More Caves

We took a lot of pictures today, so I'm including a lot. I think the last two with us and balance rock are funny.

Maquoketa Caves

We went to the Maquoketa Caves on Monday (the much anticipated day off). We both had been there before, but went somewhat unprepared (no knee-pads, head lamps and only one Maglite between us). The trails are not for the wimpy. I couldn't tell you how much of the 6 miles we actually covered that day, but I feel like we didn't do too bad. The second picture is of a fledgling bird, resting on a rock, until she learns how to fly.

Ahh camping...

We really had a nice weekend. I was finishing my shift at the restaurant on Sunday around 4:30, Andrew came out to eat with me and we were kind of debating on what to do. The weather was questionable, but we both had Monday off so we wanted to make the most of the time. We decided to give camping a shot, and we got the car loaded in about 10 minutes and we headed out. (I've discovered that having a Rubbermaid tub in your garage labeled "camping" can save one an obscene amount of time and lessens the possibility of being at a campground without something like a flashlight, paper towels or a water bottle.) This was our first time using our new tent (wedding gift from Andy F.) so I included a picture of it. It is really nice and incredibly spacious! Cash's favorite part of camping had to be the $.60 can of Alpo he got for dinner so we didn't have to bring a baggie with dry dog food. Our favorite part: relaxing, talking, and not getting rained on.

Wanna go for a ride?

Don't utter those words unless you plan to follow through. Disappointment on the face of a Weimaraner is like no other....

Strange Saturdays

So, working every Saturday is not always my favorite thing. Looking back, I have been at my current full-time job for five years. My current part-time job was started two years before that. So, that means for the last seven years I have worked Saturdays. Tack on the five years I was employed prior to that and I have worked a good portion of Saturdays over the last twelve years (and you wonder why I don't follow college football). It is definitely something that feels routine now, but there are some warm, gorgeous, Saturdays that we need a little lift to make it through the day. One of those lifts is the possibility of breakfast. Yes, I know we all should eat it. No, I don't usually have enough time to make it through anything more complex then a cold bagel with some cream cheese or some Honey Nut Scooters eaten out of a paper cup in my car. But, summer Saturdays at work mean the possibility of an overnight group and with that brings the possibility of leftovers. Cold French toast sticks or dried, greasy sausage rounds.....pure bliss when it's free and unexpected.
One of our other lifts is grilling out. At work we are resourceful and fair. Everyone brings something and we try not to do repeats of our meals. We also don't do it every week or it wouldn't really feel like a treat, would it? Last week we had wild boar chops. It is a long story of how we got a hold of them, I'm not gonna go into all of it, but when someone shoots a boar it can provide 300+ lbs of meat. I am not afraid of trying new foods, and I reasoned that Prince William's girlfriend likes boar, so I tried it. Boar had the flavor of a steak, but the texture of a pork chop. Slightly over-cooked, but some BBQ sauce compensated for that. I am adding it to my list of different foods I have eaten. Wait a second, no such list exists! Okay, here is my list: rabbit & octopus (from Canary Islands trip), snails (Baja Mexico Cruise), frog legs, turtle, squirrel, freeze-dried squid chips (from Japanese neighbor), deep-fried alligator nuggets, conch fritters (with Aunt Jenny & Uncle Bob-are these even considered a "different food"?), venison in all forms, and now Wild Boar. I could add a bunch of different seafood items, but I don't think they really fit the "different" category.

What's on your list???

First Golf Tournament

On Friday, I played in my first golf tournament of the year with seven men from work. It was best ball, otherwise I wouldn't have been so willing to participate. Also, the course it was at had a pretty good advantage for the red tees, so more of my shots were used then I expected. Here is a picture one of my co-workers took. I like it. If they ever make golf trading cards this will be mine. And for anyone curious, I was hitting off of the white tees for this hole because I really don't have a club that I hit 135 yards very well (the distance from the red). So, backed up to the white...

While celebrating Fathers Day....

Motorcross at Riverfest

Went to Riverfest

Andy with one of the Budweiser Clydesdales. Sleeping Budweiser Dog appropriately named "Bud". One of the three horse trailers and taking the elevator home. Yes, I walked three miles in those sandals. Andrew told me not to. I am regretting it now two days later....but it was fun, the weather was gorgeous and the dog needed a good walk.

After all the rain....

Blog Bombardment

....begins now! Okay, thanks readers for not hassling me on the lack of blog entries lately. It's not like we haven't had things to share, life has just been moving at the speed of light and computer stuff wasn't high on the list of priorities. So....scroll down and check out all the back-dated entries. I hope to get most of them on tonight, but maybe not.

Front Bed Revisted

So, here is a current picture of one of our front beds. It was a project last May. To look back click here.

Abby's Birthday Present

So, I've been dreaming of a new flowerbed in our front yard since we moved in. There is (was) a nice open patch of grass that was out of the reach of the Maple tree and it gets plenty of sun. Well, wish no longer, today Andrew made it happen. In one of those rare, happens once every 6-8 weeks (I'm not kidding) days, Andrew and I were both off work. The weather was cloudy and breezy, but even more rare these days was the lack of rain. We decided against golfing and spent the morning and a good chunk of afternoon digging, raking, composting, and planting. It was the best birthday present I could have gotten (a couple days early). Don't be fooled by the wimpy-looking plants in the last picture. They are all perennials that like to spread, so we are predicting a nice, fuller, blooming flowerbed by Labor Day. Stay tuned....

Happy Birthday Kelly!

Out for Kelly's birthday.....yummy dinner at Taiko and no birthday is complete without ice cream.

Goofy work picture

First Sweet Corn of the Summer

It was soooo good. The weather today was really nice. We had walked the dog on the riverwalk that afternoon and for dinner made steaks on the grill with fresh green beans and sweet corn. Our neighbor yelled over the fence "What's for dinner?" when she saw Andy on the grill. They were making BLTs....I guess summer food has arrived!