Well, another three month gap in my posts. What the heck!
I can explain.
After our trip to Wisconsin, on July 3, Brandy and I went to the area around Ottumwa to see if we could find a town where we’ll ultimately want to move once our lease is up here in Coralville. We headed west on I-80, exiting in Newton. We headed south through towns like Pella, Oskaloosa, Eddyville, Albia, Bloomfield and more. We got some good ideas (and I snapped a new pictures while I was at it) and we headed home. The fourth of July, we didn’t do anything. We stayed in and watched movies all night, comforting Ash from the horrors of the explosions outside.
Then, there was a two week break until July 23. That’s when the chaos began.
Roommate
Brandy’s friend was having some home troubles. She left her husband and went to stay with her son in Omaha. On the 23rd, we drove to Omaha and got her. She was without a car, had three suitcases full of clothes and personal belongings to get her by, her work computer, monitors and her 80 pound white lab. We had initially planned on swinging by the Monster Club, a horror themed bar and grill in Omaha, but the timing went screwy so we couldn’t do that.
August
The next weekend began my first week of night call. I couldn’t really go anywhere; I had to stay put just in case any high priority tickets came in over the weekend. That Saturday, the 30th, Brandy and Christy went to Carmax in Des Moines where Christy bought herself a Nissan Frontier. Pretty snazzy pickup if I do say so myself. Low miles, one owner, Leer camper shell, in really good shape.
The next weekend, August 6, we went back to Des Moines to pick up the remaining paperwork from Carmax. I went with this time, driving the truck that had just been purchased the week before. While we were out there, I insisted on going to Zombie Burger, a zombie themed burger joint in Des Moines.
We arrived at around 1:00 and were seated promptly. To be honest, I was pretty disappointed at what I saw. There were a few zombie-themed pieces of art, very few “prop” type of pieces, the walls were painted a well-themed putrid green and there was a slight post-apocalyptic aesthetic to the structure of the place (exposed beams and air ducts, etc). I was expecting a veritable museum of zombie paraphernalia- statues, movie props and the like.
Ah, well, at least the food will be pretty good, right?
Well… yeah, actually it was.
The menu is full of items with zombie-themed names, such as 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, and Envy Corpse.
The backside of the menu is printed like a newspaper as told from the perspective of a world where zombies are the norm, including updates from the Zombie Olympics and a story about the nutritive benefits of brain alternatives.
We started with an order of cheese nachos and an order of fried cheese curds. They came quickly and were quite delicious.
Then, I ultimately order the Juan of the Dead, a burger topped with a green chile (!) and cheese croquette, Monterey Jack cheese, caramelized onion and a chipotle mayo. I got the double, which wound up being $11.99. Come to find out, the burgers don’t come with sides of any kind. I ordered a basket of sweet potato fries to share with the table. They were pretty good too.
Then, after the meal, we all decided to get spiked milk shakes. I got the Chocolate Nutella Marshmallow shake with a spike of Tippy Cow chocolate rum cream. My word, let me tell you, that was a fantastic milkshake. Was it worth $9? Eh, maybe not. In fact, as good as everything was, I still don’t think it was worth the price we paid. The total, after tax and tip, was just under $100 for three of us. I think that’s a lot for burgers.
After lunch, we headed to Carmax for Christy to get the paperwork she needed for her truck, then returned home.
Return to Des Moines
The following weekend, August 13, we went back to Des Moines for a wedding. Brandy’s other friend’s son was getting married at the Teachout Events building in Des Moines’ historic East Village.
As the wedding didn’t start until 4:30, and there’d be a reception following, we decided to get a room to stay the night out there, instead of making hour and 45 minute drive back home that night. I got on Hotels.com and booked a room at the Cozy Rest motel, just a few minutes from the venue.
We arrived Saturday at about 2:00, and made it into the parking lot where we decided that this was not a place we would stay. I parked, canceled the reservation (no refunds, wound up paying $150 for a night that we didn’t stay there) and made a new reservation at the Renaissance Des Moines Saver Hotel.
As soon as I booked a room, I realized that their check-in time was 4:00. There was no way we’d be able to check in at 4:00 and make it to the wedding by 4:30. I called the hotel to see if there was any availability for an early check-in. Sam, the clerk that answered by call, informed me that they only had doubles available, no king rooms, but they couldn’t find my reservation. I looked it up on my phone, and said, yeah, I’m looking at it right now, one king room, two guests, reserved for… September 6.
I asked if I could switch it to the correct day, August 13, and Sam said they would, but they still couldn’t find my reservation, even with the confirmation number. I told Sam I was a few minutes away, I’d drive there and we could work it out in person, as long as there was a room available to check in to.
We made the quick 10 minute drive to the Renaissance, which was even closer to the event venue, and I parked just outside the front door and ran in. I found Sam and we continued the conversation we’d had on the phone. Sam still wasn’t able to find my reservation so they told me they were going to re-book me from scratch, they would issue a refund approval, and the next day, to call hotels.com and request a refund (which ultimately did happen, in what was one of the smoothest transactions I could ever hope to have… kudos to Hotels.com for that!)
In the meantime, Sam was rebooking my room, I mentioned that we were there for a wedding that started at 4:30 and there was no way we’d be able to check in at 4:00 and make it in time. My wife has to do her makeup and change still.
I asked, “So the double rooms, is that two queens, or…?” Sam proceeded to tell me that we were upgraded to a king SUITE at no charge.
Boys and girls, I have to say, it really pays to be nice to people. This was the second time since we moved out here that we’ve been upgraded to a nicer room at no charge, just because we weren’t Karens or Kens. We understand rules and are totally willing to accept if people won’t or can’t bend or break them for us. If you don’t have room for an early check-in, that’s fine. We will wait patiently for a room, and we’ll be right over here whenever that is.
Anyway, I digress.
The parking for the hotel was across the street in a large, city-run structure. We parked, gathered our luggage and headed over the skywalk to the hotel. We got twisted and turned around a bit but ultimately found our way to our room.
The room was nice enough, but very, very small. It’s a small building to begin with as it’s on the National Register of Historic Places. There was so little room between the foot of the bed and the wall that Brandy and I couldn’t pass by each other there. One of us would have to pull over on the side of the bed to let the other by.
There was a separate living area with a small sofa and its own TV, then off of that was a small nook that contained a fridge and coffee maker. It was a fine room, and I certainly appreciate the upgrade.
Anyway, we got ready and… oh… oh my. Would you look at this woman?
Gah, I’m a lucky man!
We headed out to the wedding, a quite nice affair. The officiant got a little off topic and long-winded, but that was OK. The ceremony progressed, then finished, and we waited for a bit for the food to be ready. The bar served basic beers and bottle margaritas, of which we each had a few. The food was set out buffet style, and provided by Qdoba. I made our plates and we went back to the table and ate, socialized a bit, then left to go back to the hotel, where we promptly fell asleep.
As always, I woke up nice and early the next morning. I went through my normal routine of going downstairs for coffee, took a walk around the block and returned when breakfast was served. In this case breakfast being served meant the on-site restaurant opened for the morning. I went in and ordered a salmon eggs benedict with home fries. It was pretty good. I ordered a biscuits and gravy to go to take back up to the room for Brandy. After she ate, we packed up and made our way back home.
We stopped at Bryant’s Chill and Grill at the Williamsburg Outlet Mall for lunch where I had one of Iowa’s signature pork tenderloin sandwiches. The kind of sandwich where the tenderloin is four times bigger than the standard hamburger bun upon which it’s served.
I mean, c’mon, look at this thing. It’s ridiculous.
The next morning, Monday, the 15th, I dropped Brandy at the Cedar Rapids airport where she took off to one of her properties in Grand Forks, Minnesota, and returned home that Thursday.
Ottumwa
August 20 we went for haircuts and I made the mistake of going to Target the weekend before school started. It made Black Friday look like a Tuesday early afternoon.
The next day, we drove to Ottumwa where we helped Brandy’s parents start moving her step-dad’s mother out of her assisted living facility. A few items went into Christy’s truck, and a bed with into Brandy’s other friend’s truck. We then headed to nearby Beacon, IA, to look at a house for sale. It wasn’t a good buy for us, so we thanked our realtor’s assistant who’d driven two hours to the house and we headed back home.
The next weekend, August 28, we went back out to Ottumwa to look at a few more houses that we’d found on realtor.com. None of them really fit our needs so, again, we thanked our realtor and headed back home.
The Big Trip
On September 3, Brandy and I set out on a five day trip that would see us drive over 3,000 miles, through Nebraska, Wyoming and into the Boise area of Idaho. The trip included a stop at the Grand Teton National Park as well as to see my parents for the first time in a year and a half. I will be making a whole separate post about that trip soon.
…and Out to Council Bluffs
Last weekend, on September 17, we loaded up our cars with all of Christy’s stuff, including the furniture she’d gotten on August 20, and drove it all to Council Bluffs, IA, about 3 hours away.
We unloaded our car and left it in the capable hands of her friends who drove her the rest of the way to her new home. After 8 weeks with us, Christy said good bye.
It was a quick, 7 hour turnaround trip and I was thankful to be home at the end of it.
Conclusion
So, as you can see, my life has been absolute chaos for two months. Trying to find time to sit and filter through the pictures from our trip to House on the Rock has been a very difficult task to be sure, much less the deadlock I found just trying to come up with words to describe it. I found myself becoming increasingly anxious and, at times, depressed. In fact, I had a follow up doctor appointment in the middle of all that madness where I had to disclose my feelings of finding no joy in the things I do, and so on.
I’ve since voiced my concerns to Brandy and have worked past those feelings and am better now than I ever have been.
We drove back out to Ottumwa yesterday to Look at a potential house for us to buy, then to have a quick lunch with Brandy’s friend Hilary but we were home by 3:00.
Shortly on the horizon, I am planning on heading up to Maquoketa Caves State Park. I’m hoping for a visit in a few weeks. We have COVID and flu shots coming up over the next couple of weeks and we’re pretty certain that we’re not going to be up for making that trip.
Aside from that, I did put up some pictures in my Photo Diary from a couple of the outings we had in the Two Months of Chaos, be sure to check those out, and stay tuned for an update on the big trip to Wyoming and Idaho.
As always, thank you for stopping by, I appreciate you!
-Phil
Pingback: Another Two Months of Chaos – Wandering New Mexican