Act I: Relatives
Patty and Pat Von Behren were in Iowa City late last week to visit Rex and Chris. Rex called on Friday evening to invite us to join them for breakfast on Saturday morning. Pat's sister, Marie, was also able to join us. Rex suggested we try the Grounds for Dessert Coffeehouse, which is located in the Transporation Center in downtown Iowa City. I guess I've been retired for awhile, because I didn't even know the place existed! They make interesting waffles with all kinds of added ingredients of your choice, and they have a great selection of coffees. From the menu, it appears they also offer a nice selection of panini, which we will have to sample for lunch sometime. You can see their complete menu at the web site. Anyway, the main reason for this posting is to mention how great it was to see everyone. We really enjoyed catching up with each other. Pat is retired now too, and they are living in the bay area of California to be nearer their children. Here we all are, waiting for the waffling to begin:
Act II: These Boots Are Sort of Made for Walking
(Please hum the famous Nancy Sinatra song while reading what follows.) After the above-mentioned breakfast, we packed up and drove to Minneapolis to spend Sunday and a couple of evenings with Will and Sandy before heading further north for some R&R in our place at the lake. On the way, we stopped at Cabela's to see if we could find some dog boots for Josey. When we have been outdoors in the snow for long periods of time, Josey has sometimes gotten snow and ice packed between her toes, and then she starts lifting her feet or tries to get out of the snow to a place where she can nibble the snow out. Otherwise, she handles the cold weather very well. We thought she might do better if she could wear some boots. Will and Sandy had informed us of Lucy's adventures in boots, so we decided to give it a try. Below you can see Kathie lacing Josey up. You can also tell by the look on Josey's face, that she isn't at all sure about the necessity of this. The next shot shows her giving the boots a first walking. Will and Sandy had warned us that Lucy tends to lift her legs really high when she first has boots on, as if she is trying to pull them out of something. Josey did this too, and it looks really funny. I wish I could post a short movie of that. All in all, she did pretty well with them. I think we need to learn to lace them up a little tighter. She would probably rather do without them for short outings.
Act III: The Mostly Ups of Cross Country Skiing
When we arrived at Will and Sandy's on Saturday evening, we ate at Rix Bar & Grill, a good, local neighborhood restaurant. This is right next door to our favorite northwest Minneapolis coffee shop, which is called Steamworks (try their Highlander Grog sometime!!). On Sunday, we decided to do some shopping at REI, since we needed a few outdoor items. When we found out that REI had a clearance sale going on, we decided to set ourselves up with cross country skiing equipment too. Will and Sandy fixed an absolutely wonderful dinner that evening, with walleye, potatoes, and salad. Sarah Benfer came over to join us for dinner and contributed to the salad, as well as providing ice cream for dessert. After Will and Sandy left for work on Monday morning, Kathie and I stopped at Steamworks for coffee and waffles with lingonberries. Then we drove up to the lake where we are at present. This afternoon, we broke in our new cross country skis on the frozen lake. A few shots of our attempts and the beautiful frozen countryside appear below. As the title of this part indicates, there were mostly upsides to the skiing. A few crashes occurred, but there are no broken bones to report. We got better as the afternoon went along. This was my first time on skis in over 20 years, and it was Kathie's first time. We will definitely be out again, and we plan to go watch the experts in a couple of weeks at the American Birkebeiner event here in Hayward. I wish we were getting the snow up here that Iowa is evidently getting today!!
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