At least for me, for the time being.
Since our trip to Maquoketa on August 5, I’ve been at home, toiling away on more and more housework that not only never seems to never end, but the list of which seems to somehow be growing.
Brandy left two weeks after our trip to the caves for a week-long trip to southern California that saw her flying into Hurricane Hilary right as it was making landfall, then to Palm Springs. On my way home from dropping her at the airport, I stopped at a place called Mullets, which is right on the banks of the Des Moines River. I had a dish called the Morning Mullet:
Two eggs, hash browns served on top of our half order of biscuits and gravy.
Mullets Menu
While Brandy was gone, I spent the days doing chores around the house. I went back to Des Moines on Friday, the 25th, to pick her up and took the opportunity to swing by B-Bop’s, a long-recommended drive-thru joint that is a favorite of Jeff Swim’s. There, I picked up the 1/4 lb BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burger. It was a basic BBQ bacon burger. The fries were fine, I don’t think it was any more extraordinary than any other drive-thru fast-food joints but I’m glad I was able to finally give them a try.
Here we are now, in the middle of the week following her return, and I have some very exciting developments lately. One of which I can’t talk about just yet, but another is our triumphant return to Albuquerque. I am so jazzed to be heading back to what I consider my home. There I will be picking up my annual sack of chiles to bring home and sustain me for the next year, as well as some Sadie’s salsa and green chile seasoning by Desert Gardens. Brandy and I are also going to try hiking the Cedro Creek Nature Trail, the trail that we’ve hiked a bazillion times before. I’d also like to try to make it up to Tinkertown and maybe even the crest but, as we will be working while we’re out there, we’ll see what kind of time we will have available to us.
And, of course, I will be planning on spending some time with Alan and Jarrod before we make our trip up to Walsenburg to see Christy.
Immediately upon our return, Brandy will be returning to San Diego for a three-day meeting with upper management with her company, then sometime after that, she will have to return to Nevada to visit one of her properties out there, as well as a trip up to Salt Lake City, UT, to visit her newest property. She wants me to join her on that trip. As much as I would love to, that will be a flight. I’m not sure if we will be in a position to fly me out there so soon. I sure would like to go with her- being without her as much as I have been this year, and knowing there are at least two more trips for her doesn’t sit particularly well with me, but that’s the nature of her job: lots of travel and, as a result, lots of time apart.
I suppose I could make the most out of the situation and do things while she’s gone. I mean, she had no problem going to Joshua Tree National Park during her most recent visit. The only problem with that is, she’s largely gone during the week and the times I would have available to do things are weekends when she’s here. Not that I don’t want to do things with her, it’s just, there’s no time to maximize our time apart for me. The closest anything is to Ottumwa is Pella, an hour away. If I were to try to go there during the week, after work, I wouldn’t get there until things are starting to shut down. I supposed I could hit up Lake Red Rock, where there is an abundance of new trails I can hike. I suppose by the time Brandy’s travels pull her away from me, it’ll be cooling down enough that I could take a late afternoon-early evening hike with Ash…
See, that’s the beauty of blogging, it gets me to thinking and doing the research that I’ve stagnated on.
So yeah. I have plans. Upon Brandy’s next trip to San Diego in a few weeks, I will make an effort to find myself at Red Rock Lake. Next time she’s gone over a weekend, I will try to get to, say, Winterset, to view the Bridges of Madison County, or John Wayne’s birthplace museum, or something like that.
Regardless, I do need to find something to do with myself during those times when she’s gone. I’ve found myself departing into a not-so-great state of mind when she leaves, especially when she’s gone for extended periods.
Until that time comes though, I do have our trip to New Mexico to look forward to. Stay tuned for a trip report once that’s over and done with.
-Phil