Like Sarah said, how we decided on what we did, I don't remember, but I was excited for sometime leading up to it, and was a little disappointed we weren't able to camp. More so when the only place we could get two rooms, and not even next to each other, or on the same floor was at the Super 8 in West Union. Not a great place to stay, but it worked. There was a small pool in the basement, so there was a little retreat for the kids in the evening.
We started our weekend driving up through Ames. We walked around the olde town area, going to the hobby shop, definitely an aged place, but Andrew found a model of a Nova he had wanted for ages and had never been able to find; an antique store where I scored some way cute vintage fabric, and at 40% off; Andrew took the kids through Reiman music, and I walked through a furniture store with gorgeous hooked rugs that were insanely priced (note to self: learn how to hook gorgeous rugs).
Following that we headed to lunch at The Cafe. I cannot say enough how great the food was here. The idea behind the place is that the food always be the freshest possible, and thus the menu changes regularly, something I adore, but Andrew is not particularly fond of, though he was impressed with the food nevertheless. There is also a little coffeeshop side, as well as pastries and a bar. I have returned a number of times since, including on our way home from Decorah, as well as when I had to return to Ames after the trip to retrieve my wallet I left on the top of the car, and then ended up losing while driving down the road.
After lunch we hit the road, which was quite the dreary drive, with construction, rain and snow the whole way up. We arrived not long after the Reids. We agreed with Sarah on the food front as far as Tap't Out. Not impressive. I think we would have all been happier with the Subway across the street from the hotel-even Liv said as much. Greasy, slow, heavy and no real flavor. Blah.
That first night we checked out the pool for awhile-certainly not anything fancy, but the kids enjoyed it.
We started out bright and early Saturday morning with the hotel continental breakfast, and ended up at Java John's in Decorah for some much needed (at least on my part) coffee. The coffee was good, as well as the ambience, thought the place was crowded as a ll get out. And we were all curious how someone could think they needed a whole booth to themselves while there are perfectly good single seating areas. A little frustrating, but we made it, nevertheless. The yarn store had a nice selection, which actually was difficult to decide what I wanted from, and was nice to find books available for the kids to read while we shopped. The lady working, who I think was the owner, was very helpful. I had quite a few questions and she did her best to help us.
The afternoon at Seed Saver's Exchange Farm was wonderful, and actually definitely something I would like to do each year. The kids had fun, as did the adults.
The antique apple tasting was great, as there were varieties I was curious about.
The soup was all incredible, and I was stoked that one of my favorites had the recipe available to take home.
The local fire department came out and let the kids try on the uniforms and climb on the truck.
Several pumpkins were carved ( Asher smiled his way into carving two...) and rolled down a hill.
There were little games all over, as well as scenic trails
and a hay rack ride which helped Asher lose one of my earrings (by flinging it overboard).
The cider press demo was both entertaining for the kids and inspirational for the adults (we're so getting one of those!).
The farm store was full of things I would love to own, but I held back and only purchased some garlic to plant (Czech Red).
After a fun filled day on the farm, we took a little drive around Burr Oak, the home of Plum Creek of Laura Ingalls Wilder fame. The town was not much to see-much like Swan, small and mostly trailers now. The bar looked to be the place to be on that Saturday. So, we headed on. We drove around Decorah and Luther college for awhile. We then made it to Randy's ultimate pizza joint, Mabe's. Apparently the place is a tradition for Lutherians. The pizza wasn't too bad, but I have to say I am a solid Polito's Pizza fan (that will get some lip service this summer when we camp near Bondurant).
We headed to the DQ in West Union for dessert, then back to the hotel where we swam a bit.
Sunday we used the continental breakfast again and hit the road for home. We decided to eat at the Cafe for brunch, which was awesome again, then headed south.
The great excitement of our trip didn't come until the Tuesday following, though, as I figured out I had lost my wallet somewhere in Ames. I got a call to say it had been found on the side of the road. Apparently I left it on top of the Jeep after eating, and it blew off. So, I got to go rescue it and cancel a load of cards that were destroyed or missing. The trip was totally fun, though, and our family is way thrilled to keep the tour up!
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