55th Anniversary Bash - The Lead-In

As mentioned in the previous post, I travelled to Iowa for my parents' 55th wedding anniversary. Patrick and I flew to Minneapolis, arriving around noon on Friday, February 16. Therese was on time, we jumped into the car and headed south. But we were hungry. So we stopped at Famous Dave's - a BBQ chain of some sort. I must say we were shocked when we stepped out of the car into a vicious south wind. Temp was probably somewhere over 10 but wow. I don't recall the last time I was in winter in a northern climate.

The restaurant was located in the Cabela's complex a ways south of Minneapolis. They served an A-rated pulled pork sandwich (something I am constantly looking out for). How nice. I would consider joining their PIG Club if I was nearer to their stores.

What else was there to do after lunch but to explore Cabela's (especially because Patrick had never seen the place). Therese had the right take on the place, describing it as "its own ecosystem." Check out the photo of my fellow-travelers enjoying some kind of diorama. (There was an even better diorama featuring African fauna.) We especially admired the "gun library" and Patrick liked the one-man tent from which turkeys can be discreetly blasted.

Off to St. Joe. Some blowing snow along the way. Once there: conversation, fine turkey dinner, demos by my dad of his increasingly impressive array of electronics. Spoke to Jim Dory in Nome. Slept downstairs, where the temp never rises above 64 F (upside: stops all insects other than a few lady bugs). Had a great night's sleep after conquering my shivering.

All signs were positive for Saturday, February 17. Just check out the "clean" cinammon roll that was sitting there just for me. Another mighty cold day. Patrick and I picked up Nicole at Storm Lake in the afternoon (dropped off by House travelers); got to see some genuine blowing snow along US 18 (complete with a couple ditched vehicles). Ah, the memories. Barb, Emily, Allison arrived from Eau Claire. This was a positive addition to our fun.

Then to Mass, where it happened that mom was leading the pre-Mass Rosary and dad was lector. So that was fun to watch. Except my reverie was interrupted when Barb recalled that the ham hadn't been taken out of the oven. So I lit out during the sermon to pull it out. Back for dinner. Nicole and Patrick received info about their grandpa's computer setup. They also received info about the circumstances leading to the rather disturbing framed self-photo of EMG that you can see on top of the computer desk (click photo to enlarge). (That's a whole other story.)

General high-level socializing until going back to sleep in the cooler. It was a very fun day.

This brings us to the day of the actual 55th party, which I'll cover in a separate post.