Family vacation is here again. After my blogging for the Memphis getaway in January, my Zurek sisters have applied the pressure for me to blog this entire vacation.  Since I now have more than 5 total readers, I should probably attempt to share some of the highlights of our day as we travel, explore, and have adventures.

Our first adventure was taking Sascha to Dominoe Kennel for her vacation.  As we were driving out of the neighborhood, a squirrel went across the the road in front of us.  Before we could stop her, she dove into the windshield.  I believe she really thought she could get him.  Last night, Rich and I took Sascha for a walk around the neighborhood.  While walking beside the channel, a deer came out of nowhere and ran along side of us.  Sascha pulled at the lead, barking, and jumping.  Her favorite things seem to be fuzzy and very fast.

Sascha is extremely friendly and social.  She doesn’t know a stranger.  As we talked to Mr. Murray about the details of Sascha’s stay, one of the young ladies came from the back to gather Sascha up and take to her digs in the kennel.  Sascha gave her a husky hug before I could stop her.  The young lady told me she remembered Sascha.  Apparently, Sascha remembered her too.  Then she told me that she has a picture of Sascha on her phone because Sascha was so beautiful and friendly. Is that some sort of cyberstalking?  Sascha’s only been there twice.  They really love the animals there.

After packing the car, we headed to Crystal Lake for breakfast.  After getting well fed, we headed out to catch 88 into Iowa.  We crossed the Mississippi with good weather and traffic.  After that, we ran into some issues with drag racing semi trucks.  That’s what Rich calls it when one semi tries to pass another, but doesn’t quite have the speed advantage to do it in a timely manner.  It took about 15 minutes for this one truck to finally get by and open up the left lane again!

Just after getting on 80, we stopped for our first full rest and to get gas.  I just had to stop at the World’s Largest Truck Stop in Walcott, IA.  It’s big, but I’m not really sure that it qualifies as the largest.  We lost Rich for a while, but found out he had left the building and gone to the car!  Before leaving, I just had to practice my Rose pose with the sign for the truck stop in the background.  So, how did I do Rose?  (see photo below)

Did I explain the rules for driving on a Zurek family vacation?  We’ve had to develop some basic things to prevent arguments, preserve sanity, and just draw the line somewhere.  Here is a list of some rules:

• Driver rules.  Whoever is driving makes the rules.
• Driver gets to pick the radio station.
• Once the temperature hits 84, the AC comes on. No questions asked.
• When Mom drives, the driver’s window is down (unless the previous rule applies).
• Dad is always the co-pilot, unless he is the pilot.
• Headsets are required for any music played that is not on the radio station dictated by the driver.

While driving through Iowa, we passed this massive, metal I beam that was just incredibly huge.  Rich made a pit stop and there was another huge one.  I just had to take a picture of it to show what we were sharing the road with.

Some odds and ends facts:

• In Grinnel, IA, the first intercollegiate football game was held between Grinnel College and the University of Iowa.  This game was held in 1899.
• Most of the cars in Iowa have Illinois plates.  When do they stop? 
• Amana Colonies have sold out to tourism.  There is now a waterpark there called Wasserbahn.

We were talking about our various vacations.  I have always thought I should have a tour agency and call it Zurek Family Vacations.  I do all the work and you go out and enjoy the vacation.  I arrange the dates, places, hotels, choices of restaurants, and activities.

Rich mentioned that next year is the annual 10 year return to Yellowstone.  We went there for our honeymoon in 1993.  We returned in 2003 with several of our friends in tow.  Do I really want to return to Yellowstone again?  I had thought about the Smokies and Outer Banks next year.  Anyone want to go to Yellowstone with us next year?  Remember, I camp when I go there.

We got to our hotel for the evening in Council Bluffs, IA.  It’s a nice Holiday Inn Express.  We were disappointed to find out that someone took a baby into the pool and it had defecated.  The pool and hot tub are currently closed by order of the Health Department until further notice. No pool time for Rick tonight.

We decided to try a brewpub in Omaha for dinner.  Omaha is just across the Missouri River from Council Bluffs.  It’s like I just couldn’t make the decision to leave Iowa yet.  We found our way across the river and into the downtown area.  Wow!  This part of town is hopping.  It was Wednesday and it was packed.  All of the old warehouses, firehouses, and downtown buildings are filled with restaurants, stores, and art galleries.  It was amazing.  And there was no parking to be had.  We finally got into a parking structure and walked out to the street.

Upstream Brewing Company is housed in the original firehouse that serviced downtown Omaha.  The brick is gorgeous.  The wood is old and well worn on the floors and doorways.  We got seated right away and Rich ordered his first beer.  He settled for the Flagship IPA since the cask conditioned version was not available due to faulty equipment.  We ordered artichoke and cheese dip, which arrived very quickly.  It was served with warm artisan honey wheat bread that was soft and chewy.  Rich got the Omaha 12 oz steak, Rick got a hickory burger with bacon, and I ordered the pork fritter with gouda cheese and beer soup. 

There was a second round of beer with the porter.  Now this is one of my favorite types of beers, but I was driving.  A sip was all I could have.  It was so roasted and toasted and tasty!  I so wanted one, but that would mean Rick would drive back.  He was not happy about that.  No room for dessert though.  Too bad, because it looked great, too.

Storms were coming in, so we didn’t get a chance to explore any further.  We did see a human powered bar rolling through town.  This is one of those 10-20 people circular bikes where everyone is pedaling to make it move forward.  It just needed some neon lights. 

We got back across the river and managed to wind our way through all of the casinos in the area.  Who knew there were so many Indians!  Oh yeah, and there is a greyhound track.  We got back and settled in. 

As the guys are going to sleep, I’m still writing this blog and getting ready to post pictures from today.  More to come with the drive tomorrow to Cheyenne, WY.  We disagreed about it’s capital status, until we checked the map.  Reference materials are always good to have.