It’s been a really busy these past couple of days and so I thought I’d better sit down tonight to catch up with my posting.
On Thursday during work I was thinking of calling Daryl to see if he wanted to go out for supper tonight. I’m not sure why I thought that we really needed to go out, but it sounded like a good idea. The time got away from me during the day and I just never got around to see what his plans were for the night. So when he came home he was wondering if I wanted to go to town and look at this one car trailer that we should rent to take one of our cars to town on to get looked at. And he said as long as we were out and it was raining – we might as well go out for supper. Yup, Score!! So we looked at the trailer and then we decided to head north to Lime Springs. Lime Springs has around 500 people that call it home and I don’t think that I’ve ever been on the Main Street before. Lime Springs has a mill that’s called Lidtke Mill and according to the information on the web, it was started in 1857 and provided not only milled grains but provided hydroelectric power to surrounding communities. Now I don’t know much about mills, but doesn’t a mill from 1857 providing hydroelectric power sound like it was way before it’s time in forward thinking? It’s now a museum but since there’s also a Dam with the mill, there are some businesses that reference the dam. And where we ate tonight was called ‘The Dam Bar and Grill’. The food was good and it was a really cool old building down town. I think I would like to come back to this little town sometime and just check it out. I for sure would like to see that mill!
OK, so that was Thursday and on Friday I went to Rochester, Minn to meet one of our Customers from work. The sun was shining and I had a Diet Coke in the car – so Life was pretty good! On the way home I stopped off to check out and test drive some cars. We didn’t buy anything yet – but let’s just say we’re getting closer! Then a quick stop at home to pack an overnight bag and off to one of my friends for a Road Trip. We had planned an overnight stay in Illinois and just do some shopping and kind of do nothing. We found the hotel with no problems and then off to find some supper. She had been to this one restaurant that is called Poopy’s in Savanna Illinois. At about this time I’m thinking, last night I was at the Dam Bar & Grill and tonight I’m at Poopy’s. Either I really need to rethink my life or I’m really having a good time! The food at Poopy’s was good and had a wide variety of food. You can have a One poop sandwich, a Two poop sandwich, or The Big Poop sandwich just to name a few of what’s on the menu. So that kind of tells you what the atmosphere is like and we sure had a good time. The restaurant was around 30 miles from our hotel so we didn’t stay that late and got back to our hotel just in time to sit in the hot tub for about 20 minutes. They were pretty strict that you had to be out of the hot tub at 11:00, so we got cleaned up and just hung out in our room. Soon we couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer and shut the TV off and went to bed. My friend said that I didn’t snore too bad. What?? OK, I guess I do know that I snore and after driving today around 300 miles, I guess I was more tired than I thought.
Saturday’s weather was perfect and when we hit pretty much all the stores in downtown Galena, Illinois. 
It’s a tourist town and was just tons of fun! The funniest thing is that the only thing that either one of us bought was some home made soap. I’m telling you – – living on the edge. I dropped her off at her house in the late afternoon and then once I got home I got ready to out for the night. Daryl’s and my plans were to pick up my brother and sister in law and head out for supper. (are you seeing a pattern here?) We laughed so hard at supper that my stomach just hurt! It was one of those times when just about everything was funny! After supper we went to an adult prom in a nearby town. We didn’t dress up and they didn’t have the best turnout, so after a little while we headed to The Inwood Ballroom in Spillville Iowa for a fund raiser for their new floor that they just put in. With the flood of 2008, the floors were repaired as good as they could at the time. It was kind of a big decision because do you fix it up or just close it? They decided to fix it up and that was a great idea. The floor that they just put in is a white pine and they said that if it gets wet again that it won’t have the damage that the last one got. But the history of the building goes back to when it was first opened in 1920. Famous musicians like Lawrence Welk, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, the Six Fat Dutchmen, Leo Greco, Guy Lombardo and others all performed to sell out crowds. I remember my Mom and Dad talking about going to this ballroom when they were kids and Daryl’s folks also said that they would be there. It was kind of a hang out spot not only for our parents, but it was ‘the’ spot when I was growing up too! So with the limited amount of Ballrooms left in Iowa, it’s really cool that we have one so close to us and that they decided to repair it after the flood for the next generations of kids to enjoy.
So now that brings me up to today. It was raining again.. of course.. and William will need to move out of his college dorm by next week Friday. And with the loft and other things that they had in their room, he needed help getting them back home. The kids had all the stuff ready to go and my brothers let us borrow their enclosed trailer to bring William’s stuff back. We were worried that with the rain (and some places small sleet!) that we didn’t want his furniture getting wet and it worked great! c
And because this is probably the last year that William will be living in a dorm, I snapped a quick picture of the boys in front of their dorm. 
I just laughed because Daryl was trying to photo bomb the picture but I snapped the picture just a little bit too late.But it’s still funny if you look close you can see Daryl in the background. 
Before we left we headed over to the church where William sings every week on Sundays. Since we had the trailer he wanted us to pick up something that he said was just so cool. Do you know what it was ? It’s a 1970’s stereo with turn table, radio, cassette, AND an 8 track tape player in it. He bought it at the church’s garage sale. 
The best thing is that everything works on it and it looks brand new. The side panels in front move because the speakers are behind them. He bought some additional 8 tracks so he can play them this summer. I just laughed when I saw it because I remember one time trying to explain what an 8 track was to Kyle. And let’s just say the conversation wasn’t going well because he just couldn’t understand at the time why there was music on this tape stuff and the tape usually broke and then the whole thing could be found on the side of the road as trash. I guess it does sound a little strange doesn’t it. William’s stereo weighs a ton but Daryl and I put a moving dolly under it and into the Roadhouse it went. I’m thinking that we’re going to have to crank this stereo up real soon to see just what it’s got in it!
The picture of the day is really going to be two pictures. I really like old water towers and these past few days I found two that were cool and caught my eye. The first one is in Chester Iowa and I just think the color on the tower is perfect!
And the second water tower is in New Vienna. 
I found out that the water tower was built in 1899 and was only 200 feet deep but still held 30,000 gallons of water. Now that’s not very deep for a town well I wouldn’t think but it must have been because it was used until 1983 when they built a modern one. This towns well was even powered by a windmill when it was first built. Seriously, how cool would that have been? This water tower was also added to the National Register of Historical Places.
Oh yea, and while we just happened to be in New Vienna, we stopped in at my cousins bakery and picked up some of these cupcake treats 🙂 I mean I hated to be in her town and not stop in to say Hi.
Turtle cupcakes – yum!
So now it’s time to get to bed and start the week over again. But with the weather forecast with no rain for tomorrow – I’m guessing that it’s going to be a great day!
