No More Lookin' for Dead Relatives in All the Wrong Places...

Well, kids. It's been a looong week. On Monday afternoon I got some bad juju. Going through The Change, I never have any idea what the hell is going on with my body on any given day. By Monday night I was sooo dizzy and puking and I could barely sit up. I did try to go to work and function, because at first, I thought it might be that I had a migraine without the pain, which can cause all of that badness too. I didn't even make it an hour before I went home and basically slept for two days straight. I think it might have been the stomach flu, but, again, who the hell knows?

Anyway, I'm feeling better today and ready to write about happier times...Like last weekend. It was Coadster's birthday weekend, so her boyfriend, and most importantly, our GRAND PUPPY came to town.

On Friday night we went to Shorts for dinner and then watched "Dead Pool". It was a nice mellow night...Except the part where the grand puppy and Archie created some drama what with their whining (hers) and their hissing (his).

On Saturday, I was still recovering a bit from the cold I had the week before. I did get some resting in and worked in the garden and mowed the lawn and then I had to rest. I took a nice little nap and then got up and we got ready to take Coadster out for her birthday dinner in Kalona. It was graduation weekend here, so we figured going to another town would be safer. The food was great and then the kids all went out and John and stayed home with the animals. Worked for me!

The brew pub is in downtown West Branch, next to this cool place for kids to play with their families.

On Sunday I was feeling a little better. We had plans with friends to ride bikes to West Branch at noon. There were four of us riding and a couple more friends were going to meet us in West Branch.

It was about a perfect day to ride and for the most part, the roads were low on car traffic.

We stopped at the Down Under - the new brew pub in town. It's in a basement has the coolest looking stone walls and an excellent craft brew selection.

Afterwards, we stopped into the Mexican restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. the food was good and Coadster met us after she and her boyfriend got done taking couple's pictures (it's what she wanted for her birthday).

We rode back on the trail in town until we got to the highway. Here is another obligatory silo photo, just in case you forgot that we ride bikes in Iowa or something...

We stopped in a little town called, Morse on the way home to visit with the friendly hippo.

Then we stopped at Newport St Mary's church and cemetery.

It is a gorgeous little cemetery...And check out those clouds.

Our friend, John H. does this thing where he leads us on wild goose chases to check out land that used to be owned by his grandfather, or a house where his second cousin twice removed once lived, or, in this case, the grave of one of his uncles. If we are riding road bikes, we can be assured that any of these places will take us on gnarly gravel or if we're not, there will be a vicious, chasing dog nearby. Also, as in this case, we rarely are able to find said dead relative or their land. Of course, as much as we tease him about it, it's always a great adventure.