A Few Observations on the Midwest

After being here for a few weeks, I have noticed a few things about the Midwest. I am by no means an expert, but here are my takeaways:

1. We are in the land of pop. Not Lady Gaga, but pop as in soft drinks. The signs at Subway even say "pop lids." I've heard people call it soda and down in Texas we say we want a Coke and then they ask, "Ok, we have Sprite, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper..." Along these same lines, Pepsi is king here! I always wondered how they made any money and it turns out the Midwest is their sweet spot.

2. Staying in the beverage category, the iced tea here is TERRIBLE. I'm a big iced tea fan and usually have at least one glass a day, so I feel pretty qualified to make this call. It is always really watery, not to mention there is never any sweetener around. And if I am lucky enough to find it, there is never Sweet-N-Low. I found a place that had sweet tea and thought this was going to do the trick but boy was I wrong! I couldn't even taste the sweetness! But I thought it would be rude to ask for sweetener when clearly they thought this was it.

3. Midwesterners love their old cars. I have seen more restored vehicles in these few weeks than I have in my whole life. This has actually been kind of cool. There is everything from old Porsche convertibles to muscle cars. And in addition, Ford rules here. I was pretty surprised, as I thought Chevy would definitely hold it's own, but apparently this is Ford Country.

4. The accents are hilarious. There's a lot of "Eh" thrown around. The accent can sometimes have a touch of Canadian, which throws things off.

5. Everyone is very patriotic. There are American flags everywhere, which reminds me of the East Coast. Everyone is very proud of our country, which has been really cool to see.

But the main takeaway is that everyone has been so nice. Whether it's asking directions or looking for other people to sail with Michael, everyone has been really helpful.

And we're driving, and we're driving....

We have finally made our way back to the Midwest after a long day of traveling yesterday. After waking up at 3:30am, our flight was delayed out of LAX and we didn't get to Milwaukee until 4:30pm. From there, we drove two hours south to Chicago. We had a great dinner with Michael's mom and dad at an Italian Steakhouse and it was great to catch up over a nice meal.

We left Chicago around 11pm and started the 6 hour drive up to Michigan. Michael is doing the Melges 32 Nationals this weekend with Team Roxanne so he had to be here Wednesday morning for practice. Luckily we had downloaded "Into Thin Air" and the book kept us awake for the drive. We finally got to Traverse City, MI around 5:30am. We didn't realize that they were on Eastern time and therefore we lost an hour.

We put the address for the house into the iPhone, but we could not find it anywhere. Finally around 6am we gave up and called Michael's teammate. Turns out the regatta is actually in Harbor Springs, not Traverse City...which was about 2 hours away. (the event is held at the Travese Yacht Club, which is why we assumed it was being held in Traverse City...you know what they say about assumptions) By this point we were both so tired that an additional drive really didn't seem that bad and people had started getting lost on Everest, so it was good timing for the book. We finally pulled in a little before 8am and were exhausted.

On top of all that, Michael was worried about his target weight. When he does team regattas, all the team members have to weigh in and be under a total weight. You could see how this didn't bode well, given that he has been trying to GAIN weight for the Laser. He had to lose 15 pounds in order to hit his target, so he didn't eat or drink yesterday or today. So after we finally got to Harbor Springs, I went to sleep but Michael had to go sit in the sauna to sweat off the pounds. Luckily the team weighed in shortly after that and hit their marks! Michael chowed down after starving for 2 days.

The team went for an afternoon practice sail and I decided to check out the town. Harbor Springs is a really cute town and reminds me of Annapolis, Edgartown, and small town Maine. The Main St. had quaint shops and restaraunts and is right next to the harbor. I am happy to finally be here and check out more of the sights tomorrow!

California Dreamin'

After a marathon drive to Milwaukee and an early morning flight, we have arrived in California. We were able to spend time with Michael's family and see the newest addition, Jack Jordan Bradley!


On Friday, we headed up Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Barbara. Michael was racing on Escape in the Fiesta Cup. One of the crew was unable to race on Saturday so I filled in! It was my first time to race and I was really nervous. I didn't want to make any mistakes and cost us spots. I was in charge of "furling the jib" (basically pulling in one of the sails), getting the kite down (grabbing the big sail in the front and pulling it down below), and hiking (hanging over the rail). I am proud to say that I did a good job and everyone was very complementary. We ended up finishing 6th on the day, which wasn't exactly where they wanted to be. The regular crew was back on Sunday and Escapade ended up finishing 4th overall.


Tomorrow we are flying back to the Midwest, with a pitstop in Chicago and driving up to Traverse City, MI. I am sad to leave California, but the road calls!

Best Deal in Town

Since Michael and Ben need to gain weight, eating has become a large part of our trip. No complaints here! I came across Table 316, which offers the best happy hour in town. Starting at 3:16pm, you can get a steak dinner for $3.16. Every hour the price increases a dollar. Not to mention that they have the best rootbeer floats! You would think that we would be the only ones looking for a steak dinner in the afternoon, but the place is always packed! I think we've probably eaten 95% of our dinners here.


On Monday night, Michael and I checked out Arnolds Park, an old amusement park/boardwalk. We also got one of their famous Nutty Bars, which is vanilla ice cream on a stick, dipped in chocolate and nuts. The ice cream was Blue Bunny (obviously not ideal) but it was still tasty.

We also rode the wooden roller coaster, which I would describe as a scaled down version of the Texas Cyclone at AstroWorld. Of course we had to be the cool kids and sit in the last car. I love roller coasters and have ridden plenty in my day, but this one was rough! We got banged around in all directions and I've got the bruises to prove it. But overall it was a great ride!

Today is our last day in Iowa before we drive to Milwaukee and catch a flight to Santa Barbara for a regatta. We will be there this weekend and then heading back to the midwest for the second half of the roadtrip!

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

Yesterday was the final day of the regatta and Michael had a great day of racing. He finished 4th and 2nd in the two races, earning him a spot of 2nd overall in the regatta!

I was able to go on the Judges Boat again for a front row seat to the action. A big thanks to the Grahams for letting me tag along!



The team after a successful regatta!



The team decided to head back to Iowa so Michael and Ben could train today. We finished the book on tape, which was excellent! I must admit that I thought books on tape were going to be pretty lame, but I really enjoyed it. We'll be in Iowa through Wednesday, then Michael and I head to Santa Barbara.

Luckily we were able to stop in Omaha before Entourage came on last night. For those other viewers out there, I feel like I'm still waiting for the season to heat up, and we're already three or four episodes in. What's the deal? And I loved Ari's banter in previous seasons but feel he hasn't been as witty lately. Maybe my expectations are just too high, but still waiting!

Ahoy!

We have arrived in Wichita, and today was the first day of racing for the Laser District 16 Championships. After all the training, I decided to watch the action from the water and see if our efforts had paid off. There are 25 Laser Districts in North America and each one hosts a championship regatta. District 16 encompasses Kansas and other Midwestern states. The Laser is an Olympic Class boat, and Michael is doing this event to get points on the Grand Prix circuit, which will help in qualifying for the Olympics.

For those that don’t know a lot about this world (like me two years ago), here is a brief summary of what goes on. There were 15 Laser boats and they sailed three races today. All three were different courses. Thanks to the folks at the Ninnescah Yacht Club for letting me tag along on the Judges Boat! Judges are responsible for watching the sailors to make sure no one is cheating or to judge who is correct if there is a discrepancy on the racecourse.

Tomorrow they plan to do two more races, for a total of five. The scoring is as such: the boat that crosses first gets 1 point, second gets 2 points, and so on. They add up those points for the five races and that is your final score, determining who wins the regatta.

Michael finished 4th, 5th, and 2nd in today’s racing for a total of 11 points, which was exactly where he needed to be. He is in third after the first day of racing, so we will see what tomorrow brings!

All the boats lining up for the start:


Michael and his training partner Ben rounding the weather mark:


Michael about to cross the finish line on the first race:


Some good hiking!

On the Road Again

Yesterday we left Iowa and headed to Wichita, KS. Michael is going to be racing in the Laser District 16 Championships here this weekend. We’ve decided to take a much-needed break from camping, and it’s a good thing we did. The Yacht Club is in the state park, and it was HOT today with a lot of really strange looking bugs. So we’ll see what else Wichita has to offer!

The Day the Music Died

I guess being in the middle of nowhere, Iowa has an affinity for music. Hence the Iowa Rock and Roll Museum in Arnold’s Park. Iowa prides itself on its many dancehalls. Similar to Texas, a lot of the best venues are old time music halls that were popular in the 20s and 30s. A lot of them have closed now, but there are still a few around.


Iowa’s biggest music claim to fame seems to be that it was the last place Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens sang before their plane crash -- or the “day the music died.” You might know this from the movie “La Bamba” or the song “American Pie,” but the musicians played at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, IA and boarded a plane for their next gig in Minnesota. Their plane crashed about five miles from the airport due to bad weather and pilot error. Waylon Jennings was supposed to be on the plane, but the Big Bopper had a severe case of the flu, so Jennings gave up his seat. Ritchie Valens had never flown on a plane, so he and one of Holly’s band members flipped a coin for the last seat and Valens won. The museum had a ton of old posters about the show as well as newspaper stories on the crash.

The museum also had a working juke box and it was fun to punch in a few songs while I was there.

On one of our last nights in Iowa, Michael and I went to the Superior 71, a drive-in movie. They were showing “Eclipse” and the drive-in experience was pretty cool. I had not seen any of the previous Twilight movies nor read the books, and needless to say I was pretty pessimistic about it. There wasn’t much of a story, but I will say it was pretty entertaining overall. Can I also point out that Jake has his shirt off for the ENTIRE movie? Not that I’m complaining, but I thought it was hilarious. I give it a B-, but I may rent the first two movies just for fun.

You're Getting Veeeery Sleeeepy...

Well the weekend is over, which means a much quieter campsite. On Saturday night, we experienced our first rain as campers. Luckily we had anticipated it, packed everything in the car, and put the tarp on the tent. Unfortunately, the neighbors weren’t quite as lucky and the next morning they had all their blankets and sheets spread out on picnic tables to dry. I did feel a little bad for them, but you know what they say about karma...

On Saturday night, we decided to do a “team building” exercise and check out the local comedy club. Ben, Michael and I set out for Charlie’s Barfly Saloon and discovered that the act was a hypnotist. I tried to get the boys to volunteer to be hypnotized, but they didn’t bite.

According to the hypnotist, Dan Lee, it is a myth that people with weak minds are easier to hypnotize. In fact, it is the opposite – people that are in control and able to concentrate for long periods of time are the best candidates. Dan was able to hypnotize four of the volunteers and it was hilarious! At one point, he had the volunteers think they had been pulled over and an attractive cop was walking up to the car. They had to think of the best excuse they could to get out of the ticket. When the hypnotist asked one of the girls why she was driving so fast, she responded, “I’m late for a wet t-shirt contest.” Classic.

And congrats to the Spaniards for winning this year’s World Cup! I watched the final game at the Spirit Lake Laundromat, which only added to the drama of the extra period.

"Fair" Thee Well

So what does one do on a Saturday in Iowa? Go to the County Fair! Saturday I drove to Cherokee, IA, the county seat of Cherokee County to check out the fair. Given my years of experience at the Washington County Fair growing up, I was well-suited for the task. Cherokee County has a population of 13,000 but the fair did not disappoint, with plenty of fried food, carnival rides and livestock to check out.


Upon arrival, I headed straight for the food and settled on mini-donuts (which were tasty…they come with sugar and cinnamon on top) and some tacos. After that, I headed to check out the animals. I can report that the 4H is alive and well in Cherokee County. For those that aren’t familiar, 4H is a youth organization sponsored by the USDA that encourages interest in agriculture (apparently the H’s are head, heart, hands and health). All the Cherokee youngsters had their green 4H t-shirts on, and you could tell they had spent a lot of time caring for their animals. There were chickens, lambs, rabbits, ducks, cattle and LOTS of pigs (this is Iowa after all).


I arrived just in time to see the award ceremony for the Advanced Cattle Feeding category. Congratulations to Kirk Stowater for winning Grand Champion for his steer pen!


And as with any county fair, it really brings out the characters. Here’s a pic of a woman whose poodle was a big 4H supporter...and yes, the dog's head and tail have been dyed green.

Children of the Corn

So as is the stereotype with Iowa, there is corn EVERYWHERE! I even saw a high school football stadium yesterday that was directly surrounded by corn on three sides. Here are a few corn pics:

Destination Spirit Lake

Yesterday I decided to explore the town of Spirit Lake. The downtown area is very quaint and reminded me of a smaller Brenham. Lots of antique stores with random stuff in it (I guess everyone’s definition for an antique is different).




And they love their Hawkeyes around here!



We had Michael’s training partner, Ben over for dinner. Ben brought some great hamburger steaks and bratwurst, so it was quite the feast. They are both trying to gain weight, so there is a lot of eating at the campsite.

Our neighbors never cease to amaze. There was a full on family feud yesterday afternoon, with the wife threatening to leave and the husband saying he was moving out when they got home. And if that wasn’t enough, last night their numbers grew. I think we’re up to nine kids and six adults now. This morning, the littlest boy (probably four) treated us to a show when he decided he didn’t want his clothes anymore and proceeded to strip down naked on the dock in front of our campsite. Eating Cheerios has never been so eventful!

Hail to that Campfire Lighter...

After two nights, I have settled in to the camping life. As Michael says, “Thank God for Camp Longhorn.” I am reliving the days of no A/C, hanging your towel on the line to dry, and walking to the bathroom with a shower bucket. Yesterday morning we ate at the Family Diner for breakfast, which was excellent, and Michael met with his coach to get his training regimen.

After another trip to Walmart, we’re ready! The neighbors at the site next to us are a lively bunch - three kids and two parents that like to yell. Let’s just say they won’t be winning any “parent of the year” awards. We’ve also become acquainted with their dog, “Minnie,” who sauntered over to our campsite and decided to poop not once, but twice right in front of our tent. They are supposed to be here through Saturday, so it could be a long few days.

Last night we decided to expand our culinary horizons. We found a website (ok, this is camping with a modern twist…reason #634 to love the iPhone) that had all kinds of campfire recipes. We took potatoes, chicken and corn and made foil packets for each of them (adding some onion slices to the potatoes and chicken), folded them over to seal the packets, and placed them on the coals for about 45 minutes. Note: when doing this, we discovered that the packets need to be flipped about halfway through. Suffice it to say that one side was much more “done” than the other. But all in all, a great meal! And of course it was finished off with smores. Mmmmm!

Here are some pics of our masterpiece:




This morning we awoke to a bit of a surprise. We are keeping our food in a Rubbermaid bin on the picnic table and put a 10lb. weight on the lid last night so that nothing could get inside. This morning, we discovered the side had been pried open and our marshmallows were gone! We found the bag a few yards away and half the marshmallows had been eaten. The neighbors saw a huge raccoon last night, so somewhere there is a raccoon with a stomach ache this morning!

Arrival

Yesterday the road trip continued across the Midwest. We drove north through Kansas, Nebraska, and finally Iowa. Along the way, we stopped in Topeka and checked out the Kansas Capitol. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. However when we were touring the building and spotted directions down to a tornado shelter, it was time to go. In Nebraska, we stopped at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha where the College World Series is played. I think this is the last year the stadium will host the tourney. They were getting ready for a home run derby, so we were able to peak through the fence and it is definitely an impressive complex.

Finally we reached Iowa, the Hawkeye state! Our destination was Spirit Lake up in the northwest corner of the state. You can pretty much see Minnesota from here, as it's only a few miles from the border. I will say that people aren’t kidding when they talk about corn and Iowa. On the drive in there was nothing but corn fields EVERYWHERE. Though it did make for pretty scenery.

We have decided to camp at the Marble Beach Campgrounds, as Michael will be launching the boat from here to train each day. As a first time camper, I took a lot of time picking the campsite. We drove around the campgrounds three times and checked out multiple sites before settling on one. It is right by the water so we’ll get the breeze off the lake, but not in the middle of everyone (but also not too far from the bathrooms). We pitched the tent and then made a trip to Walmart for a few camping essentials – water, bug repellent, and lawn chairs. Ready or not, here we go!

Start Your Engines

Yesterday marked the first official day of the road trip. We left Brenham and headed north to Dallas and then hopped on I-35. The first destination is Spirit Lake, Iowa and it will take 17 hours to drive there. We made it about half way and stopped in Wichita, KS after 9 hours in the car. While passing through Oklahoma, we encountered a little bit of rain, but afterwards saw the most beautiful double rainbow!

Yesterday was a long day but glad to have gotten a large chunk out of the way. Have been listening to Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol on iTunes and it is a pretty good way to pass the time (not to mention a great story thus far). Today we'll be driving through Omaha and then to Iowa. Feels good to be on the road!

A Texas-Sized 4th of July

With Dad's heart surgery, Michael's car breaking down, and my grandfather passing away, the road trip was postponed a few days. We took the opportunity to celebrate America's birthday here in Texas.

We attended the Round Top 4th of July parade - the longest running July 4th parade West of the Mississippi. Governor Rick Perry was even in attendance to be the Grand Marshall (not that he was a draw for me). Round Top (population 77) sure knows how to celebrate America's birthday. They had everything from antique cars and fire trucks, to the Colorado County fair queen.

A few of my favorites:









In the evening we went to the Brenham Country Club to see the fireworks. While it wasn't quite the National Mall in DC, it was a perfect ending to the day. We put our lawn chairs on the 9th green under a pitch black sky with the sound of crickets everywhere and watched the fireworks over the fairway (they accidentally shot off the finale before the rest of the show). A perfect warm summer night under the stars in a small town in Texas.