Today we headed to Ron’s town- Cedar Rapids Iowa. We are pretty anxious to see him. I am especially excited since it will be Mother’s Day when we see him. A real true gift to me. We took a long way around route so we could go into Chicago again, one of our favorite cities. We went to check out Emily’s grad school and Trevor’s too. We took a few pictures of Emily's school.
We went into the city and had lunch. It was really nice. We shopped on Michigan Avenue. ( The real Donna’s back!!!) I didn’t need anything- after all I had my new sundress --- but it was fun to walk around and look at stuff. We got into Cedar Rapids, and Ron had booked us for two nights at the nicest hotel in town. It was a super treat- two nights in one place was a luxury and it was a very swanky hotel. This was a great Mother’s Day gift.
We saw Ron for Breakfast and he looked great. He took us to a little diner in town that Ron said would be just the place that Hilary Clinton would have shown up in during the campaign in Iowa. Quaint. I waited on “Flo” to serve us in her pink uniform, but it wasn’t quite that iconic. Breakfast was good. This was the first real breakfast we had on the trip, opting for the grab and go breakfasts served at the hotels most mornings , or a Starbucks if there was one in town. I went to the local nail joint and had my nails done in the middle of the day, which was a nice treat and badly needed after all of the home repair and chemical damage from Florida. We went to Ron and Krista’s apartment and all went to dinner that night at a little place out of town that Ron thought of.
The dinner was at a place called the Amana colonies. Back in the 1800’s some religious separatists of German origin came to the Iowa area to set up colonies of communal living. They resemble Amish lifestyles but are very clear to tell you that they do not share religious beliefs of the Amish. There are 7 villages in the Amana Colonies. It is a beautiful little township. All clapboard siding and very authentic German town. It isn’t like Leavenworth at all. Leavenwoth is made to resemble an alpine town and is very kitsch. This is all pioneer-like and more authentic German. They sell hand crafted items and pridedd themselves on the simple lifestyle they can keep. There are lots of modern elements too, but it is really bucolic and just peaceful to look at. The restaurant was called the Rottenberg house and we got the Mother’s Day Special German dinner, served family style. We have probable had better food and better service other places but the meal was made special by sharing it with Ron and Krista and the atmosphere felt really “German Family”. I loved seeing Ron. He’s doing well. He looks great. His apartment was old but they fixed it up as cute as they could have. They are doing good work for the community. Ron took us around and showed us the flood damage the city sustained. It was a mini- New Orleans. You could see whole neighborhoods, that were abandoned after the flooding. Ghost towns. Places were the water mark was as high as the rooftops. The main old gracious city buildings by the river that had whole bottom floors under water and the large grand city bridge- large concrete structure that was completely submerged . It is hard to even imagine.
We slept in pretty late the next morning and enjoyed our fabulous room and hotel until check-out time. I am looking forward to being in one car again. We now have this car completely filled with all of the stuff from Grams. Ron says all we need is the rocking chair tied up on top. I guess you can take the couple out of the south, but you can’t take the south out of the couple. Today we drive to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The weather is going to be bad. Tornados a little further south have poured in lightening, rain and hail to our planned route. I’m glad to be able to share the driving with Ron. It’s been a great trip for us, kind of like a second honeymoon. Those of you who thought we wouldn’t be able to stand each other this long underestimated Ron’s patience, I guess.
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