So THIS is Decorah, Iowa....

We made it out of Indy today and on our way West towards Iowa. You will love knowing that it was my day to drive, and we all made it in one piece - and I only almost ran into a line-painting-truck ONCE. Between Indiana and Iowa, we had to first make it through Illinois. And let me tell you that although I was excited to be going through 3 of the 4 "I" states today - I was a LITTLE let down to find out that when crossing the border into Illinois on I-74 West, there is NO 'Welcome To Illinois' sign to greet us. Then I spent the rest of the drive feeling like I wasn't supposed to be there. I felt like an uninvited party guest.

LUCKILY - we drove the required distance to exit Illinois, once we entered it, and came to the 'Welcome To Iowa' sign. But not only did it say 'WELCOME' - it went as far as to say 'The People of Iowa Welcome You'! I mean - suddenly, I WAS invited...and was happy to be there.
We stopped for lunch in Davenport, and ended up going to a music store called West Music (www.westmusic.com) and found them to have a suprisingly vast collection of Broadway music.
We all enjoyed our shopping experience at West - and some of us even walked away with some things that we found.

The rest of the day was spent driving up the Eastern side of Iowa...and I need to take a moment to let you all know that EASTERN IOWA IS BEAUTIFUL. I mean - from like Dubuque up to our final destination, Decorah, we were all treated to beautiful scene after beautiful scene. There were beautiful Mississippi River scenic overviews, and some beautiful architecture, and some amazing farmland on the rolling hills of Iowa. I will be the first to tell you how SURPRISED I was at how beautiful I found it. From what I had heard, I expected lots of corn. But we got corn and SO much more on our drive today.

We finally arrived in to Decorah - and checked into our hotel which is a Country Inn and is a funny little place. Nice rooms - wireless internet - and it really does have a country feel to it.
Tara summed it up best when she said, 'I love this place. I just want to sit and knit all day.'
Plus there is laundry and free detergent? These Midwestern folks are WAY nice.

Tonight, we went OFF the beaten path for dinner and I think we all came up winners. We went to a sports bar & pub "downtown" Decorah call T-Bock's. Not a busy night - and our waitress, Courtney, took great care of us. She even gave us a list of things to do on our day off, Tuesday, here in the area. We'll see what we get to on the list. The stand-out experience from T-Bock's was the Peanut Butter Cheeseburger that I ordered for dinner. Evidently, it's a T-Bock's favorite and original...so I ordered it and it was pretty much what it said it was. A cheeseburger with peanut butter under the cheese. And I am here to tell you I enjoyed it. Didn't love it - didn't hate it. But overall, everyone had a great experience at T-Bock's. Chris Sizemore recommends the chicken quesadillas. Eric recommends the chicken tenders. And on mere originality, I would totally recommend the peanut butter cheeseburger. I mean - you only live once!

Now we're back at the Country Inn - getting ready to roll into bed. But before I do - it's picture time, from our crazy-driving-day in Decorah! We're excited to be here. Stand by for more stories.....and OH YEAH! I learned how to do Black & White and Sepia pics on my camera - so some of them might be turning up, as well. Be prepared.

Ciao!
G

"The Van"! Everyone is singing along to the original cast recording of WICKED. We were about 6 hours into the drive today and everyone was a bit punchy.

Tara is crowned 'QUEEN OF LUNCH AND DINNER' at Burger King in Davenport, Iowa. Eric looks on longingly. Or something.



Matt dreams of the Angus Burger - that seems to be floating around his head. Magically. And also, lucky me, I am wearing a bib. WHAT?


Elisa and Jackie try on the SEPIA TONE for size - and appear to love it. The girls are just chillin' at T-Bock's.


The Peanut Butter Cheeseburger. And fries. Enough said.


Eric and Matt. Just practicing for when GQ comes a callin'.


Our waitress, Courtney, was the BEST! She might even hook us up with a party for tomorrow. You know - because I'm such a partier! But everyone will dig it. And I will get to test my Designated Driving skills out.


The Baby Ruth Cheeesecake. It was ok. A low 6 on the M.A.S.E.


Our puppet-master, Chris, drinks away his all-day-driving-blues.