is a different story.

We discovered many tricks to traveling cross-country but this trip we were still learning. We would drive until we were within an hour of wanting to stop, then pull out the AAA tour books and look for the mile-marker about 60 out then look for a hotel. This particular night we found the town of Ogallala, Nebraska. And I just loved the word...O-ga-lla-la. You can't really beat that. I wanted to stay there just so I could tell people I had spent the night in Ogallala. Oh, the Nishnabotna River is good too but that night we picked Ogallala and the Stagecoach Inn.

They had a King on the ground floor and a Queen on the second floor. Since the Stagecoach didn't have an elevator CaDiva and I took the lower level and HRH took the upper room. The rooms were clean, comfortable and came with a continental breakfast. I learned not to eat the Cheerios since they had Honey Nut in the little dispenser and I can't do sweet first thing in the AM. But we needed to get a start in the morning anyway. We were one day from Des Moines and I would be sleeping in my own bed that night.

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After that, we stayed at the Stagecoach every time we could. There was one trip we had to stay in Kearney instead because of some sort of state tournament took up all the rooms for 100 miles. By the way, it is apparently pronounced Carney even though they spell it Kearney.

We got to the point that we looked for Best Westerns.  We looked forward to a night in Newport, Oregon. But I took a miss turn and we drove two extra hours in the dark, through the mountains, and the woods. And no matter what she tells you, CaDiva did not see a jackalope as we rounded that one curve. Anyway, we didn't get there in time to luxuriate in the hot tub or walk the beach before our whale watching trip the next day. The hotel was under renovation but it was comfortable and welcoming as all the others we have stayed at since.

We stayed at the Best Western Canterbury in Coralville, Iowa for our first not-quite-annual Hahn Women girl trip. I fantasized about the tower suite there. Although the stairs would be have been too much for CaDiva and I. But it was a two story suite on the second story of the hotel. It had a hot tub on a private terrace. I originally proposed we rent it (way too expensive for just one of us) as a party suite for all the ladies. We still had a great time but when I get the oomph to plan another I think I'll take a few clues from that first trip and keep us with more time to bond and a little less free schedule time.

After our recent trip to California where we stayed at the Best Western Plus Bay View at Carmel by the Sea I learned there are three classes of Best Westerns. The Plus is obviously elegant but I still got a good price. It had a lovely balcony. You have seen it before. I posted a couple pictures of me and my sea gull friend, discussing who got my bowl of Cheerios. The room had a fireplace in a corner and a grand view of the bay.

We ate at Clint Eastwood's restaurant, of course that was before the empty chair incident. There was a cute little mini mart next to the hotel where we got sandwiches and drinks for noshing in the room. We took another whale watching trip and drove the 17-mile drive to CaDiva's brother's wedding.

I think there is a way on this blog to attach that map application where you can track your favorite hotels. I have had some great nights and and longer stays at some hotels. I would love to share them with you here.

HRH says I'm afraid of Birds

If this is true, then why do I have so many pictures of birds?

She got this outrageous idea eight-years ago when we went to California to move CaDiva to Iowa. I may have mentioned this before, but I talked a lifelong Californian into moving to Iowa. Generally, I alert people to take this as an indication they shouldn't doubt my ability to persuade. I haven't, however, been able to convince HRH I am NOT afraid of birds.

Breakfast with a friend in Best Western at Carmel by the Sea April 2011.

We have a tale we tell that usually takes about 20 minutes if you don't count the interruptions from HRH and CaDiva in their attempts to insert false memories into my story.  We generally title this story The Three Fat Chicks, Gay Guy, Great Dane and a Boat.  But, as usual. I'm starting this blog quite late on a Sunday and I doubt I have the time to tell the entire tale. So I'll pick up somewhere between "Are you eating something?" and "About that time, someone started to hum the theme to Gilligan's Island."

Seagull at Goat Rock Beach, Sonoma County

As you can imagine, CaDiva had a lot of friends in California. And each one of them begged for one last visit before she left so he/she could say goodbye. She had a dear coworker who lived on a man-made lagoon. He wanted her to come to lunch and a quiet boat trip down the Petaluma River and invited HRH and I to join them. In addition to a beautiful harlequin Great Dane, our host and his partner kept an aviary.

This was taken when we were on the Seventeen Mile Drive in Monterrey.

Inside a converted garage they had canaries and a feather-footed pigeon but the backyard and sheltered crawlspace hosted sparrows and other outside winged guests. We were touring inside home of free-flying orange and yellow canaries. We each held a lovely glass of wine, although CaDiva and I had also enjoyed a tasty  cold hors d'oeuvre of hard cheese and carpaccio. HRH, as I may have mentioned before, is not so adventuresome in her palate.  So she was on her second glass of wine on an empty stomach. I mention this only because it could explain her misunderstanding my position in the aviary.

This was the gull who was interested in our Egg McMuffins before we took our whale watching trip.

While I very sensibly kept a close eye on the bits of fluttering color as they attempted to dive-bomb me and my wine glass, HRH stood with her arm extended and glass uncovered, asking questions about the birds and their breeding habits. HRH took the fact that that I occasionally adjusted my head position to avoid in-air collision with the inhabitants of the aviary to mean I was afraid of them.

Off HRH's deck - sometimes you just get lucky.

After the rescue from the lock (I'll tell you about that one another time) I repeatedly attempted to point out that I was covering my glass since the birds didn't have a separate toilet area and ducked my head only to ensure none of them became snared in my magnificent mane of only slightly graying locks. HRH has always been known to have a judgemental streak so she still believes this was me being afraid of birds.

We were promised the best sunset view in the world off this beach on the Oregon Coast.  I haven't  seen them all, but this one has to be right up there.

 

I don't mean to indicate I have no fears. In fact, I have five.

1. Small things that scurry.
2. Sudden stops at the end of free falls.
3. Veins and eye balls.
4. Tall hills (which is actually part of #2 because the car will pinwheel over and over until it makes a sudden stop at the bottom of the hill)
5. Mammalian flying cousins to small things that scurry - which is not the same as a bird. (I'll tell you one time about the day I had to call in bat to work.)

Coming in for a landing in along the coast in Oregon.

I could hear them for a half mile, "This way, over there...I see a restaurant."

I would like to believe this is a Condor but I know it is over the Grand Canyon.

But I am not afraid of birds. While I'll never go birding like our good friends in California. I will make every effort grab other great pictures of birds I have captured over the years. I have a long winter coming and a lot of disks, thumb drives, and boxes of pictures I need to snag and put into one place. When I get those pictures I'll add them under this label. 

Another picture from outside HRH's house.

 As I have always said at work, I only steal from the very best. But I'll keep the pictures of birds I post to ones taken by HRH, CaDiva, The Daughter, and me. I hope you enjoy them.

Cardinal at HRH's bird feeder.

Same bird feeder - different season.

HRH got this one outside her house.

This pushy fellow stalked the picnic lunches up and down the beach  at Bodega Bay.