{"id":771,"date":"2012-05-23T23:04:50","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T04:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=771"},"modified":"2012-05-23T23:04:50","modified_gmt":"2012-05-24T04:04:50","slug":"vacation-day-1-a-humbling-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=771","title":{"rendered":"Vacation Day 1:  A Humbling Beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n<p>Our first adventure was taking Sascha to Dominoe Kennel for her vacation.\u00a0 As we were driving out of the neighborhood, a squirrel went across the the road in front of us.\u00a0 Before we could stop her, she dove into the windshield.\u00a0 I believe she really thought she could get him.\u00a0 Last night, Rich and I took Sascha for a walk around the neighborhood.\u00a0 While walking beside the channel, a deer came out of nowhere and ran along side of us.\u00a0 Sascha pulled at the lead, barking, and jumping.\u00a0 Her favorite things seem to be fuzzy and very fast.<\/p>\n<p>Sascha is extremely friendly and social.\u00a0 She doesn&#8217;t know a stranger.\u00a0 As we talked to Mr. Murray about the details of Sascha&#8217;s stay, one of the young ladies came from the back to gather Sascha up and take to her digs in the kennel.\u00a0 Sascha gave her a husky hug before I could stop her.\u00a0 The young lady told me she remembered Sascha.\u00a0 Apparently, Sascha remembered her too.\u00a0 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?\u00a0 Sascha&#8217;s only been there twice.\u00a0 They really love the animals there.<\/p>\n<p>After packing the car, we headed to Crystal Lake for breakfast.\u00a0 After getting well fed, we headed out to catch 88 into Iowa.\u00a0 We crossed the Mississippi with good weather and traffic.\u00a0 After that, we ran into some issues with drag racing semi trucks.\u00a0 That&#8217;s what Rich calls it when one semi tries to pass another, but doesn&#8217;t quite have the speed advantage to do it in a timely manner.\u00a0 It took about 15 minutes for this one truck to finally get by and open up the left lane again!<\/p>\n<p>Just after getting on 80, we stopped for our first full rest and to get gas.\u00a0 I just had to stop at the World&#8217;s Largest Truck Stop in Walcott, IA.\u00a0 It&#8217;s big, but I&#8217;m not really sure that it qualifies as the largest.\u00a0 We lost Rich for a while, but found out he had left the building and gone to the car!\u00a0 Before leaving, I just had to practice my Rose pose with the sign for the truck stop in the background.\u00a0 So, how did I do Rose?\u00a0 (see photo below)<\/p>\n<p>Did I explain the rules for driving on a Zurek family vacation?\u00a0 We&#8217;ve had to develop some basic things to prevent arguments, preserve sanity, and just draw the line somewhere.\u00a0 Here is a list of some rules:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Driver rules.\u00a0 Whoever is driving makes the rules.<\/li>\n<li>Driver gets to pick the radio station.<\/li>\n<li>Once the temperature hits 84, the AC comes on. No questions asked.<\/li>\n<li>When Mom drives, the driver&#8217;s window is down (unless the previous rule applies).<\/li>\n<li>Dad is always the co-pilot, unless he is the pilot.<\/li>\n<li>Headsets are required for any music played that is not on the radio station dictated by the driver.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While driving through Iowa, we passed this massive, metal I beam that was just incredibly huge.\u00a0 Rich made a pit stop and there was another huge one.\u00a0 I just had to take a picture of it to show what we were sharing the road with.<\/p>\n<p>Some odds and ends facts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In Grinnel, IA, the first intercollegiate football game was held between Grinnel College and the University of Iowa.\u00a0 This game was held in 1899.<\/li>\n<li>Most of the cars in Iowa have Illinois plates.\u00a0 When do they stop?\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Amana Colonies have sold out to tourism.\u00a0 There is now a waterpark there called Wasserbahn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We were talking about our various vacations.\u00a0 I have always thought I should have a tour agency and call it Zurek Family Vacations.\u00a0 I do all the work and you go out and enjoy the vacation.\u00a0 I arrange the dates, places, hotels, choices of restaurants, and activities.<\/p>\n<p>Rich mentioned that next year is the annual 10 year return to Yellowstone.\u00a0 We went there for our honeymoon in 1993.\u00a0 We returned in 2003 with several of our friends in tow.\u00a0 Do I really want to return to Yellowstone again?\u00a0 I had thought about the Smokies and Outer Banks next year.\u00a0 Anyone want to go to Yellowstone with us next year?\u00a0 Remember, I camp when I go there.<\/p>\n<p>We got to our hotel for the evening in Council Bluffs, IA.\u00a0 It&#8217;s a nice Holiday Inn Express.\u00a0 We were disappointed to find out that someone took a baby into the pool and it had defecated.\u00a0 The pool and hot tub are currently closed by order of the Health Department until further notice. No pool time for Rick tonight.<\/p>\n<p>We decided to try a brewpub in Omaha for dinner.\u00a0 Omaha is just across the Missouri River from Council Bluffs.\u00a0 It&#8217;s like I just couldn&#8217;t make the decision to leave Iowa yet.\u00a0 We found our way across the river and into the downtown area.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 This part of town is hopping.\u00a0\u00a0It was\u00a0Wednesday and it was packed.\u00a0 All of the old warehouses, firehouses, and downtown buildings are filled with restaurants, stores, and art galleries.\u00a0 It was amazing.\u00a0 And there was no parking to be had.\u00a0 We finally got into a parking structure and walked out to the street.<\/p>\n<p>Upstream Brewing Company is housed in the original firehouse that serviced downtown Omaha.\u00a0 The brick is gorgeous.\u00a0 The wood is old and well worn on the floors and doorways.\u00a0 We got seated right away and Rich ordered his first beer.\u00a0 He settled for the Flagship IPA since the cask conditioned version was not available due to faulty equipment.\u00a0 We ordered artichoke and cheese dip, which arrived very quickly.\u00a0 It was served with warm artisan honey wheat bread that was soft and chewy.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There was a second round of beer with the porter.\u00a0 Now this is one of my favorite types of beers, but I was driving.\u00a0 A sip was all I could have.\u00a0 It was so roasted and toasted and tasty!\u00a0 I so wanted one, but that would\u00a0mean\u00a0Rick would drive back.\u00a0 He was not happy about that.\u00a0 No room for dessert though.\u00a0 Too bad, because it looked great, too.<\/p>\n<p>Storms were coming in, so we didn&#8217;t get a chance to explore any further.\u00a0 We did see a human powered bar rolling through town.\u00a0 This is one of those 10-20 people circular bikes where everyone is pedaling to make it move forward.\u00a0 It just needed some neon lights.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We got back across the river and managed to wind our way through all of the casinos in the area.\u00a0 Who knew there were so many Indians!\u00a0 Oh yeah, and there is a greyhound track.\u00a0 We got back and settled in.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As the guys are going to sleep, I&#8217;m still writing this blog and getting ready\u00a0to post pictures from today.\u00a0 More to come with the drive tomorrow to Cheyenne, WY.\u00a0 We disagreed about it&#8217;s capital status, until we checked the map.\u00a0 Reference materials are always good to have.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_773\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-773\" style=\"width: 224px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Joy-at-worlds-largest-truck-stop.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-773\" title=\"Joy at worlds largest truck stop\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Joy-at-worlds-largest-truck-stop-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-773\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joy in front of the World&#39;s Largest Truck Stop sign in Walcott, IA. How&#39;s the pose, Rose?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_772\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-772\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/I-beam-at-rest-area.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-772\" title=\"I beam at rest area\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/I-beam-at-rest-area-300x178.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"178\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-772\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This is one of those I beams we saw going down the road in IA. One was at the rest stop in Grinnel. Just had to snap a picture of it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.\u00a0 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,15,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}